Seeing Red

Seeing Red grabbed my attention right away and held it to the very last page! This story is unique and has a wonderful flow and momentum that kept me riveted; I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The plot twists were creative and suspenseful. The relationship between Ellis and Nate escalates quickly and the sparks fly between them as they try to find her cousin's twisted and depraved rapist and keep Ellis safe from the ever increasing danger to herself. The characters are all very well written, each with a unique personality that makes them believable and all the more entertaining to read about. The Author has a fantastic ability to weave tales and I hope to read many more of her books, very soon! I very highly recommend this book! (9 out of 10 Diamonds) - Loved it! © 2008-2009 Bobbie Crawford-McCoy (Book Reviews By Bobbie). All rights reserved.

Seeing Red by Susan Crandall is a suspenseful tale that will keep you guessing. Ellis Greene was a very young girl when she witnessed a horrific crime against her cousin. Its affected every part of her world. Now 15 years later the man convicted has been released and Ellis knows he is gunning for her and her family. Nate Vance was friends with Ellis and her cousin Laura back then. He had left under suspicion after the trial and was putting it all behind him. Now with a convicted criminal out to harm Ellis, Nate comes back to protect her. Ellis and Nate have grown and changed over the years. Their core friendship is still there but now they are seeing each other with adult eyes. As their friendship and romance grows the menace is all around them. Nate will not let anything happen to Ellis, who has come to mean the world to him. Seeing Red is a masterful story of romantic suspense. The terror is edgy and pulse pounding. The romance of Ellis and Nate is emotional and powerful. Susan Crandall is an author to read and enjoy.

Author Susan Crandall lived in Chicago and worked as a dental hygienist before pursuing her writing career. This title, Seeing Red, follows other titles: Pitch Black, A Kiss in Winter, On Blue Falls Pond, Promises to Keep, Magnolia Sky, The Road Home, and Back Roads. She resides in Indiana with her husband and two children. Fifteen years ago, Ellis Greene was the only witness to the horrendous kidnapping and murder of her beloved cousin, a crime that still had her small town cautious and stumped. The man who she testified against and helped to convict is now out on parole and damned determined to get his revenge. Ellis was tired of living her life in terror, fearful to go out into the night or even form an attachment to anyone. She was lonely, guilt-stricken, and worse- scared senseless that her cousin's killer was going to come after her. When her childhood friend, Nate Vance, left town shortly before the trial, the small South Carolina community began to suspect that he played a part in the murder. So, he stayed away to keep her safe. Emerging from the shadows, Nate returns to the only person who believed him then, to protect the woman capturing his heart now. No longer the teenager of all knees and elbows, Ellis has grown into a beautiful and strong young woman. As two friends become reunited, startling secrets begin to unfold making everyone wonder what really happened that night fifteen years ago. And was the truth worth seeking if another girl would die? First of all, I want to give the author a massive amount of credit for truly understanding what it is like to be a victim and able to portray that so the reader can feel that devastation, fear, and torment that they face. It doesn't end with a conviction and in some cases it never really goes away. That understanding gave these characters life in a realistic manner not often seen and had you relating to each word you read. The book was hard to put down and I didn't find any areas where I lost interest. The suspense was fast-paced and the romance was irresistible. The little bits of point-of-view change were clever, giving you just enough to bite. I found the secondary characters very intriguing, as well. Bravo for understanding the Carolinas and a southern mindset, too. Seeing Red, by Susan Crandall, is a complex, compelling, and well-written book. Most definitely an author to keep your eye out for. Kelly Moran, Author and Reviewer

Fifteen years ago on Belle Island, South Carolina, Laura Greene was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered. Her family blames Nate Vance, a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who wanted Laura as his girlfriend. Laura's cousin teenage Ellis defends Nate; insisting he was innocent and in court on her fourteenth birthday testified against Hollis Alexander, who went to prison. In the present, many islanders still believe the wrong man went to jail as they insist Nate killed Laura; out of prison on parole Hollis bribes reporter Wayne Carr to investigate the case as he swears he was innocent. He also goes after the Greene family that never emotionally recovered from the trauma of the homicide. Nate returns to Belle Island after being away for years, but is no longer the helpless teen being driven off by the haughty Greene clan; he is also attracted to Ellis, a schoolteacher. Ellis reciprocates though she has been seeing Rory for several years. As Ellis and Nate dance around their feelings, they begin to uncover what really happened fifteen years ago; however, this is one time the truth will not set them free because someone wants the past to remain as is and is willing to kill to insure secrets remain concealed. This is an exciting romantic suspense in which the victim's family never received closure although someone went to jail for the crime; as most of the Greene brood believes like most islanders that the wrong man went to jail. The action-packed story line moves briskly from the moment Ellis and Nate see each other for the first since just after the tragedy and never slows down as Hollis sets in motion his scheme. Readers will enjoy this tense thriller as the truth will set you free if it doesn't kill you. Harriet Klausner

Any book that keeps me glued to the pages until 1:30am then keeps me awake thinking about all the twists and turns of the story for another hour after I turn that final page has more than earned my highest rating of 5 stars. Life as she knew it was forever altered for thirteen-year-old Ellis Greene on the night her older cousin, Laura was kidnapped from the bedroom they shared then raped, beaten and left to die on the beach. Police quickly focused their attention on Nate Vance, Laura's boyfriend, and the poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks was convicted in the court of public opinion by everyone in the small town of Belle Island except Ellis. Nate and Laura had been her best friends and Ellis knew that Nate would never have hurt Laura. Ellis also knew that someone else had been outside their bedroom window that night. She had smelled his cheap cologne and sour body odor, had seen him on the path next to the house and it was her brave testimony during the trial that put Hollis Alexander in prison. But a steely gaze and two words - "You'll pay" - from Alexander had also put Ellis in prison, a prison of fear, her innocent, carefree life gone, along with Nate who disappeared from Belle Island the day Alexander was convicted. Fifteen years later, the fallout from Laura's death still haunts Ellis's family. Her parents smother her with protection and Ellis employs every possible method to keep safe, including appearing at every parole hearing to insure Alexander remains in prison. But someone has removed her family from the parole board's notification list and now Alexander is free to return to Belle Island...on the very same day that Nate Vance reappears in town after a fifteen year absence. Suddenly, Ellis is receiving threatening notes, dead roses appear on her doorstep and sinister phone calls make it clear that "she's next" but police refuse to believe it's the work of Alexander. Then a young girl bearing a striking resemblance to Laura is brutally murdered and suspicion once again shifts to Nate. Suddenly, Ellis doesn't know who to trust. Is the true culprit Alexander who swears he's innocent of her cousin's murder? Her feelings for Nate have been intensifying but could she have been wrong about him all those years ago? He swears that he never forgot her, kept track of her during the years he was gone and has returned to town to protect her but he won't divulge anything about his life or what he's been doing all those years away. Or could these unspeakable acts be the work of Rory, the long-time boyfriend she recently broke up with who refuses to accept that their relationship has ended and grows angrier with each encounter? The mystery grows deeper with every page and people, and situations, are not always what they seem. The twists and turns of this spellbinding tale kept me guessing until the very end. I highly recommend Susan Crandall's SEEING RED.