Rating: 
Summary: Excellent work
Review: In New Orleans, former assistant District Attorney J.D. Damascus has never recovered from the murders of his wife and two children. The state fried Angel Gonzales for the crime, but J.D. believes the wrong man was executed. His career is in shambles as he drinks away much of his day, J.D. defends hookers and is considered a disgrace by his politically prominent family.Holly Jones finds J.D.'s phone number on the wall of a jail cell and calls him to help her with her shooting a man. Holly insists it was self-defense and that she is not a whore though J.D. does not believe her nor care. She is free because the victim, the chief of police, cannot afford the publicity. Holly fears that a serial killer, having murdered her friend, is coming for her next. She turns to J.D. for help; reluctantly he becomes involved and suddenly has a reason to rejoin the living. Though the identity of the killer is easy to guess, readers will appreciate this terse romantic suspense. J.D. is an interesting protagonist as he pulls him self out of his depression to keep Holly safe even at the expense of family ridicule and risk to his life. Holly is a delightful female lead who does not want to be a heroine or fall in love as all she desires is to feel secure. Sub-genre fans will treasure this fine novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Excellent work
Review: In New Orleans, former assistant District Attorney J.D. Damascus has never recovered from the murders of his wife and two children. The state fried Angel Gonzales for the crime, but J.D. believes the wrong man was executed. His career is in shambles as he drinks away much of his day, J.D. defends hookers and is considered a disgrace by his politically prominent family. Holly Jones finds J.D.'s phone number on the wall of a jail cell and calls him to help her with her shooting a man. Holly insists it was self-defense and that she is not a whore though J.D. does not believe her nor care. She is free because the victim, the chief of police, cannot afford the publicity. Holly fears that a serial killer, having murdered her friend, is coming for her next. She turns to J.D. for help; reluctantly he becomes involved and suddenly has a reason to rejoin the living. Though the identity of the killer is easy to guess, readers will appreciate this terse romantic suspense. J.D. is an interesting protagonist as he pulls him self out of his depression to keep Holly safe even at the expense of family ridicule and risk to his life. Holly is a delightful female lead who does not want to be a heroine or fall in love as all she desires is to feel secure. Sub-genre fans will treasure this fine novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Another hit by Sutcliffe...
Review: J.D. Damascus lost his reason to live the night that his wife and children were murdered. Four years after he lost his family, J.D. is only going through the motions of living. Showing up in court to defend clients that can never pay him, and then going home and going to bed. After that he wakes up in the morning and does it all over again. When a series of murders begin that are an eerie reinactment of the serial killer that killed his wife, J.D. is convinced that they put the wrong man to death for the murder of his family. Then a woman comes into his life that forces him to live again. Holly Jones has vowed to herself never to come back to New Orleans. Even though it could cost her her life, Holly returns when she receives a desperate call from her best friend. When she finds herself in need of a lawyer, she finds J.D.'s number on a stall in the women's restroom. Praying he doesn't recognize her, Holly convinces J.D. to help her find her friend. They had no idea that their search would bring them full circle. Bad Moon Rising is an awesome suspense and a great romance. J.D. and Holly come together in a time of need for both of them. Both have pasts that they would rather put behind them, but until they forgive themselves, they will never be able to forgive themselves. Together they help each other and try to find a murderer. Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!
Review: Someone is determined to stop the prostitution in the French Quarter, unfortunately, they are going to extremes to do so, killing all the ladies of the night. The serial killer's style makes it apparent that when the state executed a killer, they killed the wrong man. A slayer who years ago terrorized the city is back, giving JD Damascus a new chance to avenge the wife and children he lost in the first spree. This new rash of slayings also brings Holly Jones to town, determined to rescue her best friend from the night life she herself escaped. Her quest brings her and JD together, in more ways than one. It also threatens to reveal Holly's dangerous secret. She is on the run for her life, and her new lover is the man who can set her free to begin a new life... if she continues to live, that is. ***** From page one, you will be on the very edge of your seat. Thrilling is only a mild word to describle this one. Holly could easily be one of the top ten heroines of all time. Her scars have made her a force to be reckoned with, without detracting from her feminity. JD is the kind of man who makes you think of Harrison Ford or Mel Gibson. If BAD MOON RISING fails to be a best seller, the public will really be missing a bet. Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.
