Watch Them Die [Paperback]

Kevin O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

In the city of Seattle, no single woman is safe. From afar he watches the ones he so desperately wants. Willing to do whatever it takes to prove his love. But should his latest obsession betray him, he will have no choice but to punish her.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"* "Scary! Read this page turner with the lights on!" - Lisa Jackson." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle; First Edition edition (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786014520
• ISBN-13: 978-0786014521
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,978,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For seventeen years, before his thrillers landed him on The New York Times Bestseller list, Kevin O'Brien made his living as a railroad inspector and did all his writing at night. His second novel, ONLY SON (1996), was optioned for film rights, thanks to interest from David Seltzer (THE OMEN)and Tom Hanks. It was also chosen by Readers Digest for its Select Editions--along with John Grisham's THE PARTNER. "Seeing my photo on the back cover--alongside John Grisham--really made me feel as if I'd 'arrived' as an author," Kevin admits.

Kevin has been writing full time ever since. But he hasn't forgotten his railroad "ties." So--if on occassion, you find a scene in a Kevin O'Brien thriller in which a dead body is discovered in a railroad yard, well, now you know why.

THE NEXT TO DIE (2001), his first thriller, was a USA Today Bestseller. More bestsellers followed with MAKE THEM CRY, WATCH THEM DIE and LEFT FOR DEAD. His 2005 spellbinder, THE LAST VICTIM won the Spotted Owl Award for Best Pacific Northwest Mystery/Thriller, and became a New York Times Bestseller. Kevin O'Brien continued his New York Times Bestseller streak with KILLING SPREE, ONE LAST SCREAM and FINAL BREATH. His 2010 thriller, VICIOUS, was also a bestselling ebook. His latest thriller, DISTURBED, will be available in April, 2011.

Kevin lives in Seattle, where he's involved with the Seattle 7 Writers, along with Garth Stein, Jennie Shortridge, Erica Baeumeister, Carol Cassella and several other award-winning, bestselling authors (www.seattle7writers.org). Among the S7W projects is THE HOTEL ANGELINE: A NOVEL IN 36 VOICES, a collaborative book with 36 authors--including Erik Larson, Jamie Ford, Elizabeth George, Robert Dugoni, Susan Wiggs and several others. In Kevin's chapter, someone meets a violent end...naturally. Library Lady, Nancy Pearl, furnishes the Introduction. All sales for this forthcoming ebook will go to promote literacy and writing in schools. Kevin loves Hitchcock movies, and is hard at work on a new thriller.

You can visit his website: www.kevinobrienbooks.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Above Average Thriller, January 10, 2004

By 

Hippolytos (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Watch Them Die (Paperback)

SUMMARY: Hannah Doyle is an abused wife on the run with her four year old son, who has settled in Seattle for the time being. Everything is going well; Hannah, a film buff, has a job at a video store which she loves, attends a film class at the local community college, and has the unconditional love of her precocious son, Guy. Soon, Hannah becomes the object of affection for three different men, all of whom, she realizes, are following her. While worrying that her husband has found her at last, she begins receiving videos of old movies cued to notorious murder scenes; soon, people Hannah knows, even if only tangentially, start dying in exactly the manner of the movies. This killer has decided Hannah will be his next leading lady. Who can she trust?

WHY YOU'LL LIKE IT: Wonderful characterization; you come to know and care about these characters, particularly Hannah and her son. The action sequences are taut and well-told, and the suspense is kept at a breakneck pace. The plot is original and terrifying. Genuine surprises frequently abound.

WHY YOU WON'T: Too many chefs spoil the soup, and in this case, too many stalkers spoil the story. It can be difficult to keep up with who is who in this novel frought with a plethora of characters. Some plot devices are overly contrived, and seem to make the work longer than in needs to be.

BOTTOM LINE: Above average thriller from a writer who knows how to tell a good, and horrifying, story. Definitely recommend.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Pacing, July 3, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Watch Them Die (Paperback)

I'm not a big fan of serial killer books or movies, but I am a fan of Kevin O'Brien's version of the genre. This is the third of a series, following The Next to Die and Make Them Cry. The settings of the three stories are very different: one is set in Hollywood, another in a seminary, and this latest in Seattle.

All three books share O'Brien's trademark features. Fast pacing that is pulse-quickening but not so fast that the reader is left at a sharp turn or ceases caring about the central characters. The characters are down-to-earth-people that you can imagine bumping into in real life. His books read like well done movies. I certainly hope that screenplays are circulating.

All in all, a great page turner that I found hard to put down. Highly recommended!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars suspense at unbelievably high level, May 12, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Watch Them Die (Paperback)

Rae Palmer knows she is being stalked, but no one believes her. When her boyfriend fell from a rooftop, the police ruled it an alcohol induced accident, but Rae knows better. The killer ultimately films his murdering her during a sexual encounter. He leaves the video of the snuffing in the return box of Seattle's Emerald City Video. Employee Hannah Doyle takes it home only to believe she has seen a real murder imitating a scene from the film Looking for Mr. Goodbar.

Hannah panics when she realizes that someone accessed her apartment after finding a copy of Rosemary's Baby in her VCR. Later she learns a customer, who was recently nasty towards her, fell from a window just like a scene in Rosemary's Baby. Hannah already worried that her abusive husband, whom she fled, will find her and their four-year-old son, wonders what to do. She believes that the killer plans to murder her and perhaps her son soon. She speculates that the killer is a student or professor both coming on to her in a film study class.

Though there is too much baggage hoisted by the heroine, readers without a shadow of a doubt will appreciate this taut serial killer thriller. Each prime player seems real from Hannah whose fears geometrically increased to the professor hitting on her to her fellow student and finally those working with her at the store. Readers never quite know who the killer is and why he fixated on Hannah until the end as Kevin O'Brien does what he does best: keeping the suspense at unbelievably high levels.

Harriet Klausner