Customer Reviews

Night Stalker

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

...until it has been read from cover to cover.

Donna Anders wrote an awsome book when she wrote the Flower Man, but this time she has really outdone her own work. Not only is this book well written and reads smoothly, but the plot has twists and turns that Hitchkock would envy. And the dialogue! Wow! This book should win the Pulitzer alone for the realistic dialogue! Really! I love to read a book that is not only compelling, but also brings "real life" onto the page. I love this authors spirited way of turning a phrase and zapping other characters to the core. I wish I could do that!
Donna Anders made Julia Farley a symphatic suppermom with the spirit and attitude of many single parents today. What does Julia Farley do? Whatever it takes! Anders also has her finger on the pulse of the sick-o sociapath profile.
Some of the secondary characters were so maticulously woven into the fiber of the main characters life that it was unbelieveable writing. Each character comes to life in this book. I loved them all and some...I loved to hate!
I love this authors work so much that the only disappointing part of reading an Ander's book is when I am finished and realize that I don't have it to read any longer...until the next book.

Night Stalker is a thrilling page turner that kept me guessing till the end!
Donna Anders is a superb story teller and I have read all of her suspense! In this exciting book, set in Seattle, the protagonist never quite knows who she can trust--until it could be too late! I'm giving this a well deserved five stars!
Thank you, Donna Anders! We can't wait for the next one!

I can't believe this book even got published. It was totally unrealistic and the characters said and did stupid things.
Main character is Julia. The mother of two teenager girls, divorced from their "unstable" father. Father has been harassing the family, trying to scare his wife into letting him back home. So what does supposedly smart mom do? She jogs on isolated paths on a regular basis in between her SIX jobs. Julia is a real Martha Stewart. For work she paints/wallpapers, sells her fancy special occasion cakes and does flowers for weddings and special events. And she also takes aerobic classes. Where does she find the time? I hated her! ;0)
Then dumb Julia gets involved with a MARRIED lawyer who has his own "unstable" wife. She also ignores evidence she sees about him possibly being a serial killer, chalking up everything to "coincidence".
Don't waste your time. I would have given this book no stars if I could have.

This book was terrible. The writing was childish. This book would have been better if written with teenagers instead of adults. The story went round and round, and the situations she found herself in were ridiculous. I wouldn't recommend this book or this author's childish writing style to anyone.

I have read all of Donna Anders' thrillers. When I see a new title by this author, I know the book will be exciting, a scary book to read on a cold, rainy night. I was troubled by the heroine in this book, though. She was responsible for the welfare of two teenaged daughters, yet took very few practical steps to protect them or herself from a very violent stalker targeting the family. Several women had been murdered on the jogging path behind her house and she and one of her daughters were lured to the secluded path and then shot at. Then, when she had very obviously incriminating evidence in a murder investigation, she withheld the information from the police, waiting for the suspect to explain his side of the story to her. Even when his name was printed in the newspaper as a suspect, she continued to withhold evidence. In her other books, Anders keeps the fear and anxiety level up without sacrificing the integrity of her heroine. "Night Stalker" is scary and suspenseful, but I didn't enjoy it as much as her other books.

In Issaquah, Washington divorcee Julia Farley holds six part-time jobs to earn money for her and her two teenage daughters. She enjoys running in the woods just outside her house, but on this jog feels fear that someone is watching her. She fears her former husband Peter is increasingly out of control and trying to scare her back into a marriage with him.

Julia sits on a writing panel discussing "truth in nonfiction". Also on the panel is renowned criminal lawyer and now author of a true crime book Earl Paulson. Earl tells her that he has two children and a psycho wife; she mentions that she has two teens and an imbalanced ex. Julia is surprised that she likes Earl. As an attraction between them deepens, someone begins stalking Julia and her children. Incidents occur and everyone believes Peter is the culprit. Could Peter be a threat to the daughters he loves?

NIGHT STALKER is an exciting thriller that grips readers from the start through the immediate admiration of the heroine and her extended family (daughters, sister and her brother-in-law. However, readers will believe that Peter is too obvious as the prime suspect though Julia seems to be a stalker's magnet. A confrontation Julia forces seems dumb for such an intelligent person as that would have been better handled by the cops. Still the problem remains: who is the threat and how to not just survive it, but to stop it without dying or causing loved ones to die. This will keep readers going until the final shocking twist.

Harriet Klausner

I loved NIGHT STALKER and read it in two days. The main character is really sweet and likeable. And I was really surprised by the ending. I also really liked Donna Anders' THE FLOWER MAN. I read lots of books and this is one of my favorites!

I was all set to enjoy this book and what a letdown....tedious dialogue--repeating the same thoughts over and over....couldn't get past page 150....would NOT recommend. If I could give it a NO star I would...sorry....

This is my first Donna Anders book - I have books I buy from Amazon for when the library hasn't received any more books I've reserved. This has been a real eye-opener for me, in that I never thought a book of this caliber could actually be published. I'm amazed at the repetition of the main character's thought process and her actions in the face of so many indications that she and her daughters are in danger. Everything to Julia adds up to "coincidence" and becomes ever more annoying to me. Julia is not even a very likeable person, feeling lucky that she "hasn't fallen very deeply in love" with the sleazy lawyer/writer she's been meeting for dinner, after his name is linked with 2 murders and his attitude toward her becomes pretty nasty - yet she still withholds evidence involving him with the murdered women until she can "talk with him" about it.

I still have about a third more of this book to get through because I'm not sure "who done it" yet - but this has been a sad surprise to me; considering how popular Ms. Anders books seem to be, how poorly written this one is. For some reason, I thought Ms. Anders and Wendi Corsi Staub were on a par with each other. I like Ms. Staub's style much better.

I guess there's no one as good as Karin Slaughter, though. Sigh...

Not all stalker victims are savvy and world-wise; Indeed, most of them are naive--which makes them easier to terrorize. Anders' book demonstrates this with chilling accuracy. If the highly critical reviewer didn't like this book, why didn't he/she just put it down? Night Stalker scared me good, and kept me reading with a racing heart. I didn't find it one bit predictable, nor did scores of other readers. Sometimes it seems that those who can write, write. Those who can't criticize. Anders is true to form and her form is compelling! Scary stuff!