Customer Reviews

The Only Suspect

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jonnie Jacobs' brilliant new thriller "The Only Suspect" is one of the most entertaining books you're likely to read this year.

The story opens with Dr. Sam Russell waking on the side of a deserted country road, with bruises on his face and blood under his fingernails. Battered and confused, he has no memory of how he got there.

Sam arrives home only to discover that his wife is missing. He reluctantly calls the police, looking for help. Dark events from his past resurface to haunt him, making him the only suspect.

The story builds in suspense to an almost painful level, as this kind and decent man (who might just be a vicious killer) is tortured by his loss and the possible role he could have played in it.

Jacobs is best known for her series of novels featuring lawyer Kali O'Brien. Now she moves to the head of the thriller class with this topnotch page-turner.

I have read every book Jonnie Jacobs has written, and this is one of her best yet. It is not a Kali or Kate book, but a stand-alone thriller, that kept me on the edge of my seat until I was finished. The characters were real people I felt I could root for, and the story was so suspenseful, I almost couldn't stand it! What I don't understand is why Jonnie Jacobs isn't high on the best seller list with books so well-written and involving. I am just sorry I will have to wait until her next book comes along.

Ms. Jacobs is a very good writer and I've enjoyed her other books. This book has an excellent premise; the innocent man who appears guilty. Unfortunately, it's offset by stereotypical characters; the overbearing male detective, the female detective who believes the suspect in spite of the evidence because she feels an attraction to him, the in-laws who never thought he was good enough for their daughter, the underachieving brother, etc. There were twists to the plot, but I found most of them predictable. It's fast paced book that would make a great airplane book, but I think she's written better.

One juror held out causing a hang jury, which led to the freeing of Dr. Sam Russell from being convicted of strangling to death his pregnant wife Lisa. Her Bostonian parents are fully convinced he murdered their daughter while his Californian father is supportive of him. Sam accompanied by his child Molly leaves the East Coast to live near his dad.

Seven years later, Sam awakens in his car with no idea what happened; blood is under his fingernails. When he gets home he finds his second spouse Maureen missing. Déjà vu is all he can think of as this is exactly what occurred in New England. Monte Vista detectives Hannah Montgomery and Dallas Pryor lead the missing person's investigation knowing most likely a homicide committed by the husband happened. Monte has recently learned that her deceased husband Malcolm had an affair with her sister Claire while Dallas detests Sam from their high school days together. Both believe he killed his wife, but Hannah attempts to consider Sam's claims about a ransom call and a vehicle leaving the drop off locale. When her corpse is found, the vultures circle Sam.

Very few writers if any can take an everyday person like Sam is and place him in a nightmarish realistic scenario caused by events outside his control as well as Jonnie Jacobs can. The story line grips readers because of Sam who is like one's neighbor, friend, or doctor so that the audience feels everything that occurs to him. Though a late twist has been used too often in suspense thrillers, THE ONLY SUSPECT is a fabulous tale because Sam is just that.

Harriet Klausner

Jonnie Jacobs proves once again what a versatile author she is. This is not a book in any of her usual series, yet it is still as well-written and as full of nail-biting suspense as her other books. I can't wait for the next book by this great author!

The book was recommended by the book club that I belong to. I had never read
anything by this author and was pleasantly surprised how exciting it was. I
read it in two days and had a hard time putting it down. In fact, I re-read it
so I could keep track of all the characters. The book club gave it a big thumbs up when we met and reviewed the book.

This is my first Jonnie Jacobs novel & it won't be my last. It was a very enjoyable read with lots of twists & turns right up until the end. I did have a feeling who one of the guilty parties might be but I couldn't figure out how it would fit in to the plot. I wasn't disappointed. My next book is "The next Victim" & I am looking forward to another enjoyable read.

You can't go wrong with a book by Jonnie Jacobs. Previous reviewers have already given a summary, so I won't repeat. Who else could the cops suspect when Sam's second wife comes up missing? He was already found not guilty when a hung jury set him free in the murder of his first wife. Okay, I'm trying not to repeat. This book has deceit, betrayal, stolen identity (just who IS or WAS his second wife?), and maybe even murder??? Lots of twists and turns and the surprise ending will knock your socks off. I could not put this books down for more than 2 minutes. A great read.

This was my first novel by Jonnie Jacobs but I look forward to reading more by this author. The beginning chapters of this book started off on a solid foot. It had mystery and suspense right off the bat. By the second quarter, I was getting bored because it seemed that the police were never going to explore any other possible suspects and therefore the mystery angle would not develop. I almost put the book down, but decided to keep reading. By the half-way point, the author finally gets into more clues, more twists and turns and the suspense builds. The ending is somewhat unbelievable and hard to follow from time to time, but it is a FICTION novel, so readers should not expect a true to life scenario. Mostly, the author keeps the story line moving along and keeps the reader interested up to the very end with all the plot twists.

Sam Russell wakes up one morning in the middle of nowhere with no memory of how he got there or the past 24 hours. He soon discovers his wife is missing but he can not remember when he last saw her or what might have happened. The scene is all too familiar. His first wife disappeared one day too. Her body was found a few days later and Sam was accused of murdering her. Was history repeating itself and was Sam responsible for yet another woman's death? With no memory, and the police convinced he is guilty, Sam will have to unravel the mystery himself, or face the possibility that he is THE ONLY SUSPECT.


Is it worth buying?

For the price of the paperback, why not? It is not the best book I have read and readers who like a story line that is close to reality, may not enjoy this one. There are parts in it that seem extremely far fetched, but the pace only continues to build up to the end. So, I know my answer is a bit vague, but I'm still a little up in the air about this one. I liked it okay, but it probably isn't one I would keep in my library.

Story:
Dr. Sam Russel is trying to move on with his life after his first wife was found brutally beaten and stabbed behind his house 7 years earlier. Of course with him being the only suspect the case turned into a bitter court battle that almost cost him his freedom and young his daughter. Sam is a free man only because one juror could not make up his mind which resulted in a hung jury. 7 years later Same has tried to move on with his life, he has a thriving medical practice, he has a new wife and it looks like smooth sailing ahead. That is until the day that Sam wakes up with his car in a ditch, blood under his finger nails and brusies on his face. Having no recollection of the past 24 hours, Sam assumes that he fell off the wagon, proably afer a fight with his new wife and drove around drunk until he ended up in the ditch. He figures that he will buy some flowers, apologize to his wife for driving off mad and all will be well again. Unfortunatley his wife is nowhere to be found and the local cops think that all signs are pointing to Sam being up to his old tricks again. With the walls closing in Sam will need the help of his AA sponsor (a retired lawyer) and the one cop that wants to give Sam a chance (and maybe a little more)to escape being the only suspect in a slam dunk murder case.
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This is a great murder mystery book. The characters are interesting and I did want to keep reading to find out more about them as the book continued. The author does a great job showing how Sam's panic makes him make bad decesions that drag him deeper and deeper into the killers game and makes him look more and more guilty to the police. The central mystery is a bit confusing and convulted (especially toward the end of the book, there where some scences that made me go *really?*)but in a reverse of most of these types of books the getting to the ending made up for it. I would recommend this books to anyone who likes fast paced murder mystery books and those that like complicated endings that (in my case) can make your head hurt.