Customer Reviews

Scream for Me

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Alex Fallon came back to her hometown in Dutton, Georgia, after she received a call from Social Services telling her that her stepsister Bailey was missing. Bailey's traumatized four-year-old daughter Hope was left alone. Alex had a troubled childhood. She barely survived after her twin sister Alicia and her mother were killed. Putting her painful past behind her has been very difficult, but Alex has done pretty well, until she arrives in Dutton to care for Hope.

Special Agent Daniel Vartanian of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is originally from Dutton as well and he has his own demons to slay. Two weeks ago, his mentally unstable brother murdered seventeen people, including Daniel's parents. After taking a leave of absence for two weeks, Daniel is back on the job investigating the rape and murder of a young woman from Arcadia, Georgia. His search for the killer leads him to Dutton where he discovers that a similar crime was committed thirteen years ago. The similarities between Alicia's murder and the woman found in Arcadia are striking. Alex and Daniel both search for answers. Alex is trying desperately to find Bailey, and Daniel needs to find a murderer. They begin to unravel secrets that some would kill to keep hidden. As Alex is drawn unknowingly into the killer's web, Daniel is right by her side, trying to keep her safe while trying to solve the crime.

Dutton is a town filled with deadly and disturbing secrets. As more women are killed, will Alex and Daniel be able to uncover the truth and stop the killers before Alex becomes the next victim?

Scream For Me is a dark and gripping story with phenomenal characterization. Whether they are villainous or heroic, each character is flawlessly written. Every day Alex fights to keep her demons at bay. She is amazingly strong. Daniel is Alex's rock and her protector. He is a magnificent hero. Bailey's plight broke my heart, and the villains are sadistic and show no remorse. Scream For Me is a graphic novel of romantic suspense. Alex and Daniel's romance grows alongside the story's macabre events as they unfold. The pages of Scream For Me are filled with disturbing images of brutal crimes. I was on the edge of my seat, captivated by the gruesome storyline and the loving relationship between Alex and Daniel. Scream For Me is my first Karen Rose novel but definitely not my last. I love the way she writes!

Nannette
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

A taut, well written thriller with characters so vivid and enthralling that you'll want to keep reading beyond the end of the book!
Rose has done a masterful job with a complex and spine-tingling plot that shows terrific insight into the workings of the human psyche. . . especially post-trauma. If I'm heavy on the superlatives, it's because this book is such a cut above the ordinary serial killer story. Its realism and humanity are things you take away with you after the reading is done. And that's a rare and precious thing in this popular fiction market.
Kudos, Karen Rose! Your talent shines!

After a string of brutal murders takes Special Agent Daniel Vartanian to Philadelphia, dark secrets from the past bring him back to Dillon, GA. There he meets Alex Fallon, whose own tortured past has forced her to return to the last place she ever wanted to go.

Compelled to search for a missing person from her painful past, Alex becomes entangled in the investigation of a copy cat murderer. The original murder is what sent her away from Dillon years ago.

In a town where nobody is who they seem, years of secrets and lies erupt in a series of murders. And when Daniel discovers that Alex is a target of the killer, he races to discover the truth and protect the woman he finds himself falling in love with.

Roses' eighth novel and hardcover debut, SCREAM FOR ME is her best yet.
It is the second in Roses' FOR ME trilogy but is outstanding as a stand alone novel. Readers will appreciate Roses' trademark bone-chilling suspense, diabolical plot twists and secondary characters who all cry out for a sequel of their own. And they are sure to appreciate this sturdy hardcover, because it will go on their keeper shelf to be read again and again.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Daniel Vartanian remains in shock and grief as he still reels from discovering his late brother Simon was a serial killer who before his demise murdered their parents, whom the cop just buried (see DIE FOR ME). Still though some at GBI thinks Daniel should take leave, he feels he would be better off working a case instead of brooding.

His superior assigns him to investigate a recent murder that copy cats the unsolved cold case homicide of Alicia Tremaine thirteen years ago. Daniel meets Alice's twin sister Alex Fallon, who left their hometown of Dutton just after the murder of her sibling. She is home because her stepsister Bailey Creighton vanished leaving her four year old daughter Hope behind and distressed over mommy. As more people are murdered with the same M.O. of thirteen years ago, Daniel wonders who the serial killer is ultimately targeting as he also fears completion of the circle with Alex as the victim; he vows to keep the woman he is falling in love with safe, but from whom.

This exhilarating serial killer thriller grips readers from the onset and never slows down; whether the events occurred thirteen years ago or in the present. Even the well written supportive romance enhances the tale by personalizing the murders in the mind of the hero who is reminded that he "failed" to protect his parents; guilt even if it is unwarranted can rip out one's gut. Karen Rose proves her publisher was right going hardcover with what is sure to be another bestseller.

Harriet Klausner

It's always a good sign when you finish a book and find yourself frustrated that you'll have to wait months before you dive into the sequel. Karen Rose doesn't disappoint with this sequel to Die For Me, which I also loved. Her tightly woven plots have enough action to keep things moving along, enough suspense to keep you guessing (with just enough clues to figure bits and pieces out yourself) and strong character development even for a large cast of secondary characters. The chemistry between the two main characters was strong, and the dialogue is well written and intelligent. In the end, enough is wrapped up that it doesn't leave you unsettled, with enough left hanging to establish a strong basis for her next one. Highly, highly recommended.

This was book 2 in a series with Agent Daniel Vartanian, but it read well as a stand alone. The first book, Die For Me, I have on reserve at our library, so that should tell you that I really enjoyed this book!




