What do You think about Haunting Rachel (2004)?
This was the first Kay Hooper book I read, and after this, I was hooked. I'll be honest; the title is what made me pick it up. I was on vacation and had forgotten a book to read, so while at a store I was skimming through the book section and the title caught my eye (my name is Rachel...the main characters name was Rachel-lame reason, but I'm glad I picked it up).I really like Kay's writing style. I've read pretty much all of her mystery/thriller books. She started out as a romance novelist. I've read some of those, and they are good, but I definitely prefer her mystery/thriller books.One thing I love about Kay's mystery novels is that she can keep you guessing until the end about who the bad guy will be. I'll admit there are many times I'm surprised at the end.
—Rachel
It had been ten years and Rachel Grant was living life without a sparkle in her eyes or a special someone, she was still haunted by the disappearance and presumed dead fiancé, Thomas Sheridan. With her parents’ recent deaths, their only child Rachel had many decisions to make upon returning to the family home after many years. Help came from many avenues, Graham Becket her parents’ lawyer and executor of their estate, Nicholas Ross her father’s banking partner, and Darby Lloyd childhood friend, interior designer, and antique dealer to name a few were glad to be of assistance. Rachel’s memories of Tom and her frequent sightings of a stranger in town who looked like Tom caused her to question if she had lost her mind. Adam Delafield’s resemblance to Tom was so uncanny and the revelation of his undocumented three million dollar loan from her father created suspicion. Adam was not the only one causing havoc and suspicion in Rachel’s life. Accidents that became abundantly clear were no accidents had targeted Rachel with a vengeance and Adam was there to save her life or was it a set up, and why. Bombarded with haunting nightmares, people close to her with secrets, and unresolved questions, Rachel didn’t know who to trust and her time was running out. “Haunting Rachel” was written with reasonable length chapters and easy going storyline. A few twists kept the story interesting. The premise of a deep love so powerful to transcend time to protect the living was unique. The passing of a treasured love from one to another for safe keeping was magical and imaginative.
—Lynda
I read this immediately after Hooper's far superior 'Amanda' and was very disappointed. The romance between the main characters was terribly written, passionless and unconvincing (it felt more like an afterthought, something added to the general mess the book is). There's something terribly wrong when the secondary characters are much more interesting than the protagonists, and writers should be aware of that. The plot was super silly, and the writer seemed to want it that way, as she threw everything and the kitchen sink at it: South American dictaroships, the mob, an obscure government agency, banking deals and money laundering, gas explosions, murdered parents, hoods after revenge, an asinine ghost story, putting in an appearance for the sake of it (Hooper felt the need for a 'paranormal' element,it beats me why, since the story would have been better without),family affairs, illegal diamond trade, you name it this book has it in its most feeble and formulaic form. While in 'Amanda' there was proof that Hooper can write nice love scenes, here there is no evidence of that, so no bedroom scenes worth their ink, no passion, nothing. I'm glad I read 'Amanda' first, for I'm not likely to pick up anything by this writer again. PS. I would have given this book one star but it gets an extra star for the secondary couple alone.
—Emma
