Blurb from Lisa Jacksons Website
For the past three months, Eve Renner has struggled to remember the night she was nearly killed and her lover was tried for murder. She remembers getting the anxious call from a friend from her past: “Meet me at the cabin. I’ve got evidence.” She remembers seeing that friend lying in a pool of blood. And she remembers a horrifying glimpse of her lover Cole Dennis’s face as a gunshot plunged her into darkness. Now, her memory and emotions scarred, Eve has returned to New Orleans to forget the past. But the past will not be forgotten. Eve’s shattered memory has helped Cole walk on murder charges just as a new series of killings begins.

The latest murders are bizarre and baffling. The victims are killed in ritual fashion, a series of numbers tattooed into their bodies. 212. 101. 111. 323. There is no clue to their meaning, no connection to the victims except one: Our Lady of Virtues Hospital, the crumbling old asylum that was once the scene of unspeakable madness. For Eve, it was a second home as a child. Her father was a doctor there and she spent hours exploring its secret chambers, hidden rooms, and forbidden passageways. Somewhere in its decaying rooms lies the key to a terrible crime, a betrayal beyond imagining whose echoes are now being felt with vengeance--a crime that seems to lead to Eve herself. And the only man she can trust with the search is Cole, her former lover and, just possibly, a cold-blooded killer.

As forgotten memories begin to surface, bodies are found and each twist leads to another terrifying piece of the puzzle. Someone is watching, planning, luring her back to the ruins of Our Lady and the shocking truths hidden there—someone who has been waiting for this moment to strike. He is deadlier than she could ever have imagined and closer than she knows. For the sins of the past must be revealed, the crimes brought to justice, and the price paid—in blood.

My review

This book was kinda meh for me. The story was entertaining enough but there was nothing that really grabbed me about it. Part of my problem may have been that this was the fifth book in a series and a sequel to the previous book. I hate when that happens and I found it really jerked me out of the book everytime something that happened in a previous book was mentioned. The main characters were okay although there wasn't a lot of focus on the relationship but it might have been previously built up in one of the other books I don't know. Also, there was a twist at the end of the book that I didn't quite get and seemed unnecessary so that kind of ruined the end of the book for me. It was really just an okay book for me there were somethings I liked (the scary parts were definitely creepy) but the story just didn't grab me. It was most likely because it's the middle of a series which will ruin a book for me anyways if I haven't read the previous books. I will be picking up the first book in the series the next time I'm at the bookstore.
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When Eve Renner gets a phone call from an old friend with a mysterious message, she rushes to meet him and instead finds him brutally murdered, and the killer still lurking in the house. Minutes later, she sees her boyfriend’s face through a window, and is stunned to see him pointing a gun at her. That’s all she remembers when she wakes up in the hospital, the rest of her memory taken by temporary amnesia.

As she tries to rebuild her life, Eve is about to be thrust into a murderer’s treacherous game and things get quite a bit worse before they get better. Eve has always known that she was adopted, but never knew who her parents were. Now someone is leaving old newspaper clippings in her car about a woman who jumped to her death at the mental hospital Eve’s father, a psychiatrist, worked in, and a string of savage murders that seem to be connected somehow to the old asylum are keeping the police and coroner’s office busy. Meanwhile, Eve’s ex-boyfriend is out of jail and doing his best to convince Eve that he didn’t try to kill her that night, and something in Eve believes him although her eyes and memory tell her differently.

This is your standard romantic suspense thriller, I guess, although I probably don’t read enough in the genre to say that with certainty. It’s pretty well done, at any rate. There are many points of view used – Eve’s, the killer’s, Cole’s (the boyfriend), and the two detectives working the case. This is the first thing of Lisa Jackson’s that I’ve read, but she’s published many books as far as I know (not a rookie, in other words). Although I’m not a big reader of this particular kind of novel, if I had to guess I’d say it’s probably one of the better ones and Jackson more talented than many of her colleagues. The story is fast-paced and well-structured, and Jackson seems to be a pretty seasoned pro. ( )

Girl gets married to a charming and good looking husband. She changes completely for him, never knowing that her husband is a serial cheater. Everything is peachy, till her husband gets caught by his firm having sex with a co-worker. The firm likes him, so to solve the matter they ship him to the states. Once there, the girl starts to go back to her roots and gets a reality check.

I liked the novel well enough, not so much the main character since she annoyed me a lot. Surprisingly enough, I liked the husband for all the little excuses he'd make for cheating. Good chic lit. ( )

In her stunning follow up to the 2006 best seller “Shiver,” Lisa Jackson has proven that there’s room for a little romance amid all the death and depravity. Absolute Fear is part of the Bayou series, which includes, “Hot Blooded, Cold Blooded, and Shiver.” The plot line is in depth and complicated yet developed simultaneously with the characters, in such a way that Absolute Fear stands on its own. This book has it all, child abuse, scandalous behavior within the church, unethical medical practices, sex, murder and mayhem. Having enjoyed this novel on every conceivable level, I have added all three previous titles to my list of must reads.

Absolute Fear opens three months after the ritualistic murder of Roy Kajak and the attempted murder of Eve Renner. Eve, still suffering from amnesia, returns to New Orleans. That very day, Cole Dennis was set free. It seemed like a life time ago that she had met Cole at her fathers farm house. A hot shot attorney that successfully represented Dr. Renner after his patient committed suicide. There was a part of her that had never been convinced that he had tried to kill her. On the night of her return, this belief would be tested, when Cole appears at her door.

Unspeakable madness had once been perpetrated behind the walls of Our Lady of Virtues - and he intended to revive that madness, just for Eve. She would pay for her sins, he would make sure of that. Then he would be deified, his god had said. The “Reviver” is a sick, twisted, ritualistic murderer. The tattooing, cryptic clues and murders are all part of his elaborate revenge. He knew they were all so blinded by sin that they were unable to interpret that which he had written in blood for all to see? He wouldn’t just spell it out for them - and yet that is exactly what he had done. As the true nature of his actions and extent of his manipulations are revealed, the skillfully coded clues scattered throughout become crystal clear.

Absolute Fear is an Absolute Best Seller! Lisa Jackson has continued her series, while creating a novel that stands tall on its own merit. Jackson’s ability to explore the inner workings of this characters depraved mind is an astonishing literary feat, that should not be overlooked. Successfully delivering to the reader a fright filled journey into the dark recesses of a madman’s desires, while maintaining a relationship filled with explosive passion places Lisa Jackson in the company of the best! This book has the perfect mix of secrets, lust and murder to keep readers coming back again and again. And with the door left open at the conclusion, we can hope that there will be another installment.

Happy Reading!
RJ xx ( )

lots of twists ( )