The Presence (Mira) [Mass Market Paperback]

Heather Graham (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mira | Publication Date: September 1, 2004

- Heather Graham is a New York Times bestselling author of contemporary and historical romance.
- Graham's most recent paranormal title, Haunted (Mira Books, 9/03), spent five weeks on the New York Times extended bestseller list, reaching #19, and reached #33 on the USA Today bestseller list.
- Hurricane Bay (Mira Books, hardcover, 4/02) debuted at #20 on the New York Times extended bestseller list.
- Night of The Blackbird (Mira Books, 10/01) spent three weeks on the New York Times extended bestseller list, reaching #21, and hit #14 on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list.
- Her latest hardcover, Picture Me Dead (Mira Books, 3/03), achieved an NSR of 68%.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As a child, Toni Fraser has chillingly accurate dreams of murders about to be committed, a psychic gift she suppresses. Years later, Toni and five friends follow a real-life dream: they procure a ruined Scottish castle and turn it into a tourist attraction, highlighted by a faux historical show Toni scripts about a murderously passionate Cromwellian-period laird, Bruce MacNiall. Of course, the laird is fictional, as is Toni's terrifying tale of his wife's strangling. Or so it seems—until an angry kilted hunk thunders onstage one night atop a black stallion, claiming to be the castle's absentee owner, Bruce MacNiall. Ghost? Not likely. But when several missing girls are found strangled to death in the surrounding forest, it certainly appears that some murderous spirit is very much alive. The author's seamless incorporation of just a few supernatural elements into an otherwise solidly real situation makes the nightmarish threat believable. But more than anything, Graham's (Haunted, etc.) deft characterization of Toni and her friends (who are as funny and familiar as the cast of "Friends"), and especially the laird, mysterious but never one-dimensionally goth, keeps interest in the book's romance, as well as its suspense, high.
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From Booklist

As a girl, Toni Fraser had vivid nightmares that perfectly depicted real murders in real time. As an adult, she and four friends and her Scottish cousin rent a dilapidated Highlands castle and renovate it as the backdrop for dramatic reenactments. Unfortunately, the castle's rightful owner, laird Bruce MacNiall, who looks like a hero in Toni's stories, is shocked to find them there. But he doesn't boot the Americans out; he just wants them to stay out of the woods, where it becomes apparent that a serial killer has been disposing of the bodies of young women. Toni, who has always feared her paranormal talents, is then contacted by a ghost who looks just like the current laird and who seems intent on making her solve a centuries-old mystery. As the current mystery entwines with the mystery from the past, historical interludes add depth to Graham's enticingly suspenseful contemporary tale as Toni and Bruce become irresistibly attracted to each other. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Mira (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 077832074X
• ISBN-13: 978-0778320746
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times and USA Today best selling author, Heather Graham was born somewhere in Europe and kidnapped by gypsies when she was a small child. She went on to join the Romanian circus as a trapeze artist and lion tamer. When the circus came to South Florida, she stayed, discovering that she preferred to be a shark and gator trainer.

Not really.

Heather is the child of Scottish and Irish immigrants who met and married in Chicago, and moved to South Florida, where she has spent her life. (She has, at least, been to the Russian circus in Moscow, where she wished she was one of the incredibly talented and coordinated trapeze artists.) She majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over one hundred and fifty novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, horror, and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages, and has had over seventy-five million books in print. She has been honored with awards from Walden Books, B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA and more. Heather has also become the proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf region. She is also the founder of "The Slush Pile Players", presenting something that's almost like entertainment for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but too many different styles, September 27, 2004

By 

B. Walker "Basia's Bookshelf" (Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Presence (Mira) (Mass Market Paperback)

I enjoyed reading The Presence, but it did have some problems that might bother other readers who aren't already fans of Ms. Graham's.

The story is a blend of historical romance, contemporary thriller, light humorous romance with a little ghost story tossed in too. Each of the elements is okay and the author blended them all in an interesting way, but the book would have been better if the author has perhaps used one or two less of them and concentrated more on the others. I was left with the impression that three short stories by different authors had been shuffled together.

The paranormal part was perhaps the weakest to me. The heroine is supposedly a very, very strong psychic and the opening chapter is pretty dark and violent. It leads you to believe the rest of the book will be similar, and there are parts that are, but mostly, the seriousness of the opening isn't carried through.

The main portion of the book is made up of the light, contemporary romance of the new Laird MacNiall and heroine Toni. Of course, both are the spitting images of the old Laird and Annalise, setting up the ghost story. The relationship between Toni and MacNiall is written well and is the best part of the book. Their dialogue is funny and the romance is steamy. MacNiall is a very old-fashioned hero most of the time and Toni is probably the epitome of a feisty American.

The worst parts: the big serial killer murder mystery is a huge dud. One victim isn't even a victim, the killer has the strangest motive, there are implausible red herrings and resolutions everywhere and the supporting characters are inconsistent (Gina, Ryan and Thayer, in particular). The promise of a dark paranormal psychic story is unfulfilled for the most part; the heavy and atmospheric quality of the psychic storyline is diluted very heavily by the other areas.

This was still a good book and was an easy read over the course of an afternoon. I liked the lead characters a lot, but felt overall the author muddied up their story in the interest of producing a paranormal story similar to Kay Hooper's writing. This appears to be the beginning of a series, also very much like Hooper's, with an older man heading up a group of psychic detectives.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Little Something For Everyone!!!, August 25, 2005

By 

Kristi Ahlers (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Presence (Mira) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ms. Graham's "The Presence" offers a little something for everyone. This is a paranormal, historical, contemporary romance that will entertain readers with wonderful details and characters.

Toni Fraser and a few of her good friends have combined all that they have in order to rent a true Scottish castle. There plan...to entertain tourist with a tragic story regarding the castle and it's Laird. They have put a lot of work into their dream and just when they start doing well with their tour and then the impossible happens. The Laird returns. Toni's made up Laird is actually a flesh and blood man, and the history she has created is eerily real. But, when bodies of young women are found murdered and Toni's dreams seem to be just to lifelike to ignore questions start to be asked. Just who is this man and could he have anything to do with the murders?

This was a well paced read, and Ms. Graham combined a lot of different aspects into a well rounded read. They mystery surrounding the plot of the murdered women will keep the reader engaged, and if that's not enough, the chemistry between Bruce and Toni will. Her descriptive prose will transport you to Scotland both present day and past. This is one read that I recommend for fan's of both Paranormal and Suspense genres.

Official Reviewer for Romance Designs

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the worst, not the best., October 12, 2004

By 

Cat mama - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Presence (Mira) (Mass Market Paperback)

I can't say I didn't like this book, but it was pretty predictable. The first chapter really draws you in, but then the rest of the story doesn't really match the first chapter. If you wan't some light reading that doesn't require too much thought, this is the book for you.