Customer Reviews

Sight Unseen (Warner Forever)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sight Unseen represents a new direction for author Samantha Graves who also writes futuristc romance under the name C.J. Barry.

The book is listed as a romantic suspense but it has a paranormal twist! As her first foray into comtemporary romance this book was a home-run! The plot is excellent - and believable, which can be hard to do when the heroine has a psychic power. The suspense is gripping... and the romantic connection between the hero/heroine was very well done! The perfect balance of attraction and wary interest.

Since there is no description on this listing here's the blurb from the back cover:

CLUES ONLY THIS PSYCHIC CAN SEE
Can an art theif earn an honest living? Raven Callahan does, with the help of a rare psychic power that lets her read the emotions locked inside ancient objects. But when her partner is kidnapped and Raven is forced to steal a priceless masterpiece to save heim, ESP takes a backseat to quick wits, steely nerves, and the lethal skills she needs to survive.

A KILLER ONLY HTIS COP CAN CATCH
Ex-cop Dax Maddox made just one mistake on th ejob, but it took a young rookie's life and cost Dax his ability to see color. Now stalking a killer brings Raven into his life - and floods his gray world with vivid and conflicting emotions: anger and lust, suspicion and awe. Are the criminals they seek one and the same? If so, Dax and Raven's growing need for each other could inspire a madman's terrifying scheme for the ultimate revenge...

After her award winning series as CJ Barry, Samantha Graves had established herself as an excellent Romance author. With Sight Unseen she has raised the bar and changed the rules of the romance genre. To lable this book simply a Romance title, would be a grave injustice, Sight Unseen goes much deeper than that.

The adventure begins as Samantha takes the reader to the bottom of the ocean, to retrieve a medallion that was worn by 'King Pacal Votan the Great'. Raven Callahan is a modern day treasure hunter of sorts, with a special gift that allows her to authenticate the items, with a simple touch. She and her sister, Jillian receive information from inanimate objects. The stronger the emotion of the person that owned or touched the object, the more intensely it is felt by Raven. Working for API, she recovers priceless pieces for private collectors, as well as, museums that have been lost or stolen.

Dax Maddox is rugged and attractive, with loneliness and haunting anger in his eyes. Once a respected detective in Miami, he now had only one goal - to catch a killer! The night, Nick, his rookie partner was murdered, he had been imprisoned in a world filled only with shades of gray. He left the force to pursue a cop killer, to exact revenge and get justice for Nick. Which lead him to the art auction, at 'Matador's Auction House, in Miami. Bringing him face to face with the Vassalo painting and the beautiful woman he knew was a thief.

The chemistry between these two characters, Raven and Dax, is palpable. From the moment he forces her into a closet at the auction, to the swirling intensity of their first kiss, the reader is swept up into the story, like a leaf in a tornado! The author develops each as an individual, while continuing to bring them together, moving toward a confrontation with a killer and explosive intimacy. Both of which will leave the reader breathless and wanting more!

Samantha Graves has delivered an action packed, suspense thriller, filled with three dimensional characters that are intelligent and sexy. The various plot elements are effortlessly woven into the fabric of the lead, as well as, the supporting characters. This title has everything a reader could ask for; suspense - that keeps you guessing, action - that will keep you thinking, passion - that will make you breathless, combined with enough twists and turns to construct a moutain trail. What more could a reader ask for? Well, a sequel, of course!

Don't let "Sight Unseen" remain unseen by you!

Two of my most favorite genres are thrillers and romance. Romantic suspense is a combo of the two. The downside to some I've read is there isn't enough of the suspense. This sub-genre, in my opinion, should be a thriller with hot sex scenes and at the end, the guy gets the girl. SIGHT UNSEEN was just that. This book started with danger from the very beginning and didn't end until the next to the last chapter.

Raven Callahan is an honest thief with a rare psychic ability. She's able to read the emotions people left behind from objects. She works for the Antiquities Preservation Institute to recover stolen objects. This ability comes in handy as she is able to authenticate her findings.

