Customer Reviews

Running Scared

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book was originally printed titled "Wishes" - this was a total cheat to rename an older book and sell it as a new publication - the book is great but the rename-reprint seems truly unfair.

Re-release of older book. It may be out of print but I remember the story. It should have been listed as a re-print with lots of added descriptions and details not told before.

Kate Summers lost her husband and baby girl in a hit-and-run accident. She had been working for a shady law firm in Boston, but decided to relocate to Seattle to shake the painful memories of her losses. On her last day of work at the law office, her boss Tyrell Clark asked Kate to work overtime so that he could discuss an important matter with her. Tyrell was a brilliant attorney and Kate wanted to hear what was on his mind.

Tyrell Clark offered Kate a newborn boy to take with her to Seattle, to keep as her own child with no questions asked. Tyrell explained that a socially prominent client's daughter gave birth out of wedlock and the family wanted to keep the matter a secret, so adoption was out of the question. The one stipulation was that Kate and the baby get lost out West. Tyrell used his connections to have a phony birth certificate made. Kate readily accepted the offer.

Robert Sullivan III has one daughter named Beatrice and nicknamed Bibi. His only son Stuart died in an accident when he was a teenager. When Beatrice got pregnant, she told her father that a sailor fathered her child, then left town. She didn't want the baby, which was given up to a phony adoption. Beatrice did not want her father to know that she had sex with her first cousin, Uncle Frank's illegitimate son whom the family had ostracized.

Fifteen years later, Bibi flew to Montana to tell her first cousin Daegan O'Rourke that she got pregnant the night they both got drunk and had sex and that she gave the baby up for adoption to keep her father from learning of the incest. It was important to inform Deagan, because her father had hired a sleazy private detective to find her son. Bibi wants Deagan to find their son before the detective does.

The Sullivan's are the wealthiest family in Boston, Massachusetts, being from old money and lots of dirty secrets to go with the wealth. They have tried their best to cover up their messes. Robert Sullivan III is the head of the family empire. His brother Frank is the youngest brother. The eldest brother had died, leaving Robert in charge of the money in the family. Frank had an illegitimate son, Daegan O'Rourke, with his mistress but does not recognize Daegan as a blood relative. Everything was going fine, until Robert discovered that he has cancer. Now, Robert decided that he wanted to find his grandson and bring him home to accept his rightful place in the Sullivan fold where he would gain control of the Sullivan finances. Robert intends to exclude Frank and his family from control of Sullivan assets. Robert and Frank have an old rivalry that will not end with Robert's death.

Running Scared was originally titled Wishes. Lisa Jackson was asked to rewrite it to a level of suspense. I did not read Wishes. I found Running Scared suspenseful with unexpected twists and turns. An unexpected shocking revelation in the end took me completely by surprise.

I recommend Running Scared By Lisa Jackson.

I am more into Stephen White, Lisa Gardener, tess gerritson, etc. This was my first Lisa Jackson Novel and I wasn't too happy with it. I usually read all of my books within hours, start to finish. I downloaded this on my kindle and in three days, I have yet to finish it. I am somewhat bored with the storyline and at times it gets predictable...If you like the authors i listed above, this is not the book you want to get.

In 1980 Kate Summers still grieves the deaths of her husband and daughter due to a drunken driver. When she is given a chance to adopt an infant, she does not have to think about her decision; Kate instantly agrees even with the stipulations that she must ask no questions, leave Boston immediately and tell everyone she birthed the child.

For the next fifteen years, Kate raises her beloved child in Hopewell, Oregon although she always looks over her shoulder in fear that someone will know the child she loves is not hers and the adoption was probably criminal. The moment of truth that always frightened her arrives when Deagan O'Roarke, an illegitimate offspring of a Boston Brahman, arrives from New England and becomes a friend of the single mom and her teenage son. He begins to fall in love with both and eventually admits Jon is his son. He insists he was drunk when his cousin Bibi Sullivan seduced him. Bibi's father Robert detesting his pathetic family seeks his grandson while the rest of the brood knows what his finding the teen means to their gold spoon lifestyle.

This is an exhilarating rewriting of the author's tale Wishes with the new version emphasizing the suspense while the original the romance. Kate is terrific as she behaves like the Running Scared man in Roy Orbison's song of the same title as she always expected someone to claim Jon as theirs. When he and the extended Sullivan family converge on the Pacific Northwest, Kate knows her nightmare has come true but it is even worse than her frightening dreams as she never expected her son to be in danger. Lisa Jackson converts her tale into a taut thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Turgid, revolting, the fairly decent plot was the only thing that kept me interested, hence one star. This is the kind of book I want to take a shower after reading. Talk about "cynical" writing. Every single sentence (and the title) is a cliche. Love scenes are horribly embarrassing, with no poetic individuality whatsoever. For example, while making love the heroine feels that she and her lover have an "emotional and spiritual MELDING." (Sounds like something I baked last night). If this novel were presented in a creative writing class at a reputable university, it would merit the following warning from the instructor: "Become a dentist, a cop, a bookkeeper, hell, become a brain surgeon if you must - anything but a writer!" When I finished this torpid piece of crap, populated with Marlboro men, pseudo-Kennedys, good women/volatile harlots, whimps and bullies, I debated ripping it to shreds so that at least one of its kind would no longer be out there, debasing the concept of "literature." Instead, I threw it in the trash, where it will truly live up to its name.

I didn't know this was a reprint of an earlier title, but I hadn't read it before, so that fact didn't make any difference. I've read most of Lisa Jackson's more recent books, and most of them are very dark. I actually enjoyed the fact that this one wasn't, and that the characters were more developed than those in the later books. Since the plot has already been described in another review, I won't restate it. I'll just say that the book had an entertaining plot, the right amount of suspense, and nicely developed relationships with Dagan, Kate, and Jon. (And, thank goodness, not a serial killer anywhere.) I thought it was a great read and recommend it.

This book could have been written leaving half of it out . . . painfully long!! And, the ending was clear from the beginning - a classic love story! One of those books that you wish would just end!!

This was my first Lisa Jackson book. It started off really well, but got bogged down in the middle a little and LOT in the end. If you cut out about 80 pages this book would have been much better. The characters are interesting and well written, the plot is somewhat obvious by the middle of the book, but still enjoyable. I will probably read more of Lisa Jackson when I get a chance. As an aside note, my book noted that this was previously published under the title "Wishes".

I listened to the audio version of this book and lost track of how many times I groaned out loud at the corniness of the dialogue throughout the book. The plot was slow and the story was cheesy. The author used some kind of psychic ability to explain the unexplainable..the character could sometimes see in history as well as sometimes sense the future and use it to change the outcome when necessary. I barely made it through, but I was killing time at work, so I kept the earbuds in til the end. Would definitely not recommend this book to anyone...a total waste of time.