The Crush

In Sandra Brown's The Crush, Dr. Rennie Newton is on Ricky Lozada's jury. Lozada is a well-known hit man. However, the jury decides to vote not guilty. Soon it appears that she has a new admirer. One of her peers, also a rival, is murdered, and Rennie is a suspect. Then she becomes stalked by Lozado. Wick Threadgill is a detective that is after the killer and soon Wick and Rennie join forces.

So well-written that when i picked it up I did not want to set it down until I was finished and satisfied with the ending. I was thrilled that I was left to wonder how they would capture Lozado. and the characters were so wonderful. They would appear one way but then you saw the layers as the story progressed.

I must say that Brown was able to show more create a villain who was easy to hate. From the trial on, he was a character that I loved to hate.

I feel that if the reader is looking for a thrilling adventure, this is an excellent to try.

This book may be purchased at Amazon HERE!

or Barnes and Noble HERE! show less

Dr. Rennie Newton is a respected surgeon at Tarrant General Hospital. She lives alone and keeps to herself until a deadly stalker terrorizes her and turns her life upside down. However, before Rennie can contact the police, a colleague and contender for a coveted promotion at work, Dr. Howell, is stabbed to death. Officer Oren and other members of the FWPD quickly consider Rennie a suspect. However, Wick Threadgill, a cop on forced leave, believes the actual murderer is Lozada, a psychopathic contract killer who has evaded the cops for years. This story is on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense as the cops try to zero in on a murderer while Wick looks into the attractive Dr. Newton’s past, trying to decide if she’s a victim or a killer. show more Surprise twists abound. show less

Read this book based on a recommendation (Blind Date with a Book) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't read a book by Sandra Brown in....over a decade, I think, and forgot how much I liked her books.

This story includes a brilliant but emotionally damaged surgeon who is being stalked by a delusional, cunning psychopath that has "a crush" on her. Enter the charming -but haunted- cop who comes to her rescue. (my current book crush ♥)

Rating: 4

When Dr Rennie Newton is summoned to jury duty, little does she realise that her compulsion to return a not guilty verdict in the trial of notorious killer Ricky Lozada, might prove the most regrettable decision of her life...[return][return]It's a bit unclear how quick after the trial this story starts (you only find out a 3rd of the book in that it's about 2 weeks), this is a reasonable detective/stalker/stalkee story, with the usual romance & sex thing thrown in.[return][return]Decent example of the genre

Not the best of her books, despite the rating. I found the characters were far more stronger that eclipsed everything else. What I liked was the strong bond between Wick and Oren, the humourous banter that they shared, and the differences between them. What did hit a raw nerve was the senseless slaying of the animals. The twist at the end was a total cop (!!!) out.

The above is not entirely accurate. She gets the roses well after the trial. She does not immediately think that Lozada killed her rival. The “handsome young detective” assigned to her case isn’t even a cop. He’s an ex-cop with who screwed up the investigation of his brother’s killing at Lozada’s hands. He is working on the case at the behest of his brother’s ex-partner who is a cop in Fort Worth where Rennie lives. Of course he’s kind of a hot head with more passion than common sense at times, but a heart of gold etc. etc. etc.

The story hung together pretty well but lacked intensity. The bad guy was just like all the other bad guys I’ve read about; delusional and cruel but sneaky enough not to get caught too often. show more Typical. Also typical was the ‘star crossed lovers’ bit that surrounded Wick and Rennie. She was a wild child as a young girl because she saw her father screwing her piano teacher. As revenge she went about seducing dad’s business partner. One day when he was at the house and her father walked in on them in a clinch, the partner was shot. Rennie took the blame but it didn’t take a genius to figure that dad really shot the guy. So Rennie has been carrying this burden of guilt over her sexuality and therefore is practically a virgin when Wick and she finally do it. No mention of how it must have hurt, of course.

Before the bad guy is trapped, he’s threatened her and killed a couple of people and her 5 horses. But then an obvious trap is sprung and fails to capture him. So another more devious trap is sprung using one of Lozada’s unwilling accomplices and he is caught. It is hinted that Wick and Rennie will live happily ever after. Yawn.

Tom Wopat did a pretty good job with characterizations and I usually forgot he was Luke Duke in a former life. I did keep singing the theme song to the Dukes of Hazzard though. Retch! show less

Not up to standard that Brown usually sets. Too many plot elements were contrived and character flaws unconvincing. Satisfying ending, but sometimes tedious and irritating getting there. Her later novels are much better.