Customer Reviews

The Witness

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

As a fan of Ms. Brown's romance novels I hesitated to read her suspense novels. My aunt recommended this book to me and I'm ever thankful she did. This is definitely one of the best books I've read this year.

Kendall Deaton is a Public Defender in the small town of Prosper, South Carolina. She marries handsome hunk Matt Burnwood expecting to live a fairy tale life. But her life then changes. She is witness to a hideous event and is running for her life. To reveal more details would ruin the story.

This book is just awesome. It has a spine-tingling plot with twists that will literally keep you on the edge of your seat. The plot will keep you reading for hours on end. It's almost as if the pages turn themselves and you have been sucked into the story. The characters are wonderfully written. Kendall is someone you have to admire and you really don't know her whole story until the very last page. I can't say it enough, this book hooks you and won't let go! I agree with the other reviewer that I would like to see a book about Ricki Sue and Jim Pepperdyne. One could definitely see the sparks flying off the pages with those two.

Once again, an excellent book worth the time reading. Great job Ms. Brown.

I must say I am "hooked" on Sandra Brown. She really knows how to weave a tale and keep you coming back for more. Everytime I put the book down and came back to it, I was pleasantly captured. This book tackles some thorny social issues including racism, sexism, elitism, homophobia, wifebeating, rape, homelessness, crucification, and vigilantism. But, there's also some levity thrown in including a hilarious menage a trois scene. The author also has one of the best "white trash" characterizations I've come across in a long time. Luther, Henry, Billie Joe and their poor white trash mother were something else. And, I loved Ricky Sue! Bring her back in another book, please! I want to know about her and that FBI man, Pepperdyne. The villains in the book are truly hideous and there are some brutal and gross descriptions, so beware. I loved it, though. The book is suspenseful, socially conscious and has some pretty good sex thrown in for spice. Worth buying!

One of Sandra Brown's best, this book is a super-fast read. Heavy on the suspense with just the right amount of romance. And some of the creepiest bad guys I've seen in quite some time. There are many, many plot twists that keep you guessing right up until the end. There are no loose ends left by the satisfying conclusion. Ms. Brown, keep those romance thrillers coming! I'm hooked!

Idealistic lawyer Kendall Deaton arrives in a small South Carolina town and immediately captures the eye of the town golden boy, Matt Burnwood. After a whirlwind courtship, the two marry and seemingly have the perfect marriage. When she learns the truth about her husband's shady family, she flees without telling him about her pregnancy. An investigation into the Burnwood family has US Marshals looking for Kendall months later, and agent John McGrath is dispatched to Colorado to return her to South Carolina as a material witness. The two are involved in a car accident, and the hospital erroneously assumes the two are married; John has amnesia, so Kendall allows him to believe the lie.

As John struggles to regain his memory, and Kendall eludes the Burnwood clan, the two develop feelings for each other. With a relationship built on a lie, it's only a matter of time before John discovers her betrayal and Kendall comes to grips with the past that has kept her running for a year and lying to a man she has come to love.

As Brown weaves her web of intrigue, the reader is left with a compelling tale of suspense filled with colorful characters, violence, infidelity, revenge, racism, and more bubbas than you can shake a stick at, keeping readers on edge, not sure what direction the story will venture to next.

This is the second time I've read this book and the reason I did was because I read two bad ones in a row and wanted to read something I knew would be good. So I dug Witness off my bookshelf. This book is an excellent read and just as good the second time as it was the first time. The characters are well developed, the dialogue good and the storyline catching. Brown writes some of the best romance--suspense--thrillers. So if you want to read something that won't disappoint, read this or, to name a few of her other unputdownables--Envy, The Alibi, Breath of Scandal.

This is a terrific novel, and probably one of the best suspense novels I had read by Sandra Brown. In other novels by SB, I can pretty much guess where it's headed, and to a certain extent I did with this too, but I wasn't quite prepared for how caught up I was with the characters in this book until I heard myself quite literally gasping in horror at some of the suspense filled pages.

