Reviewed by PJ Ausdenmore
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
5 stars
Any book that keeps me glued to the pages until 1:30am then keeps me awake thinking about it for another hour after I turn that final page has more than earned my highest rating of 5 stars. The fact that I’m still thinking about all the twists and turns of this romantic suspense story, not to mention the fact that I actually dreamt about it once I fell asleep, is a testament to the superb writing skill of the very talented Ms. Crandall.
Life as she knew it was forever altered for thirteen-year-old Ellis Greene on the night her older cousin, Laura was kidnapped from the bedroom they shared then raped, beaten and left to die on the beach. Police quickly focused their attention on Nate Vance, Laura’s boyfriend, and the poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks was convicted in the court of public opinion by everyone in the small town of Belle Island except Ellis. Nate and Laura had been her best friends and Ellis knew that Nate would never have hurt Laura. Ellis also knew that someone else had been outside their bedroom window that night. She had smelled his cheap cologne and sour body odor, had seen him on the path next to the house and it was her brave testimony during the trial that put Hollis Alexander in prison. But a steely gaze and two words – “You’ll pay” – from Alexander had also put Ellis in prison, a prison of fear, her innocent, carefree life gone, along with Nate who disappeared from Belle Island the day Alexander was convicted.
Fifteen years later, the fallout from Laura’s death still haunts Ellis’s family. Laura’s parents are divorced, her father’s hatred and bitterness threatens to consume him, her mother just wants to forget, Ellis’s parents smother her with protection and Ellis employs every possible method to keep safe, including appearing at every parole hearing to insure Alexander remains in prison. But someone has removed her family from the parole board’s notification list and now Alexander is free to return to Belle Island…on the very same day that Nate Vance reappears in town after a fifteen year absence. Suddenly, Ellis is receiving threatening notes, dead roses appear on her doorstep and sinister phone calls make it clear that “she’s next”. Someone is skulking outside her condo at night and “accidents” are befalling her family, the county prosecutor and her condo security guard but the police refuse to believe it’s the work of Alexander. Then a young girl bearing a striking resemblance to Laura is brutally murdered and left on the beach and suspicion once again shifts to Nate. Suddenly, Ellis doesn’t know who to trust. Is the true culprit Alexander who swears he’s innocent of her cousin’s murder? Her feelings for Nate have been intensifying but could she have been wrong about him all those years ago? He swears that he never forgot her, kept track of her during the years he was gone and has returned to town to protect her but he won’t divulge anything about his life or what he’s been doing all those years away. Or could these unspeakable acts be the work of Rory, the long-time boyfriend she recently broke up with who refuses to accept that their relationship has ended and grows angrier with each encounter? The mystery grows deeper with every page and people, and situations, are not always what they seem. The twists and turns of this spellbinding tale had me guessing until the very end. I highly recommend Susan Crandall’s Seeing Red.
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cyclops8
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 1:55 pm:
Great review. I’ve been waiting for this book since I read “Pitch Black.”
Marisa
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 2:23 pm:
I’m with you cyclops – I loved Pitch Black and Susan keeps you guessing until the end.
Great Review PJ – I’ve got this book on my list and I can’t wait to get to it. You are so right Ms. Crandall will keep you up at night turning the pages and throwing things you never saw coming. So glad you enjoyed it.
PJ
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 2:27 pm:
This was my first Crandall book and, as you can tell from my review, I thought it was fabulous. As soon as I finished reading Seeing Red I immediately went in search of her backlist. I’ve gotten four more, including Pitch Black and I’m excited to get started on them!
Anna Campbell
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 6:08 pm:
Ooooh! Brrrr! I’m scared even reading the review, PJ! Great review! I read my first Susan Crandall this year – Pitch Black – which was great. She was a guest on the Bandits and I thought her stuff sounded interesting and it IS!!! This one sounds like even more of a rollercoaster than Pitch Black! I’ll have to get it.
Keira Soleore
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 8:25 pm:
I love, love, love Susan Crandall. Last year, I waited to read Pitch Black so that I could meet her in person at RWA National and gush and get a signed copy. This year though, I cannot stomach the thought of waiting seven months to read RED. I want to read it yesterday! She’s one of those writers who just gets better and better and more and more intriguing with every new book. I owe a heap of thanks to Janga for introducing her to me. She’s one of the first contemp authors I started reading after a straight run of historicals for two years.
PJ
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 8:38 pm:
Keira, I was fortunate to meet Susan at the Moonlight & Magnolias conference in Atlanta last October. She was so warm and welcoming. I really enjoyed talking with her.
Have you read other books by her besides Pitch Black? Which one is your favorite?
Okie Bloodworth
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 9:41 pm:
Great review pj! I really liked Pitch Black so I can’t wait to read Susan Crandall’s latest.
Janga
on Jan 17th, 2009
@ 10:02 pm:
Another great review, PJ!
Susan Crandall has been an autobuy for me since I read Back Roads. She’s a great storyteller whose books are always character-driven, and she does small-town settings particularly well. I love her prose too. I’m looking forward to Seeing Red even more since reading your review.
Keira Soleore
on Jan 18th, 2009
@ 12:49 pm:
I’ve read all of Susan Crandall’s books. I loved her On Blue Falls Pond the best!
orannia
on Jan 18th, 2009
@ 2:24 pm:
Ohhhh – thank you PJ! Seeing Red sounds amazing! I just raced off to my library’s online catalogue but unfortunately Susan Crandall is not there
Am very tempted to suggest it for purchase as it sounds like a good (although scary) read. I’m guessing Pitch Black was Susan Crandall’s debut book? Was it just as good as Seeing Red? Thank you!
PJ
on Jan 18th, 2009
@ 2:53 pm:
Orannia, actually Seeing Red is Crandall’s 8th published book. You can check out her back list at her website.
http://www.susancrandall.net/books.html
Kate Carlisle
on Jan 22nd, 2009
@ 12:51 pm:
Wow PJ, your review gave me shivers so I’m betting the book will be positively chilling!!
Thanks for adding one more great book to my must-buy list. I’m really looking forward to reading it!