Customer Reviews

SUNFLOWER: A Novel

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Lieutenant Sheila Brady and her daughter Meg are newcomers to the quiet town of River Oaks

But that facade has been shattered with the grisly series of murders of pretty pre-teen girls

The killer leaves behind sunflower seeds with each victim as a sovenir to taunt them, but that clue brings them no closer to his identity as practically everyone in River Oaks grows them.

Sheila uses herself to provoke the killer, but he now has her daughter.

Could not put this book down. It was the first book I have read by this author and it will not be the last.

This was just a GREAT suspense novel. It was about a police Lieutenant, Sheila Brady, who is on the case of the Sunflower killer. There have been four girls who have been kidnapped, raped, and killed. They were left with sunflower seeds or an actual sunflower on their body. When Sheila starts to investigate, she finds that the killer could be someone very close to her. Could it be the police captain, her boyfriend, an intriguing veterinarian, or the mayor? Sheila has to outsmart everyone to save herself from the SUNFLOWER KILLER and to protect her daughter and her friends. This novel is Martha Powers at her best!

Milwaukee Police Lieutenant Sheila Brady, a single mother, decides to leave the big city for River Oaks so that her adolescent daughter Meg can live in a safe, secure environment. Even before she arrives at the small town, Sheila knows that a serial killer has abducted, raped, and killed several blue-eyed girls (similar in looks and age to Meg) over the last two years.

Sheila gets involved in the investigation of the sociopath and finds a link between the killings that has been overlooked by the local police. When the killer sees Sheila on TV, he thinks she is the reincarnation of his deceased love. He sets a plan in motion to make Sheila his last victim.

Martha Powers is a force in the Regency romance sub-genre. However, she effortlessly switches direction and scribes a top rate thriller that will leave readers wondering about her previous works. SUNFLOWER succeeds because of the great, detailed characterizations wrapped inside a fast-paced plot. R! ! eaders end up feeling close to the protagonists and will demand more thrillers from the word processor of Ms. Powers, a new dynamo in the sub-genre.

Harriet Klausner

Powers brings you to an idyllic, small town, luring you to slow down and smell the flowers along with the heroine. But then she builds the suspense and before long your heart is racing and you can't put the book down. I identified with the heroine and fought right along with her. Already read and loved Bleeding Heart. Waiting for the next one!

Looking for an excellent psychological suspense novel? Look no further! This was a quick, scary roller coaster of a book. Quick not due to the length of pages but because you will find it difficult to put down!

I really enjoyed this book. Some parts needed a little more explaining...like what happened to Nick? Sunflower grips you and is hard to put down, I almost missed my stop on the train because I was so caught up in it. It really is a must read for the summer (or winter if you'd feel better reading with the windows locked and closed!).

Imagine being a single mother of a young girl. Now imagine there's a killer loose who kills young girls and leaves flowers with the body. Now imagine finding flowers on your porch, a trademark of a killer.....Now imagine the killer doesn't want your daughter he wants you....Why? Why not another little girl?....Also, the single mother is a cop.....Everyone is a suspect... The boyfriend, the doctor, the retired teacher, the mayor, the storeowner, just about everyone. Sheila (the single mother/cop) is on a race against the clock....The sunflower festival is coming soon and the time for the next victim..... Enjoy checking the locks on the doors and peering over your shoulder while you read this one. Someone may be watching you.....

to the edge of my seat! I love mysteries, and this is now one of my favorites. Other reviewers have given you the story line, so I won't repeat. The book is an easy read, presents a number of suspects, and flows easily until the murderer himself is finished. Once it does end, the story doesn't drag on for another 15 pages like some books. Enjoyable!

Someone is murdering beautiful eleven-year-old blonde, blue-eyed girls in the small town of River Oaks. When the mysterious serial killer suddenly turns his sights on blonde, blue-eyed police lieutenant Shiela Brady this book really begins to get interesting. The twisted mind of the killer confuses a childhood tryst with the feisty lieutenant but he's not so twisted that he can't hide right in among the townspeople and no one suspects him. In a position of trust he can murder at will. Has the lieutenant's new boyfriend betrayed her? Will she finally see her boss really cares about her? As a psychotherapist I read so much non-fiction that a book like this just hits the spot when I'm travelling. It is similar to Elizabeth George's book WITH NO ONE AS WITNESS. Perfect. A. B. Curtiss, author of BRAINSWITCH OUT OF DEPRESSION.

Martha Powers is definitely entitled to step into the ring with the likes of Patrica Cornwall. Enabling the reader to experience the killer's thoughts throughout the book w/o the slightest clue to his identity takes talent. Sheila, Meg, Hank, Owen and Della are sure bets for a series. The location of sudden suburbia, with small town ethics still in tack is so appealing; a meca of opportunities for other books. The characters are all so real! Couldn't stop til I'd finished. For mystery addicts like myself, it was definitely a bigtime high.

Martha, please don't stop!