I'll Be Watching You [Mass Market Paperback]

Tina Wainscott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2003

Kim was still a teenager when she fled the Florida Everglades--and most people in her hometown of Cypress were glad to see her go. For Kim committed the cardinal small-town sin. She accused a local son of an unspeakable murder--and no one would ever let her forget it.

A decade later, Kim returns to Cypress to take over her late grandmother's bar. She hopes enough time has passed for her to go back to the only place she's ever called home. But the hatred Kim left behind is still waiting for her--and now she's in more danger than ever before.

It starts with a few dirty looks from the locals. Then a pick-up truck tries to run Kim off the road. The signs are all there. Someone wants Kim gone before more dirty secrets see the light of day. And if Kim doesn't go easy, a killer is going to make her wish she's never returned home...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cypress, a small town perched on the edge of the Everglades, is torn by divided loyalties when one of its former citizens, Kim Lyons, returns. Before leaving, Kim accused her stepfather, who hails from one of the town's influential founding families, of murder. Now she's back to run the bar she inherited from her grandmother, who was the victim of a swamp "accident," and uncover the truth behind her father's death. Several broken windows and a near rape later and it's clear that more than one person would like to see Kim leave, but the various attempts to bully her out of town only strengthen her resolve to stay put. A psychic child foretells danger for Kim and her love interest, Zell Macgregor, the one man who stands between her and the town's retribution, but as usual, no one heeds the child's advice until it is almost too late. A shocking finale involving a tank of hungry alligators brings the tale to a satisfying close, but the journey up to this point is fitful. The pace lags while Wainscott rehashes the town's history, and the chemistry between Kim and Zell is nonexistent. The story's largest shortcoming, however, is the author's failure to create characters that are both believable and sympathetic.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover

She Thought She Left Her Past Behind.
Kim was still a teenager when she fled the Florida Everglades-and most people in her hometown of Cypress were glad to see her go. For Kim committed the cardinal small-town sin. She accused a local son of an unspeakable murder-and no one would ever let her forget it.

But She Was Wrong...
A decade later, Kim returns to Cypress to take over her late grandmother's bar. She hopes enough time has passed for her to go back to the only place she's ever called home. But the hatred Kim left behind is still waiting for her-and she's in more danger than ever before.

Dead Wrong.
It starts with a few dirty looks from the locals. Then a pick-up truck tries to run Kim off the road. The signs are all there. Someone wants Kim gone before more dirty secrets see the light of day. And if Kim doesn't go easy, a killer is going to make her wish she never returned home...

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312984235
• ISBN-13: 978-0312984236
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #966,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suspenseful and Chilling!, March 3, 2004

By 

Margaret Marr "Published Author" (NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'll Be Watching You (Mass Market Paperback)

Set in the murky swamps of the Florida Everglades where alligators swim thick and loyalties run deep, comes a chilling tale of family secrets and a town where people will stop at nothing to protect their own.

Kim Lyons inherits Southern Comfort from her grandma Elva. Now is Kim's chance to own a bar, except the good folks of Cypress don't want her sticking around. Ten year ago she had accused one of its prominent citizens of murder. Threats turn serious when Kim starts digging into Elva's death. Was it an accident like the townspeople claimed happened to the last victim ten years earlier? Or is something more sinister going on?

Zell Macgregor isn't supposed to protect Kim after she accused his father of murder. He's not supposed to like her, either, but he does. Torn between his loyalties to his family and guilt over lying on the witness stand to protect his father, Zell wishes Kim would just leave things be and go back to her big city home. He doesn't want to see her hurt or worse. The longer she's in town, the more he wants to act on his attraction to her, which will cause all kinds of trouble.

Ms. Wainscott has mixed a suspenseful and interesting plot with great characterization. Zell was so adorable I couldn't help falling in love with him, and I admired Kim's strength and courage. Oscar the pig stole my heart also! I'LL BE WATCHING YOU is such a great book! Don't miss it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well rounded plot..., February 17, 2004

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'll Be Watching You (Mass Market Paperback)

Ten years ago, Kim's widowed mother remarried, and it was an unthinkable marriage in Kim's eyes, to the man she believed had killed her father. She left Florida and the pain behind, but when her grandmother dies in another mysterious "accident", Kim is left with her inheritance and a pack of questions.

When she heads south to claim the bar and home left to her, Kim is faced with old resentments and memories. The easy way out would be to sell out and go home, but Kim is not one to take the easy way. Despite hostility and being forced into repeated confrontations with her childhood tormenter, Zell, she hangs tough. Every day brings her closer to finding out the truth that cost her grandmother her life. Her stubbornness and passion could exact the same toll from Kim, unless Zell makes an impossible choice.

**** The pages of I'll Be Watching you sizzle with sulty passion and crackle with sharply ironic humor. Facing one's past is never easy, and always necessary. The author's use of psychological metaphor is subtle and effective in creating a well rounded plot. ***** Amanda Killgore

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tina Wainscott can write a great suspense!, March 3, 2005

By 

Shanyeah (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'll Be Watching You (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this up not knowing anything about it, only that it was written by Ms. Wainscott. I was not disappointed. The story was really great and I loved how Kim, even with the blows her life threw her, she did not give up on her dream of owning her own bar. Ms. Wainscott described the characters to the point where it left no voids. I could really feel for Kim and found my eyes tearing up from the fact that she was so strong and relentless. The killer took me totally by surprise, which is what I love about a good suspense novel.