From master of suspense
Jo Gibson comes two heart-stopping novels of romantic obsession--where
the love never dies. It kills. . .
The Crush
Michael Barton is smart, sweet, gorgeous--the total package. Which is why some of the girls have decided to have a little contest. Whoever hooks up with Michael first will be the winner. There's just one problem. One of the girls has been harboring a secret crush on Michael for years. She'll do anything to be his girlfriend. She'll play the game. She'll win his heart. She'll beat the competition. . .to death.
The Crush II
Michael Barton has experienced the dark side of love. He has survived the advances of a psychotic stalker. He has endured her deadly game of obsession. And now he is free from her web of lust and lies. But Michael has a surprise waiting for him. His secret admirer is still out there. Watching. Waiting. Plotting her next move. And if Michael thinks he can escape her this time, he's wrong. . .dead wrong.
My Rating
2
My Review
Obsessed had a lot of things going for it. The premise is awesome, and as a lover of thriller and suspense, really appealed to me. The idea of romantic obsession is always a winner, because it can happen to anyone, without them realizing it, and is pretty creepy to read about in novels. Gibson also has a nice description in her writing, and a voice that really keeps the pages turning. There are some interesting characters too - Michael and Carla show promise and I absolutely love Judy's character.
The biggest problem for me is that it simply wasn't believable. And I don't mean it wasn't believable in little details, or in a fantastical way. I'm normally able to accept things pretty well. But there comes a point as a reader where you want to groan come on and punch half of the characters in the face, and this point came pretty early.
It felt a little bit like Groundhog's Day, only the name of girl getting killed slightly changed. I thought the killings were great, I really did. But everything afterward was a bit of a 'WTF' reaction. First of all, people seem to move on really quickly from these deaths. I mean, I live near a relatively big city, and you hear some gruesome stories on the news, but I'd like to think that if some coworkers of mine were gruesomely murdered by a serial killer, I'd be affected. Even if I wasn't close to the person, I'd definitely be more scared and cautious.
And I get that Michael is sexy and has a great voice, but if his girlfriends are getting picked off like sitting ducks why would you completely forget all about that and still try to hook up with him, then go off by yourself when there is a killer on the loose and you now fit ALL of the descriptions? Yeah, Michael is great, but he ain't that great. Plus, he has a little too much of a Romeo complex. This boy falls in love faster than I finish books, and after the girl that he 'loved' croaks, it's barely five minutes before he's at it again with a new coworker. Half the time, I found myself rooting for the killer.
However, if that kind of thing doesn't bother you, than I would suggest giving Obsession a chance. Even if scenes felt a bit repetitive, many of them still had excellent uses of suspense. Although some of the dialogue seemed a bit forced, plenty of the characters were still enjoyable. Plus, I actually really liked the ending, so it might be worth the repetition to power through and finish - even if the novel isn't quite your cup of tea. But, Obsessed was an interesting read, regardless of it's believability, and I didn't really have any trouble finishing it. Am I going to buy multiple copies to hand out to my friends? Probably not. Would it make a pretty excellent Lifetime movie adaptation that I would watch entirely? Probably.
Michael Barton is smart, sweet, gorgeous--the total package. Which is why some of the girls have decided to have a little contest. Whoever hooks up with Michael first will be the winner. There's just one problem. One of the girls has been harboring a secret crush on Michael for years. She'll do anything to be his girlfriend. She'll play the game. She'll win his heart. She'll beat the competition. . .to death.
The Crush II
Michael Barton has experienced the dark side of love. He has survived the advances of a psychotic stalker. He has endured her deadly game of obsession. And now he is free from her web of lust and lies. But Michael has a surprise waiting for him. His secret admirer is still out there. Watching. Waiting. Plotting her next move. And if Michael thinks he can escape her this time, he's wrong. . .dead wrong.
My Rating
2
My Review
Obsessed had a lot of things going for it. The premise is awesome, and as a lover of thriller and suspense, really appealed to me. The idea of romantic obsession is always a winner, because it can happen to anyone, without them realizing it, and is pretty creepy to read about in novels. Gibson also has a nice description in her writing, and a voice that really keeps the pages turning. There are some interesting characters too - Michael and Carla show promise and I absolutely love Judy's character.
The biggest problem for me is that it simply wasn't believable. And I don't mean it wasn't believable in little details, or in a fantastical way. I'm normally able to accept things pretty well. But there comes a point as a reader where you want to groan come on and punch half of the characters in the face, and this point came pretty early.
It felt a little bit like Groundhog's Day, only the name of girl getting killed slightly changed. I thought the killings were great, I really did. But everything afterward was a bit of a 'WTF' reaction. First of all, people seem to move on really quickly from these deaths. I mean, I live near a relatively big city, and you hear some gruesome stories on the news, but I'd like to think that if some coworkers of mine were gruesomely murdered by a serial killer, I'd be affected. Even if I wasn't close to the person, I'd definitely be more scared and cautious.
And I get that Michael is sexy and has a great voice, but if his girlfriends are getting picked off like sitting ducks why would you completely forget all about that and still try to hook up with him, then go off by yourself when there is a killer on the loose and you now fit ALL of the descriptions? Yeah, Michael is great, but he ain't that great. Plus, he has a little too much of a Romeo complex. This boy falls in love faster than I finish books, and after the girl that he 'loved' croaks, it's barely five minutes before he's at it again with a new coworker. Half the time, I found myself rooting for the killer.
However, if that kind of thing doesn't bother you, than I would suggest giving Obsession a chance. Even if scenes felt a bit repetitive, many of them still had excellent uses of suspense. Although some of the dialogue seemed a bit forced, plenty of the characters were still enjoyable. Plus, I actually really liked the ending, so it might be worth the repetition to power through and finish - even if the novel isn't quite your cup of tea. But, Obsessed was an interesting read, regardless of it's believability, and I didn't really have any trouble finishing it. Am I going to buy multiple copies to hand out to my friends? Probably not. Would it make a pretty excellent Lifetime movie adaptation that I would watch entirely? Probably.
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