Sandman

by Morgan Hannah MacDonald

[Cocktails and Books]

I've said this before, but I do love it when a suspense novel keeps me guessing until the end. This was one were I had three possible suspects for the serial killer and I was wrong on all three (dammit!!).

Meagan McInnis, has horrible luck with men. Her ex-husband was an alcoholic, her ex-fiance mooched off of her while he watched porn all day, her ex-boyfriend was a cheat who lied to her about being married, the manager at the salon she works at is openly hostile towards her after she spurred his advances and the lead singer to a local band seems to good to be true. So it's no wonder she got herself a large dog and tends to hide out in her apartment. She's not afraid to live her life, but she's cautious. So when she starts getting weird hang up calls, she figures it one of her ex's acting like a stalker. Little does she know how close to the truth that is.

JJ Thomas is trying to hang on to his sanity. Still trying to get over the suicide of his wife two years before, he doesn't sleep much and spends way to much time with a bottle of scotch, but when a dead body found on the beach looks like the work of a serial killer, he starts letting go of his demons and focusing on the case. That leads him to Meagan McInnis and his desire to protect her from being the next victim.

My only issue with the book would be the developing relationship between Megan and JJ. While they didn't meet until halfway through the book, their relationship didn't move to the next level until the very end of the book and then it was just kind of left hanging. I would have like to see a little bit more development to that relationship to know that they ended up together in a solid place.

This was an edge of your seat read. You'll come up with your own list of suspects and still believe that one of your suspects is the killer up until almost the end. Meagan will win your admiration because while some pretty horrible things happen to her, she has an inner strength that keeps her going and not melt into a pile of goo demanding a pity party (I'm pretty sure I would).