Truth or Dare [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [MP3 CD]

Jayne Ann Krentz (Author), Joyce Bean (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2004

Upscale interior designer Zoe Luce has found peace and contentment in Whispering Springs, Arizona. She has a thriving business, and she’s settling into newlywed life with private investigator Ethan Truax. The threat that brought Zoe and Ethan together is finally over, ancient history, or so Zoe believes. Very few people know of her uncanny ability to sense the dark secrets hidden within the walls of a house, and she wants to keep it that way, even from Ethan. But someone is stalking Zoe - someone who knows all about her, and who shadows her every move. Is it the same person who is threatening her closest friend, Arcadia Ames, the only other person in Whispering Springs who knows the truth about Zoe? Or are Zoe and Arcadia getting tangled in a web spun by someone more dangerous than they could ever have imagined? As a private investigator, Ethan is paid to find the truth, yet he has secrets of his own that are better left buried. He can’t let the threats to Zoe go unchallenged, although he fears that the truth may be a bigger burden than their still-fragile relationship can handle. And Ethan isn’t alone with his fears: instead of setting her free, Zoe dreads that the truth will only imprison her once more within her darkest nightmares, this time with no escape in sight.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Zoe Luce, psychic interior decorator, has finally settled down to domestic life in Whispering Springs, Ariz., with private investigator Ethan Truax after their tempestuous courtship in Krentz's previous romantic thriller, Light in Shadow. However, sinister cobwebs of energy confront her when she enters certain rooms, threatening to make her lose her tenuous grip on sanity. Meanwhile, Arcadia Ames, Zoe's old friend from Candle Lake Manor Psychiatric Hospital, fears the husband she sacrificed her identity to escape has finally tracked her down. Krentz never fully explains exactly why Grant, Arcadia's husband, wants her dead, relying instead on facts revealed in Light in Shadow. Indeed, from beginning to end, this sequel feels more like an appendix to the last book than a novel in its own right, as Krentz forgoes a strong central plot to focus on the kind of warm and fuzzy details about Zoe and her Whispering Springs friends that most novels relegate to the epilogue. She fattens the story with pizza dinners, heartfelt talks and proffered slices of lemon meringue pie, but scrimps when the action picks up and offers limp, far-fetched conclusions to the book's various subplots. Though no one will begrudge the goodhearted characters from Whispering Springs their tasty tidbits, in her rush to get to the happy endings, Krentz leaves readers hungry for a more substantial story.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In her latest paranormal tale, Krentz takes up the story of psychic interior designer Zoe and private investigator Ethan, who met and fell in love in Light in Shadow [BKL N 1 02]. They are now working to create a successful marriage, but different events in their pasts keep interfering with their hopes for wedded bliss. Still haunted by his brother's murder and his own pursuit of justice in that case, Ethan expects Zoe to dump him, just as his previous three wives did. Zoe is plagued by memories of her imprisonment in a private psychiatric sanatorium, as she unexpectedly encounters psychic "spider webs" clinging to several places she has recently visited. As Ethan and Zoe struggle with their pasts, both become caught up in the dilemma of Zoe's friend, Arcadia, who fears that her ex-husband has returned from the dead to settle an old score. With its potent combination of danger and thrills, sexy romance, and polished writing suffused with a deliciously tart sense of humor, the best-selling Krentz's sophisticated brand of romantic suspense will never go out of style with readers. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• MP3 CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on MP3-CD Lib Ed; Library edition (June 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593354932
• ISBN-13: 978-1593354930
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)

More About the Author

The author of over 50 New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense, often with a psychic and paranormal twist, in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 35 million copies of her books in print.

Building on the success of her DREAMLIGHT TRILOGY in 2010, Jayne is now focused on writing the LOOKING GLASS TRILOGY. This series will follow the Quicksilver Mirror (a paranormal artifact) through all three of Jayne's worlds covering a time span of several hundred years.

The first LOOKING GLASS book, IN TOO DEEP, will feature Fallon Jones, a recurring character from Jayne's contemporary ARCANE SOCIETY series of novels.

When she's not writing, Jayne can be found at her favorite social networking site posting messages to her fans.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Truth or Dare, April 2, 2008

By 

Kelly "Reviewer for The Sinfully Sensuous" (Littleton, Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Truth or Dare (Hardcover)

In this sequel to Light in Shadow, we find Zoe and Ethan trying to settle into married life, but the fear of the other leaving has both of them holding their feelings back. Zoe's fellow escapee from the psychiatric hospital Arcadia Ames is also feeling out of sorts. She has also assumed a new name trying to escape the husband trying to kill her, and she feels someone is watching her. Zoe is still hiding her psychic abilities from Ethan. Ethan is still trying to deal with the death of his brother. Everyone is ill at ease.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one. I was hoping Ethan and Zoe would solidify their relationship, but they didn't. As long as Ethan doesn't believe Zoe is psychic, they can never be truly happy. I was hoping for some event or something to happen that would convince Ethan of her ability.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars lighter Light and Shadow - not enough romance or mystery, January 5, 2004

By 

Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Truth or Dare (Hardcover)

I adored JAK's Light in Shadow - the first in the Whispering Springs Novels. The characters were crisp, witty and it was JAK at her best.

This is not.

Not that it is bad. It's just this is in the pattern of her recent trilogies of books. One really good and then two weaker continuation of the same story. I really hoped since Light and Shadow was so strong that she would break that curse. I love JAK - she is one of my favourite writers, but I do feel let down by these weaker part 2 and 3 of her JAK and Quick efforts of late. Only the Eclipse Bay books were as good all the way through. In paperback, maybe you would grump less, but at hardback prices her fans deserver a little bit more.

