Customer Reviews

Hot Blooded

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I am extremely elated that Lisa Jackson is now writing suspense novels. I have always known her to be a prolific romance novelist. "Hot Blooded" was my first novel of hers that I've read. I loved the whole thing. It says on the side that it's a Romantic Suspense, but it is practically all suspense. The plot: Talk show host Dr. Samantha Leeds is being stalked. She is receiving phone threats and letters saying that she needs to be repented for her sins and that she will die soon. Sam doesn't understand what this nutcase is talking about until a girl calls up saying her name is "Annie." This frightens Sam even more. (I won't explain about Annie because that would take about a decade in writing). At the same time, prostitutes are being found murdered with a set of rosary beadsk, at the same time Samantha is on the radio. Detective Rick Benz and his partner belive that the prostitution murders are connected to Sam's stalker. This novel keeps up the pace all the way until the shocking finale that leaves room for a sequel, "Cold Blooded," coming June 02. I am now in the middle of "If She Only Knew," Lisa's one other suspense novel.

Dr. Samantha Leeds is the host of Midnight Confessions, a popular New Orleans radio talk show. She begins getting calls at home and at work from a man named "John" who tells her that he knows her and asks her to repent for her past sins. While the ratings at WSLJ climb, Samantha begins to get very scared as one of her callers is "Annie", a woman claiming to be a teenager who committed suicide after calling in to Sam's radio show in Houston nine years ago.

Coincidentally, perhaps, Ty Wheeler moves into Samantha's neighborhood. Though he is incredibly attractive and very attentive when "John" increases his focus on Samantha, Ty isn't very forthcoming about himself. Could he somehow be involved with the threatening calls?

Are the brutal murders being committed in New Orleans linked somehow to Samantha? And whom can she trust when someone close to her just may prove to be "John"?

Lisa Jackson has written an intense thriller, one that will knock your socks off and keep you up until the wee hours of the morning. With well-developed characters, steamy romance, and captivating intrigue, HOT BLOODED is a must read.

The trip to Mexico was a disaster for radio psychologist Dr. Samantha Leeds. She manages to return to her home in Cambrai on the shore of Lake Pontchartain near New Orleans with a leg in a cast and the end of her relationship with David Ross. However, her answering machine has more than the welcome home from her dad, it contains a message about paying for her sins and than there is the envelop with the not "repent" note inside it.

At about the same time, someone begins torturing and murdering prostitutes while simultaneously listening to Dr. Sam's New Orleans radio show. When Sam limps back to work threatening calls start coming in to her show. Police Detective Rick Bentz realizes that Sam is the only lead to the killer, but is not sure of the connection. Neither is Sam. Meanwhile Sam meets Ty Wheeler and begins to fall in love with him, but wonders if she can trust him or will he turn out to be her latest male mistake and even worse, her stalker.

HOT BLOODED is an exciting romantic suspense tale with a strong emphasis on the suspense. The story line moves rather quickly forward, as Lisa Jackson takes no prisoners. Sam is a wonderful damsel in distress who abhors that role. The killer is obsessed but clever even fooling an intelligent detective like Rick Bentz. Sub-genre fans and those who enjoy a taut police procedural-thriller will delight in this novel and look forward to next year's sequel COLD BLOODED that returns many of the cast members from this tale.

Harriet Klausner

HOT BLOODED is the first in Lisa Jackson's New Orleans series. I didn't start this series at the beginning. My introduction to this author was with SHIVER. I had no clue this was a series until a friend clued me in. In fact I went on to read ABSOLUTE FEAR not feeling like I'd missed a thing. In LOST SOULS, however, I felt the gaps show and knew I needed to go back and read the first three before proceeding further.

If you haven't read HOT BLOODED, I think you are missing a treat. Out of all the books in this series, this has been my favorite so far. I thought this would be more about Bentz and Montoya, but they weren't the main characters here. This story was about Dr. Samantha Leeds, a radio talk show psychologist, who becomes a serial killer's target. The mystery to finding the killer comes from her past. In the meantime, she meets Ty Wheeler who she is immediately attracted to. When the truth about him is revealed, Sam wonders if he's the killer.