Twice she has met Dax Maddox. The first time was as a cop and he suspected she was a thief. The second time is where this story blossoms. He's quit the force and now on the trail of his partner's killer. When the killer kidnaps Raven's partner, they must team up in order to catch him. Both have a dark past and with a strong attraction towards the other.

SIGHT UNSEEN has the right combo of suspense and romance. What an outstandingly balanced book! Her next book, OUT OF TIME, has Raven's sister, Jillian, as the main character. I look forward to continue on with this series.

STORY BRIEF:
Raven has a psychic power that lets her read emotions inside ancient objects. She works for Antiques Preservation Institute. Her primary job is to locate and retrieve stolen art objects from thieves. Her father was a thief, and she inherited that talent from him. Raven's boss sends her and Walter to an art auction to purchase a painting. Someone overbids them and buys the painting. Then Walter is kidnapped. Raven receives a phone call telling her she must steal the painting from the new owner in order to save Walter's life.

Dax was a cop whose partner was killed while investigating a burglary. The police couldn't solve the mystery, so he quit the force to spend full time searching for the killer. He believes Raven may be connected to the killer. He follows Raven when she discovers Walter is missing. Against her wishes he stays with her, and together they steal the painting to give to the kidnapper.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
The characters were flat, too typical, nothing special. The conversations were ordinary. There wasn't enough romantic relationship development for me. It was more about solving a mystery than developing a romance. There was a victim quality to the story. Things just got worse and worse for the hero and heroine as they were being set up, framed and put in no-win situations. For me, it was lacking, I wanted it to be over. It wasn't worth the high price of $19.99 for a paperback book. Maybe mystery lovers would appreciate it more.

DATA:
Story length: 302 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 9. Setting: current day Miami, New York City, Baltimore, Cuba, and Yucatan Peninsula. Copyright: 2007. Genre: paranormal romantic mystery suspense.

OTHER BOOKS:
To date, the author has written two romantic suspense books under the name Samantha Graves. Both books are published with different titles in the UK. My reviews are:
2.5 stars. Sight Unseen (UK title: A License To Steal). Copyrt 2007. Review Date: 11-15-09.
4 stars. Out of Time (UK title: The Legend of the Crystal Lens). Copyrt 2008. Review Date: 11-22-08.

The author has also written several futuristic romance stories under the name CJ Barry.

Raven Callahan is blessed (or cursed) with the gift of psychometry--that is, she can read the history of an object by touching it. It comes in handy in her job: recovering and authenticating stolen artwork.

Dax Maddox was a cop, until a burglary left his partner dead and himself no longer able to see color. Now he's searching for the thief responsible. He knows it wasn't Raven, but he'd caught her casing the same place the unknown thief hit, and now they're after the same painting.

Then Raven's colleague is kidnapped, and Raven has to steal a priceless painting as ransom, and she and Dax are forced to work together.

Sight Unseen is fast-paced and exciting, and I don't normally pay much attention to settings, but they go to Cuba in their pursuit, and that was pretty darn fascinating. The suspense plot is nicely convoluted, with some twists I didn't expect, and the romance develops along with the suspense plot. There's also personal growth and change--it hits the mark on all three things I look for in a romantic suspense.

I enjoyed both Raven and Dax, and it was a nice switch to have a bad-girl heroine (she's not the only bad-girl heroine I've ever read, but the bad boys vastly outnumber the bad girls in this genre). Raven's adventurous spirit was infectious, and her aloneness and discomfort with her gift made her sympathetic. Dax was damaged and guilty, but he was also honorable and determined. It was wonderful watching both of them become more at ease with themselves and heal emotionally.

The secondary characters, too, were interesting and three-dimensional. I loved Raven's young protégé Paulie, who I'm thrilled to hear will also make an appearance in the next book. The villains, too, were fleshed out, with believable actions, and more motive than "he's a bad guy."