I especially liked how Ms. Brown kept dividing chapters from present, to flashbacks, and into the mind of not only the heros, but also the villians. It gave you better insight of what motivates the characters, and the thin line between good and evil, hero and villian.

The characters are beautifully written, and I found myself swept away from the very first page. I love that in a book!

Small town secrets, bigotry, hatred and deception, THE WITNESS is the story about an idealist lawyer who gets tangled up in a web of lies.

The day she married Matt Burnwood, she thought that life couldn't get any more perfect. Not only has she caught the heart of the handsome and rich newspaper editor, she is also on her way to being the best public defender in Prosper, South Carolina. As a girl who dreamt of a perfect life, Kendall thought that she had it all. Until the night she stumbled upon the truth behind the town's perfection and the secrets that involve her very own husband. Now the lawyer has become a fugitive, wanted by the people who will stop at nothing to ensure that she is silenced forever.

That was a year ago. Now as she stares at the man lying in the hospital bed, who has no single memory of the deadly chain of events that brought them together, Kendall knows that deception is her only refuge. For if the man she calls John--the man she claims her husband--regains his memory, it will be all over for Kendall and her son.

From the time I started reading the prologue, I was caught by the mystery surrounding the car crash and the two main characters. The way the author set up the plot and each chapter had me glued to the story. What really happened, what is Kendall running away from, who is the amnesiac that she fears--these were the questions that continued to bug me and I found myself turning page after page, reading well into the night and until the early hours of the morning waiting for everything to unravel. Kendall is one of Sandra Brown's best heroines. Her courage, intelligence and absolute love for her child, the way she would do anything to protect Kevin makes you feel for her plight. I found myself getting nervous each time I thought that the bad guys were getting closer. As for John, although we don't really get to know the real him until halfway through, I thought the way the author kept up the truth surrounding his identity added strength to the mystery. And let's not forget the secondary characters. From the fun-loving Ricky Sue, the too-serious FBI agent Pepperdyne and the villains, no part of the story is wasted on any of these characters.

THE WITNESS is a compelling romance mystery that is bound to get you hooked from the start. Along with BREATH OF SCANDAL, this is one of Sandra Brown's best novels. Highly recommended.

I picked this book up at DFW airport because I needed something to get me through a 10 hour flight to London. I started it before I got on the plane and finished as we were pulling up to the gate. It was an excellent read that kept me glued to my seat for the entire trip. Ms. Brown takes a clever turn with the writing of this book, because the reader is completely baffled as to the identity of the man travelling with Kendall until well into the last half of the book. And when you think you've got it all figured out, she throws in additional twists right up to the end! If you like mysteries mixed with romance, this is definitely your book. Enjoy!

THE WITNESS was the first Sandra Brown book that I read and is still one of my favorites. You'll be hooked on this author after reading this book!!! I found myself emphasizing with Kendall Deaton as she runs from a car wreck with her baby and was trying to encourage her on her way ("no, not there, ok get in the car and go..."). Kendall was a public defender in a small town in South Carolina and stumbled across the town's dirty laundry. Her life became miserable, and the only way to save her life and that of her child's is to run.

THE WITNESS is a mystery first with romance thrown into the plot for good measure! And good measure it is!! You'll find yourself out of breath while trying to help Kendall run and smiling when she stumbles into the arms of a very romantic man. Hot and steamy love scenes, done tastefully, leave the reader believing that romance really does exist. I can't say enough about THE WITNESS, except that you'll be hooked from the first page, and then not want to turn that last page and have it end. This book is one of Brown's best!

I've read many of Sandra Brown's books over the years, and my personal favorite is still Mirror Image. However, this book was really a 'can't put it down' read. It really hooks you in from the very first page. As others have said, it handles quite a few unpleasant, and sometimes quite graphic, issues but I don't believe they overshadow the story line and the suspense that is generated throughout the book. There are so many twists and turns in the plot and it really does keep the tension level high to the very last few pages. I, also, think this would make a great movie. Highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.