What if an entire family is murdered and, by a quirk, a young girl is left unharmed? For fifteen years, she believes the killer had been caught, and he’s now on death row, awaiting execution. While trying to be content with her adoptive family, she’s living in relentless uncertainty and the fear of remembering what really happened that night when she was five years old. She’s The Watson Girl.A … therapist has asked her to participate in regression session treatments to attempt to bring back those lost memories. The closer she gets to the truth, however, the less time she has to remain alive. Now, the real killer is going to silence her, before she can remember the details of that horrifying night, when she was an innocent witness. Laura Watson is young; she’s beautiful; and she’s the murderer’s loose end.Join the smart, relentless, and short-fused FBI Agent Tess Winnett and her team in a heart-stopping search for the serial killer who has managed to stay hidden for many years. Explore the inner workings of the murderer’s mind, and find out what motivates such predatory, blood-lusting behavior, while following every twist and turn of an existence spent taking lives. Laura Watson’s family was murdered fifteen years ago. That was only the beginning. His beginning. If you’re the apple of his eye, you’re already dead.Special Agent Tess Winnett will hold nothing back to stop the killer before he takes another innocent life. She never fails, no matter what’s at stake. Even her own life. The best-selling author of Dawn Girl is back with another suspenseful, gripping thriller. If you’re a fan of David Baldacci and James Patterson, you will enjoy Leslie Wolfe.
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This review is for the audio book.
I love Leslie Wolfe’s books and both read and listen to them, so was pleasantly surprised to find out I had missed this book in the Tess Winnett series. So spent a day pleasantly lost in Tess’s world as she tracked down a serial killer. I think I might have skipped this book because I am easily upset and the thought of a whole family getting killed wasn’t for me. I have enjoyed so many of Leslie’s books by now that I didn’t even read the blurb and just got the book. And what a book it is, so not sure why I wanted so long (not sad at all and no tissues needed). Tess is a great character and I love that she doesn’t let anything get in her way when she is after kill, not her boss or even her partners feelings. I don’t know why this series hasn’t been made into a tv show yet, it is that good. The book keeps you guessing as to who the killer is and like all the authors books it is not as simple as it seems. The story does jump around as it is told by three of the characters, Tess the FBI agent, the killer and the girl who got away. This works well for the story as you spent the book listening out for clues and trying to beat Tess to the answer (i was nearly right). I don’t know if there is an author with the title of queen of suspence but this author gets my vote. Can’t wait for the next book.
Tess is in trouble with the higher ups, again. To keep the peace her boss assigns her the job of interviewing a man on death row days before he is to be executed. There she gets a surprise, he claims he is being blamed from three sets of murders that aren’t his. He freely confessed to the murder of 21 families, why not the rest? He has accepted he I to die and claims not to want any thing but can Tess really believe the word of a killer? As she looks In to the cases she begins to fear that he might just be telling the truth. But if that means that a killer is still lose what does that mean for the one victim he left alive? Tess an the team must race against the clock to find a killer before he silences the one person who knows the truth. The person who has just started a new therapy to help her remember what really happened that night.
I liked the narrator and even through the main character is a female I thought the use of a male narrator worked well for the story.
Leslie Wolf is an amazing author! I loved this book! There were so many twists and turns and I absolutely love Special Agent Tess Winnett. This is an amazing read that everyone who loves mystery, thriller, with action and adventure!
This book had everything that makes a good suspense novel. And, I simply loved the spice and sass of the character FBI Agent Tess Winnett. I can’t wait to read more by Wolfe!
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
It is a unique and strange experience reading a novel, when the main character has the same name as you. Set in Miami, the book is nicely plotted and paced with elements of mystery and suspense. The female characters are intelligent, strong and brave. Similar to a police procedural, it explores the mind of predators with respect to motive and violent behavior. It concludes with a believable and satisfying ending. I look forward to reading more works by Leslie Wolfe.
Another great Tess Winnett thriller. Keep them coming!
Its the best book I ever read,,,,,,Im 75, read a lotta books, strickly mysteries
Tess Winnett is one tough cookie and she is determined to stay that way. If you like fast paced action and mystery, then pick this one up. I read the first in the series: Taker of Lives and missed the 2nd one, but may go back even though this is the 3rd in the series.
FBI agent who has a heart for the underdog and fights for them just like she would her family/friends/ etc. I’ve enjoyed the Holt/Baxter series and look forward to reading more of Tess Winnett.
Thanks Ms. Wolfe for a great way to pass the time.
I would recommend this book for fans of “Criminal Minds”. It was almost like watching an episode of that TV show.
Several things kept this book from being more than a three star read for me. First of all, I am tired of the whole female FBI agent who is a major b***h premise. The heroine of this one, Tess Winnett, is the typical character who doesn’t play well with others and makes everyone angry as she goes about doing her job. Her excuse? She has to solve every crime, not matter what!
Laura Watson is the sole survivor when her family is slaughtered by the Family Man serial killer. Laura was just 5 years old when this happened and her life has moved on without too many major repercussions.
The premise of the story is a good one, with the accused serial killer nearing execution after committing numerous murders. But, when Winnett visits him in prison, he tells her that the last 3 families were not killed by him, but by another killer who is still at large.
The identity of the other killer became pretty obvious to me early on in the book, which ruined a little of the suspense for me. The author throws in several chapters that are basically the killer describing his pleasure at the crimes he has committed and I would recommend that anyone who is squeamish about this type of thing stay clear of this book.
The ending seemed very rushed to me. After hours of buildup, the last two chapters were just thrown out there. The explanation of the the Watson murders was very brief and unsatisfactory to me.
The narrator did a pretty good job, but I sped up the narration to get through the book. It became a little tedious after a while.
I’m prepared to be disappointed when a book is recommended as a page turner as most of the time, they are not. BUT this book kept me up reading and I could not put it down!!
I don’t like violent books but this is not gratuitous….there is a solid plot with Tess as an agent trying her best to solve a case.. and she has quite the case. I love the author’s writing style…simple, straight forward and engrossing. I didn’t realize this was a second novel in a series of three as it stood on its own very well. Now I’m going to read her first book with Tess.
The characters are described briefly but complete enough that you know the them and you root for the good guys. This plot held up completely, not a false note. No red herrings, just solid plotting and a very satisfying ending.
I love Tess as a woman in a man’s job in the FBI and trying her best but not fitting in. Her ballsy attitude, her lack of respect for authority and her talking straight from the hip without flirting or feline wiles is great! No sexual tension and eye batting with other agents…just a woman doing her job well. How great is that!!
Now I’ll get some sleep and start her first case with fresh eyes…yeah!!