This book had a perfect combination of suspense and romance, but for me the best part was the ending. Although Sam's story felt closed with a solid ending, Bentz and Montoya presented enough questions at the end to get me excited about the next book. As of today, here are the books in this series:

1. HOT BLOODED, May 2001
2. COLD BLOODED, June 2002
3. THE NIGHT BEFORE, March 2003
4. SHIVER, April 2006
5. ABSOLUTE FEAR, April 2007
6. LOST SOULS, March 2008
7. MALICE, April 2009

Late night radio psychologist Samantha Leeds is drawn into a serial killers web when she starts receiving threatening letters and phone calls from a listener who goes by the name of John. John is actually a psychopath who holds Sam responsible for the death of a teenage girl who called into her show in Houston a decade earlier, and Sam was not able to reach her. In order to get Sam to repent, John strangles several hookers with a deadly rosary.

She gets involved with Ty, her sexy neighbor, and unbeknownst to her, he has sought out Sam with plans to use her for his own research to probe into the teen's death. When they start sleeping together, Ty realizes he has crossed the line, but fears that if he tells her the truth, she will hate him.

Working with NOPD Detectives Rick Bentz and Rueben Montoya to investigate the crime, Sam's ratings start to flourish with each phone call from John. As they race against the clock to learn John's real identity, Sam is not sure if she can trust those closest to her, including her estranged brother, her assistant, and the station owner, who wants to capitalize on John's presence for the ratings bonanza it has become.

This slick and fast-paced thriller tosses out so many possible baddies, that readers will be guessing until the very end.

This book was really great! I could not put it down, and since I live close to New Orleans, where the book was set, it just made it all the more creepy. Had to keep reading til I found out who the killer was! I am actually now in the process of reading the second book, Cold Blooded. Lisa Jackson is definitely an author I will be looking for in the bookstores from now on!

An excellent book. It was packed with suspense from beginning to
end. "Hot Blooded" made me an instant fan of Ms. Jackson, keep up
the good work. Just ordered "Cold Blooded", can't wait to read it.

I just finished this book and I had to go on line to say how good it was. It was the first book I read by this author but it won't be the last. I have Cold Blooded and I intend to start reading it tonight. I highly recommend this book to lovers of romantic suspense. You will not be disappointed. Pam

This was my first book by Lisa Jackson. It was great.

Set in New Orleans a psychologist that has a nightly talk show is suddenly experiencing some encounters that bring back her frightning past. Girls in the city are being murdered and the killer is calling the show and taunting our heroine. Add to this an old plantation house on Lake Ponchitrain with it's own history, an assistant who makes no bones about wanting to be the next hit for the radio station, and then a dark, handsome, and mysterious new neighbor who is always there for her and seems to know more then he should about things regarding the murders keeps you turning the pages. A dark theme but a happy ending. This book will keep you turning the pages and guessing "who did it."

Police find prostitutes murdered in the New Orleans French Quarter, strangled by a rosary with sharpened beads. The bodies are left with their legs splayed, their hands poised as if in prayer, a hundred dollar bill with the eyes blackened out left on the bedside table. In the background, the radio softly plays.

Radio psychologist Dr. Samantha Leeds returns to work after a disastrous two-week vacation in Mexico. She finds a message on her answering machine a admonition that she must pay for her sins. In the mail, she finds a mutilated publicity photo. Threatening phone calls to the radio station follow, all warning her that "I know what you did...you're not going to get away with it....You're going to have to pay for sins."

Police detective Rick Bentz discovers the link between the serial killings and Samantha. As the threats continue, Samantha realizes the killer knows too much about her and must be close to her. She can't trust anyone, not even her sexy new neighbor Ty Wheeler, who holds secrets of his own. Then a woman calls claiming to be from Samantha's past; a woman Samantha knows died nine years ago. As killings become less random, moving closer to Samantha's inner circle, police warn she's becoming a target.

Fans of police procedural-thrillers will thoroughly enjoy Lisa Jackson's HOT BLOODED. This riveting, fast-paced plot keeps the reader guessing as Jackson casts her spell of psychological terror. The dark atmosphere and intense suspense, along with masterful characterization, result in a stunning conclusion. Look for the sequel next year, COLD BLOODED, which promises a return of some many of the characters from HOT BLOODED. Very highly recommended.