While She Was Sleeping

Rating:
Summary: exciting police procedural romance
Review: The entire Seattle metropolitan area is terrorized by the serial killer the Violator especially since his last victim was Sharon Myer, a cop working the case. Residents wonder if the police are not safe who is from this night stalker who, come midnight, snatches females from their bed. Even The Morning After no longer feels safe.

Police Chief Kate Townsend directs Sharon's partner Russ Sadler to work with forensic artist Jennifer Nash as a homeless person witnessed the latest homicide. Russ does not want to work alongside Jennifer, nor her with him as both still reels from the torrid affair they had that ended in two third-degree burn victims. As their love reheats, Russ refuses to play as Jennifer dumped him two years ago even while both struggles to focus on catching the Violator before someone else dies.

Though the bookstores are flooded with a rash of serial killers (must be the acid free paper), WHILE SHE WAS SLEEPING is an exciting police procedural romance due to the electricity generated by the lead couple. The dichotomy of love and animosity rings so real that the audience will comprehend how difficult it is for Russ and Jennifer to team up though that is what is needed to capture the Violator. Suzanne Forster writes a strong romantic suspense that will enthrall her vast audience.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre...
Review: This is my first Suzanne Forster book and I have to say I wasn't terribly impressed. I thought it would be an exciting page turner, but I had to force myself to turn the pages. Though it started out well enough, it slowed down to a crawl in the middle, then picked up a bit and the end was a bit of a disappointment. There was too much concentration on the relationship between Jennifer and Russ, though Russ was a likeable hero. It was just a bit too slow paced for a thriller.

Rating:
Summary: total pulp
Review: This was neither romance nor suspense.
It starts out with the death of the police officer who is partners with the hero Russ. After allowing herself to be tied up because she thinks her lover has come back for another round of kinky S and M sex, she is found dead. We also know her lover is a person she works with.

Then we have Russ, supposedly determined to get the killer no mater what spending all his time either arguing wih or defending Jennifer, who he split up with 2 years before.

Then we get tons of pyschobabble, a rather pathetic witness who keeps jerking everyone around, and Jennifer's own stupidity in going after the man she thinks responsible.

After a few minutes of angst ridden conversation, she and Russ end up in the sack, then he leaves a note on her pillow saying how much he needs to get away. He never calls and of course she starts to conclude that Russ is his partnr's killer after all. So much for the happily ever after and trust she promised him in the sack.

The diary supposedly left by Sharon is a red herring, and the S and M boyfriend, who is one sick dude, is turned into a laughable fool by the end of the book, as is the killer. Pathetic too in terms of his motivations.

This book did not ring true as either a thriller or a romance. The author took too many short cuts to both, with no genuine falling in love aspect, and no real suspense. We know who the killer is--giving us 5 suspects just makes the author look like she thinks her readers are all fools. It is all just meaningless sex, smoke and mirrors and no depth. This is the first book I have read by this author-I think it will be my last.