I'm Watching You [Hardcover]

Mary Burton (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Zebra Books (2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073949161X
• ISBN-13: 978-0739491614
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,041,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A Central Virginia native whose family's Richmond roots run as deep as the nation's, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary Burton graduated from Virginia's Hollins University and began a career in marketing. After a decade she left her job and began writing. Her first novel, a romance, was published in 2000.

Following that book, Burton wrote sixteen novels and novellas for Harlequin and Silhouette before entering the dark world of multiple murderers and their motives with Senseless, Merciless, Dying Scream, Dead Ringer and I'm Watching You, as well as her novella Christmas Past, which appears in the 2008 New York Times bestselling holiday anthology Silver Bells.

Her commitment to realism has led to eye-opening interviews with law enforcement, to forensic seminars and to the firing range. She is a graduate of the Henrico County Citizens Police Academy and the Richmond FBI Citizen's Academy, and has participated in Sisters in Crime's Forensic University program. Recently, she attended the Writers Police Academy in Jamestown, North Carolina. There she attended seminars on autopsies, undercover work and the motives behind murder.

Mary Burton is an avid baker and an accomplished cook. When not writing, researching or baking, Mary practices yoga, enjoys her miniature dachshunds Buddy and Bella, volunteers at the University of Richmond's Culinary Arts Program, attends professional conferences, and visits with readers and booksellers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plenty of action to keep the story moving, March 3, 2008

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm Watching You (Paperback)

Lindsey O'Neil has never forgotten the horror of growing up in a home with an abusive father, especially after discovering her mother's battered and lifeless body when she was a teen. She's reinvented herself and is committed to helping battered families get a second chance. When the body of an abuser is discovered behind her shelter, her estranged husband, homicide detective Zach Kier is on the case to find the culprit. They separated a year earlier when Lindsey could no longer deal with his alcoholism which went out of control when he was working as an undercover narcotics agent. But soon, one murder turns into two, and Lindsey discovers that the killer is stalking her and sending her the severed hands of the victims. Other key plot points include a friend on the run from her abusive and wealthy husband, a partner who doesn't want to work with Zach due to his alcoholism, and a pesky reporter who wouldn't know subtlety if it hit her over the head.

With crisp dialogue, an engaging plot, and plenty of well-developed secondary storylines to keep the plot moving, the story is suspenseful and never lets up until the culprit is identified. Burton's plot development is reminiscent of Karen Rose.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pale, poor copy of Karen Rose's 'I'm watching you' ***Mild spoiler alert***, July 2, 2008

By 

Avid reader (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I'm Watching You (Paperback)

Now this is my personal opinion and in sharp contrast to all the glowing reviews I've seen here. This was not a great read. Having read Karen Rose's wonderful 'I'm watching you' (published in 2004), when I got this book by Mary Burton (of the same title but published in 2007), I was ready to love it based on the reviews. I was sorely disappointed. The plots are so similar it seemed to me that Ms. Burton read Karen Rose's book and just tweaked it a little bit to come up with this. She didn't even have the decency/courtesy of changing the title! I wish all the people writing these reviews could read Karen Rose's book and see for themselves.
Just a few examples:
1. Karen Rose's heroine (Kristen Mayhew) grew up in a house with a controlling/abusive father-so did Lindsay in Ms. Burton's book
2. Kristen was a victim of abuse-so was Lindsay
3. Abe Reagan, Kristen's love interest in Ms Rose's book used to be an undercover narcotics cop-so is Lindsay's ex-husband Zack . Both guys went from narcotics to homicide.
4. Abe gets to work with a reluctant partner who's lost her previous partner (whom she really loved) on the job, and is unwilling/not ready to work with Abe-same scenario for Zack
5. There's a pesky reporter in both books, who interferes with the cases and makes life difficult for the investigations
6. Here's the kicker-the serial killers in both books has a thing for the heroine, 'looking out for' her, sending her tokens of his admiration in the form of letters, clues (and hands) leading to the bodies, etc. Come on, Ms. Burton!
7. Even down to the families of Abe and Zack, there are similarities-in Karen Rose's book, one of the characters, Timothy is described as a fully functional independent guy with Down's syndrome. In Mary Burton's book, Zack has a sister with Down's syndrome-and she's also fully functional and independent.

The similarities just go on and on. Even giving Ms Burton the benefit of doubt, the plots were too similar for it just to be coincidence. Given that Karen Rose's book came first, I had to conclude that Mary Burton's research included Karen Rose's book and she just pretty much copied whatever she liked from Ms. Rose's book. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I hate to put anyone's book down, but I couldn't let this slide cos I was so annoyed by the glaring similarities between the two books-I still can't get over the fact that Mary Burton didn't even change the title! How lazy is that?
I know serial killer plots have been done to death (pardon the pun) and there's bound to be some repetition but just a little pinch of originality is what keeps us buying the books.
Of course Karen Rose's book is the far superior book-anyone who's read Mary Burton's I'm watching you and thought it was a good book should read Karen Rose's and see what the real thing is like.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I'm Watching You", December 11, 2008

By 

Lynx Rufus ("Talk of the Town Trailer Estates Park") - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: I'm Watching You (Paperback)

Lindsay O'Neil came from a home where she and her
mother endured a life of physical abuse at the hands
of her father. One day, she came home and found her
mother's brutally battered body. Her father had left
the scene and gone to a motel where he committed
suicide. Lindsay was seventeen. To avoid ending up
in a foster home. Lindsay ran away to California where
she assumed a new name and moved on with her life.
What had happened to her mother was something that
she could not overcome. While in California, she was
able to earn her college degree.

Lindsay return to Richmond, Va. where she grew up. She
is committed to helping battered families get a second
chance in life. When the body of an abuser is found behind
the shelter where Lindsay is the director, her estranged
husband, Homicide Detective Zach Kier takes the case, on the
condition that his partner Detective Jacob Warwick is the lead.
Lindsay and Zach are separated due to his alcoholism, he was
able to seek help, Lindsay was unable to trust him.

There is a deranged killer on the loose who kills men who
battered and abused their wives and leaving the bodies in
different locations. The killer sends Lindsay flowers with
a note "Lindsay, you are not alone anymore. The Guardian."
Detective, Warwick and Kier they realize that Lindsay is in
some way connected to the murders. She may not be the
killer The Guardian knows her.

I liked Lindsay and Zach. Their characters were well
developed as well as the secondary characters. It was
impossible to figure-out who the killer was until the
very end of the book. The plot line, about a serial
killer, was not described in a gross way, more of a
protector. The story line kept me captivated until the
last page. My first book, I've read by this author,
excellent writing, suspenseful and very little romance.
I'm Watching You it's the first in the series.
Mary Burton has a second book in the sequel
"Dead Ringer."

I highly recommend.