Have you seen her? - Karen Rose

                                   
Author : Karen Rose

Best sellers: I'm Watching You, triology Die for Me, Scream for Me, and Kill for Me.


Synopsis: 
                                                           Missing
One by one, young girls disappear from their beds at night. Each one is pretty with long dark hair. And each one is found brutally murdered.
                                                          Searching
As each girl is discovered it becomes clearer to Special Agent Steven Thatcher that there is a serial killer at work. Finding the person responsible is Steven's overriding objective and it doesn't help that his teenage son, Brad is suddenly behaving strangely.
                                                           Preying
Brad's teacher, Jenna Marshall, is determined to meet Steven and find out why her star pupil has gone off the rails. But when she does, the watching murderer sets his sight on beautiful, long-dark-haired Jenna. He will not stop until he has the treasure he craves. Can Steven find the killer before he finds Jenna?
        


Excerpts:


He rolled up his left sleeve, then transferred the blade from one gloved hand to the other and methodically rolled up the right while she watched, her blue eyes wide and terrified.
Terrified was good. Just looking at her lying there tied, and scared- and nude- made his skin tingle with anticipation. She was completely under his control.
It was electricity. Pure electricity. And he'd made it..He'd created it. What a Rush..
Rush, as in Lorraine Rush. No pun intended. Lorraine had been a good practice run. A good way to return to the game after so long on the sidelines. He'd forgotten just how damn good it felt.


Maithili Speak..

Karen Rose is known for her romantic thrillers. This was just one of them.. 
The serial killings look serious and work of a psychotic at large. Don't look for fast paced thrill as the book takes frequent long breaks, deviating the reader from the murder track.
The investigating agent looks like a cop caught in all possible problems..Seniors keeping tab on him to see if he can cope under pressure. His wife ran away with another man 4 years back to eventually die in a car wreck..He struggles to keep the truth from his 3 young sons. His youngest son has drawn into a shell following his kidnap and rescue. His oldest son is having more than just the usual teenage problem..His aunt Helen is setting him up with all possible suitors. So all this leaves little time for our agent to crack the case! 
Enter the crusader Jenna Marshall.. who settle everything right in Steven's life and yet Steven can't help comparing her with his ex wife.. It gets so oh-so-frustrating when he does that more than once!

Here and there, we have seriously passionate scenes only to be intervened by our doubtful Steven. Enough adrenaline rushes through the love scenes between them and enough "awww factor" for the cute, young, disturbed Nicky, Steven's youngest son in the story..
What I was looking for was some insight into the mind of the killer.. That was what the book lacks..Too much attention on romance and less on the crime.. At the end of the story it looks like lover boy is looking to rescue his sweetheart than a Special Agent chasing a serial killer... 
I felt a good balance between thriller and romance was not attained with this one..


Rating : 1.8 out of 5.. Buy if you are fed up of mushy teenage romance and want a little terror factor too :P

Price: Rs 295/-