Sleeping with Fear (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: spooky senses, occult activity, occult rituals, Opal Island, Wesley Tate, Hazard County (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Psychic FBI agent Riley Crane wakes up one afternoon covered in blood (not her own), with a pounding headache and no memory of the last three weeks—or her clairvoyant sense. In this third fast-paced installation of Hooper's Fear trilogy (after Chill of Fear), Riley is on assignment on Opal Island off the coast of South Carolina, summoned there by her ex-army friend, Gordon Skinner, to investigate possible occult activity. Despite her haziness on the investigation's details to date—including her apparent romantic involvement with Sheriff Jake Ballard—she persuades her boss, Noah Bishop, chief of the FBI Special Crimes Unit, to let her stay to "stabilize" the situation, which just got bloodier with another brutal murder. Vulnerable and unable to trust herself or those around her, Riley perseveres in an investigation that could prove deadly. Hooper keeps the suspense dialed up as Riley experiences brief flashes of memory, visions of satanic rites and continued blackouts. Regardless of their appetite for the paranormal, readers will be mesmerized by a plot that moves quickly to a chilling conclusion. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The third book in Hooper's Bishop series follows Riley Crane, a member of an FBI unit of psychics, to Opal Island to investigate reported occult activity. She experiences blackouts and a loss of energy and clairvoyant powers and slowly realizes that she is under attack by someone able to marshal dark forces who is related to a serial killer she killed in a prior case. Riley then learns that her lover, Ash, who turns out to be the local DA, was also involved with the case. She is loathe to trust him, since she can't remember falling in love with him, but her body doesn't forget, and his calm acceptance of her occult powers gives her confidence. Her strength and powers return, and she succeeds in ridding Opal Island of its evil. As in many sequels, there is some catch-up involved, but the book stands on its own and is an interesting mystery-paranormal-romance genre blend. Mary K. Chelton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553586009
• ISBN-13: 978-0553586008
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,906 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable brain candy with a paranormal flavour!, February 15, 2008

By	Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I'm not generally a big fan of the paranormal but this one started off with a great creepy bang, I'll admit!

FBI Agent Riley Crane, a clairvoyant member of Noah Bishop's Special Crimes Unit (SCU) has been asked to look into some possible occult activity on a quiet undercover ex officio basis. When she wakes up in the middle of the day covered in blood, with an intense headache, no recollection of the past three weeks' activity or her ongoing investigation, not to mention a total inability to tap into her normally active psychic senses, she's understandably concerned and completely mystified. The SCU being severely strapped for manpower and tied up in other investigations elsewhere, Noah Bishop has given Crane his trust and a free hand to carefully deal with the ambiguities of her situation, to try to re-crystallize her memories and to press the investigation forward.

As Crane puzzles her way through satanism, black masses, dark magic, human sacrifice, evil energy, continuing memory blackouts and a torrid romantic liaison with someone who she can't even remember meeting let alone making love to, "Sleeping With Fear" is perhaps a little over the top even by Hooper's standards. But, that said, when I gave into the story and allowed myself to totally dispense with any credibility issues, I'll confess I enjoyed the story. For a few easygoing hours, I was transported to a land of horror brain candy that was quite entertaining.

Recommended.

Paul Weiss

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deadly mind games., August 8, 2006

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sleeping with Fear (Hardcover)

In Kay Hooper's latest novel of romantic suspense, "Sleeping with Fear," the heroine is thirty-two year old Riley Crane, an ex-army officer and federal agent assigned to the Special Crimes Unit. She is an expert on the occult as well as a clairvoyant with psychic abilities that come in handy in her line of work. As the novel opens, Riley is vacationing in a beachfront cottage on Opal Island, South Carolina. One afternoon, she wakes up covered in dried blood, with no memory of the last three weeks of her life. In addition, her psychic powers appear to be out of commission. Her boss, Noah Bishop, Chief of the FBI Special Crimes Unit, wants Riley to return to Quantico immediately. However, she convinces Bishop to allow her to stay on the island in order reconstruct her memory and figure out who messed with her mind and why.

The plot thickens when the headless body of a man is found hanging over a tree in what appears to have been a satanic ritual. Sheriff Jake Ballard reluctantly asks Riley for her help in solving the case, although he is furious that she dumped him for Ash Prescott, the local district attorney. Riley confides in her old army buddy, Gordon Skinner, that her mind is playing tricks on her, but she tells no one else about the gaps in her memory. She is even reluctant to be honest with her lover, Ash, especially since she barely remembers how their relationship began. The only certainty in Riley's mind is that someone close to her has targeted her for death. As the weeks pass, Riley senses that she is missing something important, but in spite of her best efforts, she cannot get a handle on the case.

"Sleeping with Fear" is a suspenseful and engrossing page-turner. Riley is a courageous, tough, and tenacious protagonist, and her torrid relationship with Ash heats up the pages. Although the dialogue is a bit stilted and the conclusion somewhat implausible, books of this nature are meant to be escapist entertainment. Judged by this standard, "Sleeping with Fear" delivers the goods, skillfully combining romance, elements of the supernatural, and crime in a neat enough package to keep Hooper's fans coming back for more.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only I can remember!, January 17, 2007

By	Michelle L. Beck "Always the Devourer of Good... (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sleeping with Fear (Hardcover)

Riley Crane (psychic, ex-military, FBI agent in the Special Crimes Unit, expert in the occult) wakes up covered in blood, fully clothed but minus her memory and her clairvoyant/psychic powers. Imagine her surprise when she doesn't even remember taking a lover, Ash ( an unconventionally handsome, charismatic District Attorney)or spurning another suitor (drop dead gorgeous , chief of police and close friend of Ash), or just what she was investigating when a decapitated man is discovered hanging near what seems to be a "ritualistic" crime scene.

So in summary, the novel revolves around what Riley has been doing for the last three weeks that she can not remember and her efforts to determine who was killed, why and by whom. She manages to do all of this while still losing gaps of time,facing a boss (Bishop)who wants her back in Quantico if she doesn't recover soon; horrible memories of a serial killer she killed; evaluating her relationship with a lover she doesn't remember (although she says that her body does); loosing calories faster than she can eat them (powerbars to the rescue); questioning a friend who called her to Opal Island (Gordon); while seeking assistance from a cheery but helpful cop; and a group of satanist, all while struggling to get your clairvoyant/psychic powers back. I found this to be an entertaining novel. It only took me two days.