Epiphany (Legacy of Payne) by Christina Jean Michaels
Source: Author
Rating: 4½ stars/5 stars

For most of her life, Mackenzie Hill has dreamt of the most terrible and horrifying things; she sees blood and terror, things no one should ever have to experience in their dreams and certainly not in real life. But Mackenzie can’t stop the dreams from coming any more than she stop the events she dreams of from happening. As if to balance the brutal, the universe has also provided Mackenzie with dreams of a beautiful man with haunting eyes. Though these dreams are significantly better than the nightmares, the man, like the nightmares haunt Mackenzie’s waking hours. For as long as she has dreamt of the mystery man she has also drawn him as she sees him never, ever expecting him to be actual flesh and blood. And then he walks into her bar.

Mackenzie’s life in Watcher’s Point is meant to be her do-over, her escape from her strained relationship with her mother and from a series of tragic events with her ex-boyfriend she would just as soon put behind her. Mackenzie lives in a crappy little apartment but it is hers and she has neighbor (and co-worker) Six to keep her company at all times of the day and night. Though she knows she can’t totally erase the past, life in Watcher’s Point is normal enough that Mackenzie begins to believe she can have a normal and possibly even a good life. HA!! That’s what you get for thinking!

Turns out, Watcher’s Point is nowhere close to normal but is home to a vicious and sadistic serial killer whose MO looks eerily like that of another serial killer who dropped out of sight more than a year ago. Turns out, Watcher’s Point is also home to Aidan Payne, the man from Mackenzie’s dreams and the widower of one of the serial killer’s victims. When girls begin disappearing in Watcher’s Point, Mackenzie and Aidan are drawn together out of both physical attraction and a desire to bring a madman to justice. With Aidan’s extensive knowledge about the previous killings and Mackenzie’s increasingly informative dreams, the two are more determined than ever to discover the identity of the killer.

Aidan and Mackenzie’s path to bringing down a killer is dramatic, suspenseful, sometimes sexy, turbulent, emotional, and fraught with danger. The search for the killer’s identity quite unexpectedly forces the two to confront their individual pasts and families. For both, the prospect of facing a serial killer is more inviting than facing their respective families. Aidan’s family and especially his father take dysfunctional to a whole new level while Mackenzie’s family is mostly weird with a matriarch who is more interested in what others think than supporting her children. Believe me, dear reader, this is only the tip of iceberg!!

The Bottom Line: WOW!! Epiphany is one of those reads that you had better have a lot of time for because you aren’t going to want to put it down. There is so much going on in this novel with the serial killer, Aidan and Mackenzie and, their respective pasts that one could easily get lost or totally frustrated if Michaels were a less talented writer. Thank goodness she’s very good at what she does because this book is a roller coaster ride that takes off quickly sails through all the hills and valleys and brings you screaming in to a full stop right at the very last second. Some of the twists and turns Michael’s has thrown into the mix are gruesome and disturbing but I didn’t care!! I had to keep reading and so will you!! The added bonus? Michael’s is not done with this series  BAM!!!! ( )

I was lucky enough to get a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a classic murder mystery/romance, with some pretty clever plot twists tossed in just to shake things up even more and keep the story from feeling like a cookie-cutter plot. Interesting characters fill the story, and there are personal & public mysteries aplenty.

Mackenzie has just recently moved to Watchers Point to try and start a new life. She left college, her family, and her sweetheart. And no one knew why. No one other than Joe, her boyfriend of thirteen years.

She chose Watchers Point because that's where her mom grew up. And it was there that she discovered her life was a lie. The man she'd grown up thinking of as her father, who died before she was even born, well according to town gossip, he wasn't her dad. Apparently her real father was a well respected local business man with a family of his own. So suddenly Mackenzie gains not just a new father but also a sister. Too bad he had recently died, leaving Mackenzie with a bitter drunkard of a sister, who apparently hated her. Mac was understandably bitter after learning of her mother's deception, feeling that she'd been cheated of a dad while growing up, thanks to her mother's lies.

Mackenzie's new neighbor and co-worker, Six, is a riot. Pretty much polar opposites, Six is flamboyant and outgoing while Mackenzie is quiet and reserved, yet they hit it off right away. Six quickly becomes Mac's best friend. With her quick wit and energetic personality it's hard for anyone not to like Six. Even the story of how she got her name suited her personality.

Mackenzie is an artist, but she has been drawing pictures of the same man for years now. No one she's ever met, only ever seen in her dreams. And some steamy dreams at that! Mackenzie's dreams often feel real, as if she is witnessing real events. And in Watchers Point those dreams take on a more grisly aspect. She witnesses a murder, one that really happens, proving Mackenzie right. She does have the ability to see real events in her dreams. It is right around this point that Aidan appears, sitting at the bar, in the flesh. Mackenzie can't believe it - her dream man, literally, is real and at her bar.

For his part the first thing he notices is Mackenzie's reaction to a guy using a lighter on his cigarette. She turns stark white and looks terrified. He is determined to discover why she reacted that way to a lighter.

From here on in the two become more and more entangled as they grow closer and closer, even though Aidan fights his growing attraction. When the murders start to happen some of the reasons for Aidan's behavior are explained. It would seem that the serial killer 'The Hangman' is back in business, though no one can explain the eight month break he took, or why he moved out of Idaho and set up shop in small Watchers Point.

With Mackenzie dreaming about the murders in vivid detail, but not seeing the killer, she gets more and more upset. And Aidan becomes more and more protective of her. . . Are his instincts right, or is he seeing things that aren't there?

Though I guessed who the killer was, there were a couple of times I questioned myself. And there was no way I could have foreseen the ending of the book. Not with all the plot twists and turns that come to light in the end. Given the number of dead ends and faulty leads throughout, it was a nice surprise that the ending was not what I'd expected. Populated by some interesting characters and crazy family dynamics, I look forward to reading Logan Payne's story in 'Awakening,' the next book in the 'Legacy of Payne' series. ( )