Rating: 
Summary: Winner of the WordWeaving Award for Excellence
Review: A psychic, Olivia Benchet dreams about a priest who kills. Then she awakens to a horrid certainty that her dream was something more. Vivid details bear witness to an innocent woman's torture and death at the hands of a man wearing vestments, his face concealed by a black ski mask. Worse, she knows that the killer is aware of her presence and her identity. Recalling the headlines of the previous rash of killings, Olivia seeks out the detective instrumental in solving the bizarre killings.Rick Bentz is skeptical of Olivia's claims until a burned house reveals its macabre secret. As Rick examines the site, he recalls Olivia's tale of a naked chained victim, a priest with a radio and sword, and the significance of the date. As further facts compel his belief in Olivia's story, Rick finds himself irresistibly drawn to this intriguing woman. Little does he suspect, however, the coming danger to the women in his life. Meanwhile, the Chosen One continues to pursue his mission to "rid the earth of the vile sinners on the day God had selected." Author Lisa Jackson demonstrates extraordinary flair for creating nail-biting romance in COLD BLOODED. Picking up where HOT BLOODED leaves off and including several favorite characters and the New Orleans setting, COLD BLOODED explores a methodical and cunning serial killer's plan for redeeming lost souls. There are no easy answers for Jackson's characters where anyone is suspect, and vows of silence protect the guilty. Crisp dialogue, a multilayer plot, and a carefully measured pace build suspense in this chilling read that earns the WordWeaving Award for Excellence.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than the First!
Review: Cold Blooded picks up a couple months after Hot Blooded left off. Dr. Samantha Leeds, plays only the most minor of parts in this one, leaving room for the enigmatic Olivia Benchet. Olivia, gifted like her VooDoo priestess grandmother, with the Sight, receives visions of a young woman being tortured and then set afire. Taking her concerns to the New Orleans police, she encounters Rick Bentz (a key player from the last one) and his wet-behind-the-ears but charming partner Reuben Montoya. Olivia is at first dismissed as a loony, however when Bentz gets to know her more, he starts to believe her once farfetched tales, and is convinced a serial killer is stalking New Orleans once again.
This novel is every bit as good as Hot Blooded, and better. I actually thought this one, while longer,was an easier read. And in response to a few nay-sayers, no paragraphs or descriptions in this book were unnecesary. If you want mindless police procedural and unchecked gore check out the vastly overrated novels of Thomas Harris.
Lisa Jackson provides her readers with a great sequel that is more than just a sequel. The suspense is great, the plot intricate and well-explored, and the finale is pure white-knuckle tension. The heart behind this novel, also, is astounding, and yes, Bentz finally gets the girl!
In true Jackson fashion, she leaves some questions unanswered, but as she reassures in the afterword to this book, they will be answered in her next book, The Night Before.
Rating: 
Summary: So-so thriller
Review: Having been to New Orleans more times than I can count, this suspense thriller lacked the wonderful, funky local flavor New Orleans is known for. Serial killers are always a hook and the plot line was interesting. However, the identity of the killer was no real surprise and somewhat of a disappointment. Cliffhanger ending? Nah, by then who cared?
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating killer, too many far-fetched coincidences
Review: I enjoyed the elaborate mission the killer undertook. The novel MOs and torture techniques were grisly but gripping-- much like the murders in the movie Seven. However, the pace of the book is compromised when Jackson indulges herself in too many irrelevant paragraphs devoted to describing the setting, the characters' moods and musings, etc. It gets boring, and I had to put the book down several times. Jackson didn't keep me glued to the text. The book (approx. 450 pages) could have been a lot shorter. Finally, there are entirely too many pat coincidences relating to the characters. It undermines the credibility of the story.
P.S. I am a New Orleans native, and she did not at all capture the essence of the city. It is really incidental that the murders take place in New Orleans.
Rating:
Summary: Not This Time Around......
Review: I have been a fan of Lisa Jackson as a mystery and romance author. I have found her books to be appealing and her characters to be engaging and interesting. However, I am sad to say that the above is not true this time around for "Cold Blooded" which I found to be far-fetched, and convoluted. The focus of my dissapointment rests solely with the main protagonist of the novel Olivia. We 'see' the story mostly through her eyes and with the return of Rick and Reuben, Olivia is the ground focus for the novel. Unfortunetely, the character of Olivia in my opinion comes off as immature, selfish and whiny, not to mention petulent and annoying. I sadly did not sympathize with her, and in the situation presented you are supposed to sympathize. Without giving away the novel Olivia engages in some actions that I find to be unbelievable. Her apparent thoughtlessness towards Rick Bentz, her love interest in this novel and her callous disregard of his feelings and his pain is atrocious, not to mention her very 'indecisive' nature when it comes to romantic entaglements. Olivia seems to be lacking in every area and yet we are to believe that she is the 'strength' the groundwork for this novel. Because so much of the novel is taken up with trying to sort out all of Olivia's 'problems' not to mention a rather sordid subplot which involves her, Rick Bentz and his 'family' you do not get into the murder mystery as much as I feel you should. The mad man/ serial killer, is a frightening character, indeed worthy of the title of psychotic. However, you never really get into the reasons 'why', nor do I feel that there was an adequate conclusion . Because of the tie over from "Hot Blooded" I was also dissapointed that there weren't enough answers to the questions left by that novel. But my main problem is with the main character of Olivia. If you can read this novel and not be dissapointed, indeed, disgusted with her actions, her nature and her apparent lack of feeling for or feeling towards her 'love' Rick Bentz then you're stronger than I. By the end of the novel I was laughing because it was just too outrageous for even me, and I have read a lot of outrageous things. Olivia seems more a spoiled brat that anything else, and because Rick Bentz's character is so strong and noble, next to him she seems even more trivial and annoying. I was very dissapointed that Lisa Jackson chose to portray her main protagonist in a light which I found to be less than flattering. I couldn't believe, what with the subplots she had going that she would try to pass Oliva off as a sympathetic victim. I am hoping that next time around she will give up someone that we can look up to and that we can root for. Indeed, I did not root for Oliva, I rather wanted Rick Bentz to kick her to the curb... Sadly I do not recommend this book, not unless you want to be sorely dissilussioned.