Rating: 
Summary: just missed...but still electric read
Review: Sutcliffe has been generally on target for many of her books and seems to improve with each one. This one has so much going for it, and yet... A great locale, done well, New Orleans gives an eerie backdrop without too much of the "party-on-down, Cher". She has a gritty story (maybe a wee bit too gritty for romance) and unfortunately not enough romance to balance it. Everything felt forced, abrupt, not with her usual finesse. Some of the characters were a little trite, overdone. But where the book hurts mosts is the play between the leads. It's just a little too contrived, like forcing that square peg into a round hole. Something are never fully explained... So this one leaves you with mixed feelings. Just a shame a few of these nagging problems could not have been ironed out for it is still a powerful read despite them.
Rating:
Summary: just missed...but still electric read
Review: Sutcliffe has been generally on target for many of her books and seems to improve with each one. This one has so much going for it, and yet... A great locale, done well, New Orleans gives an eerie backdrop without too much of the "party-on-down, Cher". She has a gritty story (maybe a wee bit too gritty for romance) and unfortunately not enough romance to balance it. Everything felt forced, abrupt, not with her usual finesse. Some of the characters were a little trite, overdone. But where the book hurts mosts is the play between the leads. It's just a little too contrived, like forcing that square peg into a round hole. Something are never fully explained... So this one leaves you with mixed feelings. Just a shame a few of these nagging problems could not have been ironed out for it is still a powerful read despite them.
Rating: 
Summary: Just Plain Bad
Review: This book was overloaded with cliches. I wish someone would let Ms. Sutcliffe know that hookers with hearts of gold and troubled teens have been done to death and that gruesome violence in and of itself does not make a good thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Just Plain Bad
Review: This book was overloaded with cliches. I wish someone would let Ms. Sutcliffe know that hookers with hearts of gold and troubled teens have been done to death and that gruesome violence in and of itself does not make a good thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly suspense - little romance - but still tender story
Review: This is a very serious story of recovery from life's greatest tragedies and making new starts. It is a story of murder and
prostitution, drugs and a mentally deranged killer. It is a very well written book but make no mistake, it is a dark book. Hope shines in the end but not before. This is my second Katherine Sutcliffe book. I had read Darkling, I Listen prior to Bad Moon Rising and consider Darkling a better book although it was a dark book as well. Both of these novels tend to have a certain amount of grotesqueness and extreme evil. I found the graphic description of killings in Bad Moon Rising too much for comfort but it is still within the framework of a tender story. J.D. Damascus at one time was an infamous Assistant District Attorney in New Orleans with a great reputation as a prosecutor and roots of a powerful political family. His father had been governor of Louisiana and his family is still immersed in politics. J.D., however, is no longer an active part of that family. He no longer is the powerful prosecutor and he has lost his own personal family. A few years previously his wife and two children were violently murdered and J.D. has since lived in a cloud of alcohol, guilt, and regret. He believes the wrong man was executed for his family's murders and still searches hopelessly for the real killer. J.D. now barely makes ends meet with a law practice representing the less desirable clients of New Orleans. Holly Jones is a reformed New Orleans prostitute now living a normal life in Branson, Missouri and has no desire to ever return to New Orleans. She is one of the lucky ones and has been able to escape the horrors of her previous life. Holly had left the city after a number of prostitutes were murdered. She seems to know something that no one else knows and suspects the real killer was never apprehended although a man was executed for the murders. When Holly receives a frantic call from one of her close friends still living the life of a prostitute in New Orleans, Holly worries that the real murderer has returned and fears for her friend's life and returns to find her. J.D. meets Holly when he receives a call to represent her for shooting New Orleans's chief of police. Holly had shot the chief in self-defense and J.D., knowing the chief's carnal weaknesses, threatens to expose him unless he drops the charges against Holly. Once Holly is out of jail, she discovers her car is stolen which contains all of her possessions. With no money and no place to go, J.D. invites her to his apartment for a temporary housing. He rationalizes that he is helping her out but realizes that he is strongly attracted to her. Clearly Holly is beautiful and irresistible enough for J.D. to consider her former life unimportant. Or it could be that he honestly does not have a judgmental personality. J.D. is truly attractive as the hero both in body and personality as long as he isn't drinking. Holly is attracted to him as well but will not be seduced by him and will not entertain any thoughts that there could ever be anything real between the two of them. As the reader, I had to agree with her thoughts. Somehow, this romance does not ever seem real. It is a thing of fairy tales and doesn't ring true. We see very little of the leads together and certainly even a smaller percentage with them happy together and alone. Those times are mostly just during the sensual scenes. Those scenes rate about a 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). They are infrequent and since he is drunk a good part of the time and she is an ex-hooker, it is hard to envision this side of their relationship as meaningful. Perhaps if the leads had been given more pages in the book to grow their relationship, it may have seemed real. As Holly and J.D.'s circumstances grow worse daily, we are drawn deeper and deeper into their lives. There are some surprises along the way. This is not predictable writing. It is a fine suspense story and although the leads' romance seems too good to be true, it is a story of tenderness and healing. It was not, however, a book that compelled me to keep reading to find out what happened next. In my opinion, it was not an exceptional book - rather an average book. But I do think it is worth your time to read Bad Moon Rising if you can accept the fact that the romance is actually secondary to several other aspects of the book. I have previously written a review on Darkling I Listen should you desire a comparison of the two books.
Rating:
Summary: Mostly suspense - little romance - but still tender story
Review: This is a very serious story of recovery from life's greatest tragedies and making new starts. It is a story of murder and
prostitution, drugs and a mentally deranged killer. It is a very well written book but make no mistake, it is a dark book. Hope shines in the end but not before. This is my second Katherine Sutcliffe book. I had read Darkling, I Listen prior to Bad Moon Rising and consider Darkling a better book although it was a dark book as well. Both of these novels tend to have a certain amount of grotesqueness and extreme evil. I found the graphic description of killings in Bad Moon Rising too much for comfort but it is still within the framework of a tender story. J.D. Damascus at one time was an infamous Assistant District Attorney in New Orleans with a great reputation as a prosecutor and roots of a powerful political family. His father had been governor of Louisiana and his family is still immersed in politics. J.D., however, is no longer an active part of that family. He no longer is the powerful prosecutor and he has lost his own personal family. A few years previously his wife and two children were violently murdered and J.D. has since lived in a cloud of alcohol, guilt, and regret. He believes the wrong man was executed for his family's murders and still searches hopelessly for the real killer. J.D. now barely makes ends meet with a law practice representing the less desirable clients of New Orleans. Holly Jones is a reformed New Orleans prostitute now living a normal life in Branson, Missouri and has no desire to ever return to New Orleans. She is one of the lucky ones and has been able to escape the horrors of her previous life. Holly had left the city after a number of prostitutes were murdered. She seems to know something that no one else knows and suspects the real killer was never apprehended although a man was executed for the murders. When Holly receives a frantic call from one of her close friends still living the life of a prostitute in New Orleans, Holly worries that the real murderer has returned and fears for her friend's life and returns to find her. J.D. meets Holly when he receives a call to represent her for shooting New Orleans's chief of police. Holly had shot the chief in self-defense and J.D., knowing the chief's carnal weaknesses, threatens to expose him unless he drops the charges against Holly. Once Holly is out of jail, she discovers her car is stolen which contains all of her possessions. With no money and no place to go, J.D. invites her to his apartment for a temporary housing. He rationalizes that he is helping her out but realizes that he is strongly attracted to her. Clearly Holly is beautiful and irresistible enough for J.D. to consider her former life unimportant. Or it could be that he honestly does not have a judgmental personality. J.D. is truly attractive as the hero both in body and personality as long as he isn't drinking. Holly is attracted to him as well but will not be seduced by him and will not entertain any thoughts that there could ever be anything real between the two of them. As the reader, I had to agree with her thoughts. Somehow, this romance does not ever seem real. It is a thing of fairy tales and doesn't ring true. We see very little of the leads together and certainly even a smaller percentage with them happy together and alone. Those times are mostly just during the sensual scenes. Those scenes rate about a 3.5 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). They are infrequent and since he is drunk a good part of the time and she is an ex-hooker, it is hard to envision this side of their relationship as meaningful. Perhaps if the leads had been given more pages in the book to grow their relationship, it may have seemed real. As Holly and J.D.'s circumstances grow worse daily, we are drawn deeper and deeper into their lives. There are some surprises along the way. This is not predictable writing. It is a fine suspense story and although the leads' romance seems too good to be true, it is a story of tenderness and healing. It was not, however, a book that compelled me to keep reading to find out what happened next. In my opinion, it was not an exceptional book - rather an average book. But I do think it is worth your time to read Bad Moon Rising if you can accept the fact that the romance is actually secondary to several other aspects of the book. I have previously written a review on Darkling I Listen should you desire a comparison of the two books.
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