When we last saw the Whispering Hills gang, it was just a month early. Ethan Truax, PI, had married Zoe Luce to stop Zoe's brother-in-law from trying to pop her back in to the high-priced Candle Lake Manor Psychiatric Hospital. The bluff had worked and the mystery - who killed Zoe's husband - was solved. Zoe's fellow escapee from Crystal Lake - Arcadia was now living with Harry, Ethan's PI friend. Neither Zoe or Arcadia had mental problems, but Crystal Lake specialised in hiding rich people's "embarrassments" - for enough money they quietly keep the problemsome relative away from prying eyes. However, in Arcadia's case, she was actually hiding from a husband, and deliberately checked herself into Crystal Lake. Grant Loring tried to kill her. She figured her husband would never look for her at an institute for the mentally ill.

Arcadia suddenly fears, Grant's still alive - not dead from a skiing accident as reported - and that he has now decided to come after his wife who has too much information on him. She fears her "new" identity has been compromised.

But the whole gang, for one reason or another is uneasy. It's November, the month Ethan's brother was murdered, leaving Ethan, Bonnie, his sister-in-law, and his two nephews dealing with the grief. Ethan also is concerned about his marriage. He jumped at the chance to use the excuse of protecting Zoe, when he really wanted to marry her. Now, he fears she may be having second thoughts. Zoe is having seconds thoughts, but not because of love. She loves Ethan, but he refuses to believe Zoe is psychic, just chalks up her "gift" to good intuition. She feels if he cannot accept WHAT she is how can he love her? This is a sticking point, especially when she starts running into "spider webs" of dark emotions somehow connected to Crystal Lake. But those worries, take a back seat when someone tries to kill Ethan. Is it connected to his brother's death? Connected to Zoe's stay at Crystal Lake? Or the con man that Ethan exposed?

Frankly, this books is a pleasant read, with some really fine JAK's humour, but on the whole, she once again has too many story lines going all at once - to hide there is not much of a mystery (Smoke and Mirrors problem). The romance between Zoe and Ethan gets pushed aside as it become the "Gang's" Story. It's like JAK has lost the heart to write romance, so she covers it with food, food and more food (Quick's Don't Look Back's Problem).

This is enjoyable, diverting, and will please fans, but they would do well to wait for paperback. Then you won't feel so let down.

The same complaints I see from other readers concerning her last half dozen books - thin mysteries, too many story threads and not enough romance on the leads - seems to be a trap JAK is falling into over and over again.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not enough romance, mystery or plot, October 12, 2004

By 

Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Truth or Dare (Mass Market Paperback)

I adored JAK's Light in Shadow - the first in the Whispering Springs Novels. The characters were crisp, witty and it was JAK at her best.

This does measure up to that book. Not that it is bad. It's just this is in the pattern of her recent trilogies of books. One really good and then two weaker continuation of the same story. I really hoped since Light and Shadow was so strong that she would break that curse. I love JAK - she is one of my favourite writers, but I do feel a wee bit let down by these weaker part 2 and 3 books. Only the Eclipse Bay books were as good all the way through, in fact got stronger as they went. In paperback, maybe you would grump less, but at hardback prices her fans might feel they deserve a little bit more.

When we last saw the Whispering Hills gang, it was just a month early. Ethan Truax, PI, had married Zoe Luce to stop Zoe's brother-in-law from trying to pop her back in to the high-priced Candle Lake Manor Psychiatric Hospital. The bluff had worked and the mystery - who killed Zoe's husband - was solved. Zoe's fellow escapee from Crystal Lake - Arcadia was now living with Harry, Ethan's PI friend. Neither Zoe or Arcadia had mental problems, but Crystal Lake specialised in hiding rich people's "embarrassments" - for enough money they quietly keep the problemsome relative away from prying eyes. However, in Arcadia's case, she was actually hiding from a husband, and deliberately checked herself into Crystal Lake. Grant Loring tried to kill her. She figured her husband would never look for her at an institute for the mentally ill.

Arcadia suddenly fears, Grant's still alive - not dead from a skiing accident as reported - and that he has now decided to come after his wife who has too much information on him. She fears her "new" identity has been compromised.

The whole gang, for one reason or another is uneasy. It's November, the month Ethan's brother was murdered, leaving Ethan, Bonnie, his sister-in-law, and his two nephews dealing with the grief. Ethan also is concerned about his marriage. He jumped at the chance to use the excuse of protecting Zoe, when he really wanted to marry her. Now, he fears she may be having second thoughts. Zoe is having seconds thoughts, but not because of love. She loves Ethan, but he refuses to believe Zoe is psychic, just chalks up her "gift" to good intuition. She feels if he cannot accept WHAT she is how can he love her? This is a sticking point, especially when she starts running into "spider webs" of dark emotions somehow connected to Crystal Lake. But those worries, take a back seat when someone tries to kill Ethan. Is it connected to his brother's death? Connected to Zoe's stay at Crystal Lake? Or the con man that Ethan exposed?

Frankly, this books is a enjoyable read, with some really fine JAK's humour. On the whole, she once again has too many story lines going all at once - to hide there is not much of a mystery (Smoke and Mirrors problem). The romance between Zoe and Ethan is pushed aside as it become the "Gang's" Story. Maybe it's a transitional period for JAK. That passion for writing romance seem to have lost that brilliant spark. She covers with extra story threads, lots of chatter about food (yes, we know JAK doesn't like meat!!) food, food and more food (Quick's Don't Look Back's Problem).

This is enjoyable, diverting, and will please fans, but they would do well to wait for paperback.

The same complaints I see from other readers concerning her last half dozen books - thin mysteries, too many story threads shifting the focus from the leads - and the biggest zinger - not enough romance. This book just seems to anti-climatic after the first brilliant Whispering Springs tale which I adored.