Rating:
Summary: Cold Blooded
Review: I really enjoyed Cold Blooded alot. I loved the characters especially Olivia,Rick Bentz and his half brother Father James. I read Hot Blooded first and I enjoyed that book too but this one was far better to me. I will read The Night Before next and a fourth book in this series will be coming out in March.The only thing is that I wished Dr. Samantha Leeds would've had a larger part in this book. Pam
Rating:
Summary: thrilling
Review: I really liked this book. It is about a psychic, Olivia Benchet, who starts seeing what looks like a priest tracking down and murdering young women. She has the 'gift' to see what others don't and wishes that she didn't have it, because it has been a curse at times in her relationships with others. She feels she has to try and stop the killer, so she goes to the cops. When she had previously gone she had been treated like a weirdo so she goes to Rick Bentz who has worked on another case that was similar. At first he is of the same opinion but when they check out a murder, he finds that it happened just like she said it did and so, even still a little doubtful, he goes to her for help because he felt he should follow all leads. It doesn't take long before he is convinced. There is enough thrills, romance, etc. to keep the reader interested to the end with a hint of a start of another book.
Rating:
Summary: thrilling
Review: I really liked this book. It is about a psychic, Olivia Benchet, who starts seeing what looks like a priest tracking down and murdering young women. She has the 'gift' to see what others don't and wishes that she didn't have it, because it has been a curse at times in her relationships with others. She feels she has to try and stop the killer, so she goes to the cops. When she had previously gone she had been treated like a weirdo so she goes to Rick Bentz who has worked on another case that was similar. At first he is of the same opinion but when they check out a murder, he finds that it happened just like she said it did and so, even still a little doubtful, he goes to her for help because he felt he should follow all leads. It doesn't take long before he is convinced. There is enough thrills, romance, etc. to keep the reader interested to the end with a hint of a start of another book.
Rating:
Summary: Left hanging!
Review: I've enjoyed several of Lisa Jackson's books. But, "Cold-Blooded" seems empty in my opinion. She did not put much information about Voodo and ESP, they are two different things. Not a lot of research was put into it. The character, Olivia, is in fact specifically, a clairyoyant,... The story contains a lot of violence with a crazed killer and all. The identity of the killer is revealed... (I'm trying to not to give too much away). But that's where it stops. Most movies and novels explain why a killer becomes a killer. It just portrays him as a copy cat of the killer in Lisa Jackson's other novel,"Hot Blooded". There were just too many loose ends:... The story was just lacking and like I stated, too many loose ends. As for romance, there was not really a romance, it was more of sexual attraction and hormones gone awry, when you read it, you will know what I mean. Even when the killer was found and the story ended, it just left you hanging with all these questions. The who, what, when, where were established in the story, but the why? Too many why's left unanswered. I have rated "Cold-Blooded" two stars. But this will not prevent me from reading more of Lisa Jackson's novels. She is a brilliant writer, "Cold-Blodded" was just not one of her best novels.
Rating: 
Summary: exciting serial killer thriller
Review: In New Orleans, the killer left behind a carved up incinerated corpse with no witnesses to the vicious homicide. No eye witnesses that is because Olivia Bechet observed every slash and burn though she was sleeping several miles away from the crime scene in her cottage. Thinking that she suffered through a particularly nasty nightmare, Olivia ignores her dream until it reoccurs a few weeks later with a different victim. She feels she is somehow connected to this "priestly" serial killer and goes to the authorities only to have Detective Rick Bentz scoff at her claims. As the Big Easy panics with a rising death count, Olivia continues to press Rick and his younger partner Reuben Montoya into believing her even if the senior detective scornfully laughs at her assertions. However, the culprit sees what she sees through her eyes and believes Olivia knows too much. Now she dreams that she is the next victim. She pleads with the two cops to keep her safe, but Rick remains more than skeptical as he concludes that the woman he loves is a lunatic. COLD BLOODED is an exciting serial killer thriller that stars a wonderful heroine and Rick, a secondary character from the prequel HOT BLOODED. The story line engages the reader mostly because of the interplay between Rick and Olivia. The killer is standard off the shelf stock while the graphic descriptions of the sexual crimes are not everyone's café du lait though the scenes provide the depth to what the heroine faces. Lisa Jackson provides fans of serial killer plots, police procedurals, and romantic suspense with an entertaining tale. Harriet Klausner
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