Customer Reviews

Now You See Him

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Two years ago, Ellie Byron was standing on a balcony watching the Mardi Gras festivities when she saw the Stephanie Gray murder. The New Orleans Police arrested Charles Penn, but Ellie could not identify whether he was the killer as she insisted she followed the victim; the police believe that Ellie feared Charles would come after her so she refused to tell the truth. In spite of Ellie's inability to point to Charles as the killer, he is convicted of murder.

Ellie, owner of the Hungry Eyes Bookstore in Toussaint, Louisiana learns that Charles has escaped from incarceration and that another woman was killed using the same ice pick modus operendi used in the Gray case. Besides her belief that her life is in peril, but not necessarily from Charles, Ellie fears that her past will surface. Local lawyer Joe Gable tries to protect her because he wants to get close to her, but also wonders why Ellie Byron has no history anywhere prior to five years ago. Meanwhile police see uncanny parallels between the homicides and mystery novels written by Sonja Elliot.

This exhilarating romantic suspense is a tense thriller that grips the audience from the moment Charles escapes from prison; the plot keeps the attention of fans as the tension mounts and twists occur. The audience will wonder if Charles truly is the killer or is there is someone else perhaps from Ellie's shadowy past. Finally there is the link to the Elliot novels to muddy the bayous further in what is a sensational tale that keeps readers wondering whose doing what to whom.

Harriet Klausner

I've been enjoying Stella's "Bayou Books" since KISS THEM GOODBYE, and particularly like seeing the familiar faces and locations from the previous books. The author's signature suspense, coupled with the steamy scenes, is also back for this installment. I'm looking forward to the next and last in this series, A GRAVE MISTAKE, especially since these stories celebrate the flavor of Louisiana, while taking the reader on an exciting ride.

Ellie Byron has finally settled into life in Touissant. She moved to the small town after she witnesses a murder during Mardi Gras. Although she couldn't actually see who the murderer was, her testimony was enough to send the main suspect to jail.
Now having escaped from jail, the murders not only start up again but someone seems to be stalking Ellie as well. Is it the
killer or someone else?

Joe Gable is Ellie's next door neighbor and is very attracted to the quiet bookstore owner. But when her life is threatened he
will do anything to protect her. Will he be able to keep his feelings to himself?

I loved NOW YOU SEE HIM. Stella Cameron weaves a tale that has
you anxiously turning the page to see what happens next.
Now on her third book set in the small Louisiana town and each
story is better then the last.

I urge you to get this book. I know you will love it as much as I do.
Barb

If you've read Stella Cameron you're familiar with Toussaint. Louisiana and you're about to go back again in this spicy thriller that stars Ellie Byron, who ran away from home when she was fifteen, winding up in Toussaint, where she now owns a bookstore. Two years ago Ellie witnessed a woman murdered with an ice pick during Mardi Gras and though she could not identify the killer, her testimony helped put him away. Charles Penn was the man she helped send up the river and now, during a prison transfer, he's escaped. And not long after another woman is ice picked to death and it looks like Penn may be the killer.


However, maybe not, as the murders are apparently copies of murders in local mystery writer Sonia Elliot's books. It turns out she'd written a couple books called DEATH AT MARDI GRAS and DEATH IN DIAMONDS and the two ice pick murders mirror the killings in those books. As it turns out Ms. Elliot has another book about to come out and Ellie has an advance copie, so she's got a pretty good idea how the next killing is going to take place. Only trouble is, is Ellie going to be the victim.

So there you have the premise of a very good mystery. Mix that up with Ms. Cameron's very steamy sex scenes and you have the kind of book that both thrills and excites. I loved this book, but then I love most anything Ms. Cameron writes. Oh yeah, I forget to mention what Ellie ran away from, oh wait, I guess that's one of the many things I'll have to leave to you to find out when you read the book.

Two years ago, Ellie Byron witnessed a murder during Mardi Gras from her hotel balcony. She was not able to identify the killer, but habitual criminal Charles Penn was still convicted of the crime. Penn escapes from prison and another victim turns up with a similar MO that is patterned after a series of mystery novels, and the police think that the killer may want to harm Ellie.

Ellie has a tragic past. An orphan at ten, she ran away and managed to be taken in by a not so nice family. After a couple of attacks by who she thinks is Penn, she is reluctant to go to the authorities. She fears that further investigation into her background may bring light to her not so pleasant past. But neighbor and attorney Joe has eyes for Ellie and pledges to keep her safe.

While the culprit is relatively easy to discover, the chemistry between the leads and the quirky citizens that make up the Toussaint parish allow the reader to forgive a lot of things, and makes for an entertaining story including the inclusion of characters from a supposedly unrelated novel popping up near the end. But, will Joe and Ellie be able to figure out who the killer is before the next mystery novel (aptly titled "Death of a Witness") is published?

And any reader familiar with the Toussaint series will like catching up with old characters from previous novels. Just one question - when will Father Cyrus renounce his vows and take up with Madge already?

This novel is well-plotted, but I think it leaves a little to be desired in terms of character development. The reader simply isn't given enough information about the two protagonists to care about them very much; the secondary characters were much more interesting. We're told that there is a strong attraction between them, but I for one never felt it.

That said, it's a nice afternoon diversion.

I found this book to be very boring. I could not finish it. There is no character development. I felt as if there must have been a book prior to this one in which all the previous allusions to past actions were explained. However, the book jacket did not indicate this. Based on this book, I would not recommend this author to anyone nor would I read any more of her books. Hopefully her other books are better written.

This is the first book I've read in a long time where I really truly didn't want to finish it, it was that bad. I wouldn't even rank this half a star if Amazon would let me; the writing was just absolutely atrocious, there were too many characters and plots to keep track of, the whole thing with Madge and Cyrus was just stupid and pointless, the ending was ridiculous and the characters were just stupid how they changed their minds every five seconds. It's truly a book you suffer through to get to the end. Unbelievably horrid; I never want to pick up another book by Cameron again.

I agree with everything said in all the one star reviews! The writing, editing, character development, storytelling and sex in this book were horrible. I spent only a dollar on it at a used book sale but it wasn't even worth that. I read it to the end to see if it improved but it was a colossal waste of time.

This is, without a doubt, the most badly written book I have ever read. The dialogue is hilariously stilted; the characters are thinner than the paper the book is written on, and the plot-line is so silly, I found it hard to believe this thing actually got published.

Needless to say I could not bring myself to read beyond page 50--and besides, I was laughing so hard at the over-wrought dialogue my stomach ached.