I'm not going to reveal the romantic climax (heh--not that kind of climax), but I will say that it was one of the loveliest I've ever read--entirely specific to these two characters, and with layers of meaning. I'd read the book again just for that scene, even if I didn't love the rest of the story.

Raven Callahan has a talent - she can touch an object and "see" its history and "feel" the emotions of the previous owners. This ability is really just a bonus for her because what Raven really likes to do is recover art, generally from dangerous places. So what if she's sometimes on the wrong side of the law? This doesn't matter to Raven when she knows she is doing it for the right reasons. However, when she is sent to recover a highly valuable painting through legal means, everything is complicated when she fails. Then her partner is abducted for a ransom that will require Raven to really break the law and put everyone she loves at risk.

Dax Maddox has one mission in life - to catch the man who murdered his rookie partner during a robbery. A robbery that cost Dax more than his partner. It cost Dax his career, his self-respect and his color vision. At this moment, his best lead to catch this killer is the beautiful Raven Callahan. For Dax, Raven represents a connection to the murderer, a beautiful distraction and a threat to his heart. But as the action heats up and the stakes get higher, Dax needs to decide what is more important to him - revenge or love.

Sight Unseen is an action-packed adventure that will take you on a rollercoaster ride full of anticipatory tension and lead to a surprising ending. Raven is a curious blend of strength, a great sense of adventure and vulnerability, which she tries to hide by avoiding attachments. Dax will steam you up, all the while tugging at your heart as he desperately searches for the killer. When fate, helped along by the bad guys, throws Dax and Raven together, explosions go off as they battle their enemies and race against time to save Raven's partner. At the same time, they try to resist the temptation they find in each other. In Sight Unseen there is plenty of action, steamy romance and surprising twists and turns to keep you glued to the pages well past your bed-time. There are also paranormal elements that bring together all the different characters and their story-lines to take this story and push it into a category of its own. Dax and Raven are a great pair that will satisfy your romantic heart while keeping the pace of this romance fast and furious! Buy yourself Sight Unseen and be pulled into a world full of danger, adventures and hot romance!

Sabella
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Raven is running, but can't seem to get away from Dax, the ex-cop determined to keep up with her. When she stops running long enough for him to get closer....whooeee! 'Sight Unseen' has everything I love in a romance novel: plausibility, a slow build up to the hot romance, interesting places, full characters, page turning suspense and a good story to bring it all together. I'll be buying Samantha's next book.

Great quick read book. I wish there was more. It would probably make a great movie. Worth reading.

Raven Callahan has a unique job description of legalized thief as she recovers stolen art for the Antiquities Preservation Institute (API) to return to the lawful owner. API management including Raven's immediate supervisor "Bigs" Bigley recognize that she is the best recovery agent in their firm. What they do not know is why she is so superior to the rest. She has psychometric skills sothat when she touches something her five senses receive images, sounds and feelings.

A killing maniac has kidnapped her current partner Walter; threatening to kill him if Raven fails to steal Vassalo's self portrait from Matador's Auction House in Miami. However, also at the auction house is former cop David "Dax" Maddox who recognizes Raven. He is on a vendetta since he left the force following the murder of his police partner, which he blames himself for; he needs to destroy the killer. Reluctantly tied to a mad man's death threats, Dax and Raven must team up, but neither trusts the other as a thief and a cop, even a legal thief and a former cop, see the world from different perspectives.

This is a refreshing paranormal romantic suspense thriller in spite of combining two overly used recent themes that of the art thief with that of the psychic. Though Raven's skills are more obvious and legit in some ways she will remind the audience of Blanche in Hitchcock's Family Plot. Dax adds to the investigation as he has his own agenda and as a cop distrusts burglars even those allegedly legit. Fans of psychic romantic investigative thrillers will want to read the brisk, unique and fun SIGHT UNSEEN in one sitting.

Harriet Klausner