Daniel Vartanian is a Special Agent with the GBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He has just returned from a case which involved his parents and his brother (I have a sneaky suspicion that this is what Die For Me is about...) He isn't even home a day before a murdered girl is discovered in a ditch and the investigation lands in his lap. It appears to be a copycat murder from 13 years earlier.




Alex Fallon is the twin sister of Alicia Tremaine, who was killed 13 years ago. She has received a call that her stepsister, Bailey, is missing and she is listed as the emergency contact for her 4 year old niece, Hope. This comes as quite a shock, as she didn't even know she had a niece. The last time she saw Bailey was to get her into a rehab program 5 years earlier.




Daniel's investigation and Alex's missing stepsister lead them on a collision course to each other - and the sparks start to fly. As the bodies pile up, will Alex ever find Bailey? Can Daniel catch the murderer? And can they both confront the ghosts of their past so that they can move into a better future?




This was a quick read for me, even at 569 pages! It was great the way all the suspects fell into place one-by-one. It was like watching dominoes fall in slow motion. I almost just typed a spoiler here - so I will just end on that note! Great book!

SCREAM FOR ME is Karen Rose's finest book to date. From the start, she grabs the reader and takes her on a ride of lies, coverups and amazing love with more twists and turns than a maze. Special Agent Daniel Vartanian, a man who's sworn to bring justice to the victims, is a man the reader immediately can identify with. After coming to grips with lies from his judge father, Daniel had to bring his serial killer brother to justice. Given his family history, trust is the farthest thing from his mind. When a woman is found dead in his hometown, he returns to face his demons. His search leads him to Alex Fallon, a woman who looks like a woman murdered thirteen years before. As more bodies are discovered, Alex has to rely on Daniel's tender love to help her remember what happen all those years ago, before the out-of-control criminal takes her life.

Alex Fallon was the one who lived. Then. Thirteen years later, a shocking phone call sends her back to the place she'd hoped to leave forever, to a little girl who needs more than Alex can give, and a town who swallowed her stepsister whole. As the body count rises, so does Alex's protective instincts--as well as her attraction and respect for the one man who trusts her gut over small-town rumors.

Special Agent Daniel Vartanian's brother Simon was a remorseless serial killer. Now Simon is dead. When trophy photos from the atrocities in Simon's past eerily echo a current crime, Daniel is desperate to find and stop the new threat before more people die. People like sensitive, secretive Alex, whose determination to find a little girl's missing mother--and inexplicable resemblance to a face in one of Simon's photos--places her in the killer's sights.

I love the inter-connectedness of the growing romance and gripping suspense in all of Karen Rose's writing. I also love having connected characters from previous books come to life in a chilling romance of their own. Not only is Scream For Me a keeper, it's my favorite Karen Rose yet!

The story is fast-paced, exciting, and tightly plotted. I meant to "just read a little" and ended up awake until 3 a.m. because I had to see what happened next. (And then lay awake afterward unable to get the creepy photos and evocative scenes out of my mind!) A great, great read.

Karen Rose delivers another spellbinding, white-knuckle thriller with SCREAM FOR ME that kept me glued to the couch. Ms. Rose seems to know just how to combine the right amount of chilling suspense and romance to make for a compelling read that you won't want to put down.

In SCREAM FOR ME, Special Agent Daniel Vartanian investigates crimes that mimic a past murder which his own brother may have been connected to in a hometown he'd rather forget. Alex Fallon is drawn into the story as the twin of the murder victim from the past whose own step sister has recently gone missing. Like all Karen Rose characters, Alex and Daniel are complex, deeply drawn and will have you in their hearts and minds in no time. Intriguing villains seem to be a Karen Rose specialty and the ones here are every bit as complicated as they are evil. The small town itself acts almost as a villain as the relationships and past histories between the inhabitants adds to the murderous tale. Ms. Rose does a masterful job of using research and description to craft a tightly woven, complex plot that leaves the reader guessing how everything will ultimately unravel.

I would definitely recommend SCREAM FOR ME and look forward to the next Karen Rose book that comes out.

In the classic style of romantic thriller, this book is fun, overdone, but still fun.

The beautiful(of course) Alex Fallon is a nurse haunted by the vicious rape and murder of her identical twin sister thirteen years earlier. The trauma of this crime lead to the apparent suicide of her mother and her own apparent suicide attempt. Now divorced and living a sterile but safe existence she returns to the miserable little town where the crime occurred to care for the four year old daughter of her mother's boyfriend's daughter, Bailey. While there she becomes involved with handsome (of course) Special Agent Daniel Vartanian, brother of a notorious serial killer who is linked to the death of Alex's sister. Someone is orchestrating murders that eerily mimic the death of Alex's twin.

Actually you get a number of mysteries: who killed Alex's sister; what really happened to Alex and her mom; who is killing the women now and why; who kidnapped Bailey and why; what connection did Daniel's evil brother have with all this; In the end all the major questions are answered and the unanswered questions segue into the inevitable sequel.

The book is fairly fast paced and quite entertaining despite the cliches and torrid romance novel clinches. The bad guys are quite bad...no moral uncertainty here and the good guys quite good although tortured and troubled. I did think it was a bit overlong and there were way too many characters. Minor characters like assorted agents and officers cluttered the landscape and it was at times difficult to keep the bad guys straight--the sheer volume was overwhelming and in addition to their names there were their code names. Moreover, it did require a substantial suspension of disbelief to buy into the acceptance by Daniel's law enforcement colleagues of his passionate relationship with Alex as well as their inclusion of her in all aspects of the investigation. At one point she asks one of the GBI's staff to verify whether a police officer from Ohio is actually who he says he is. Remarkably, the task is completed without a request from any member of the agency. Amazing.

So that being said, this is not a police procedural but a romantic thriller. Notwithstanding its limitations this book is a fun read.