Customer Reviews

Haunting Rachel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This being the first book that I have read by Kay Hooper, I was impressed! I am not one who like the "romance/mysteries" but this one definately caught my attention. The book had characters which in some ways you could relate to especially the Mercy & Nick relationship. The Rachel/Adam/Tom relationship was almost eerie. To have someone who could be your dead fiance's twin come into you life is most uimaginable but Kay Hooper found a way to make you believe. I found this book a great read and would recommend it to all!

Kay Hooper has written a book of suspense and mystery for women who read romance. She understands us. Terrible things have happened to Rachel Grant. As a young woman, she lost her finance and her world was dimmed, seemingly forever. For years she has gone through the motions, numb. Now, she must deal with the aftermath and guilt of her parents sudden death. She returns home and things begin to happen to her, at once strange and frightening. A man steps into the center of the mystery, Looking like her fiance he seems a saviour, but who is he really? Her uncle seems to be searching the house frantically for something, but what? Her fathers lawyer seems to want to protect her interests but what is he really doing? Ms. Hooper has taken these elements and more, weaving them into an amazingly complex tale with many of the dramatic elements Alfred Hitchcock put in his still thrilling films. Like Hitchcock, humor gleams thru the mystery at the most unexpected moments. When I finished this book, I closed it with the satisfaction that comes with a good read. Like a good meal it leaves a pleasant memory. I recommend it highly.

This book really disappointed me. I am a fan of mystery and thrillers and bought the book (partly) on the comments at the cover: " a real hair-raiser", "tremendous punch" - but sorry, I didn't see it. I was already halfway when I realized there WAS no deeper layer in the story: this is it, this is as tense/suspenseful (yawn) as it's going to get. A lot of characters are introduced with quite non-convincing backgrounds, and you saw the end build up real gradually (whodunnitandwhy). I thought the parts where Rachel interacts with Adam were soooooo mushy, talking about touching, caressing, kissing, feelings, blablabla, if I want to read about that, I'll take a romance novel. NO hair was raised what so ever. This is the first Kay Hooper I read, but as far as I'm concerned it will be the last: ultra-thin plot, where some characters are sketched briefly, without a real function in the plot (Marcy, and the housekeeper - forgot her name). Yeck! Take Dean Koontz, or Ann Rule - THOSE are hair-raising!!!

An Aside first: the dichotomy on the reviews of this book is just fascinating. There are some truly polar opinions. Great plot / bad plot; good on details / bad on details; too much sex and romance / not enough sex and romance...etc. It's like people were reading 2 different books.

Anyway, I didn't think I was going to like this book. I actually almost decided not to read it. I wasn't sure if it was romantic suspense or just a suspense book....I prefer romance. So I kept putting off reading it and almost opted not to, but then figured I'd give it a try. Glad I did. It was a fabulous book.

The storyline was excellent. Hooper did a great job casting suspicions about. She'd write scenes out of context that made characters questionable. You were never quite sure who was good or bad. You had a gut feeling and kind of knew that certain people were good, but she made you wonder. Hooper did a great job with the details too, making the story believable and interesting. I was thoroughly into everything that was going on.

While the book is more plot than romance, there were enough romantic elements to keep me into the story. It could have had some more general romance, but I wasn't bothered by that issue. Rachel and Adam's relationship was still pretty well done. There was a good elemental chemistry between them and you really want to root for them. The progression between them was great to read. The only negative I can say is that Hooper skimped on the sex scenes. She basically just implied them. Took some of the spice out of the book.

Another aspect that I really enjoyed was the sub-story of Nikolas and Mercy. They had a great romance and I was just as interested in them as I was everything else in the story. I liked them just as much as I did Adam and Rachel. And Hooper gave them plenty of story space. They didn't just have spare scenes, they were an integral part of the story. I liked that.

Overall, great book. Definitely worth reading.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Kay Hooper's writing style is stilted, almost juvenile, but somehow the fairly simple plot kept me reading through to the end. This is the first book of hers that I read, and it interested me just enough to read "After Caroline." The style is the same (unfortunately), and the plot is what I now believe is the Kay Hooper Formula. I'm not sure I would call it a thriller, but both books do have eerie /moments/ that prickle the back of the neck. Perhaps that's why she rates with me at all.

I was ready to read a good book. As I looked at the stack of unreads, I chose Haunting Rachel, cautious because I couldn't get through Finding Laura.

I enjoyed Haunting Rachel very much. I liked the twists and turns to make me doubt whether I figured out the storyline before I read the words. I didn't like the super natural stuff. It is not something that was easy for me to believe. The two of them having the same dreams. Not for me. I dream and boy I never get such messages. The flower there. The flower gone. Huh. BUT the author does a good job with the characters and hmmmm factors.

Ms. Hooper does keep you guessing in the book, but it moves a little slow at times and the characters don't have much life in them. If you've not read any of Kay Hooper's books before, I'd suggest starting with one of the others.

I am a huge fan of Kay Hooper and always look forward to the release of a new book by her. This book was a huge disappointment for me, it is not one of her best.

Rachel lost her fiance, Thomas, ten years ago in a plane crash. She has been mourning him this whole time, wondering if she will ever find love and be truly happy again. Suddenly, she notices a man hanging around that could pass for Thomas's twin, but anytime she tries to get close, he just disappears. Is it Thomas, or his ghost?

I was hooked at this point and looking forward to another great story by Hooper. Unfortunately, the book went down hill from there. The plot was confusing and hard to follow, and Rachel was such a shallow character that I really didn't care what happened to her by the end of the book. Ms Hooper missed the mark on this one, and I am a fan.

This was the first Kay Hooper Romance Novel I read. I was "smitten" by the unusual story and loved the characters. The mystery of Adam, Thomas's look-a-like, and Rachel weave a tingling tale. I couldn't put it down. After reading this I recommend "Finding Laura", "After Caroline" and "Amanda". I liked these stories better than her Shadows & Evil series as they have more romance. I find her style in these much improved from her older novels written in the 80's, which I have since also read. I really wish the hero's and heroines of her stories weren't so perfect and beautiful and this story is almost accomplishes this issue. Some things really do get better with time. They are more normal in appearance and so you can concentrate more on their story and the mystery surrounding it without feel like your dealing with "super heroes". A good rainy day novel and still one of my favorites.

Is it a ghost, or did her fiancé not die in South America as she'd been led to believe? Rachael had only been nineteen when Tom vanished on that flight. Now, ten years later and back in town because her parents had been killed in a plane crash, she sees someone who looks enough like Tom to be his twin. The mysterious stranger is Adam Delefield, a friend of her father's, or so he says. He also says he owed her father money he wants to repay. Her life is in a turmoil. Someone is trying to kill her, her emotions are out of control. Businessmen aren't supposed to have guns. People are lying to her. Who can she trust? Adam, can she trust him?

Wow! What a book. I was enthralled with this five star romantic thriller. Yes, I said thriller. This book had me on the edge of my seat, panting, heart racing, it was a thriller.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene