Not bad for a debut novel.Former FBI agent Rowan Smith last case haunted her so much, she quit the FBI. Parts of the case hit too close to home. At the age of 10, she witnessed her brother Bobby’s evilness when he murdered most of the members of her family. The only ones alive besides herself are her brother and her father, but her father may as well be dead. She saw her mother’s bloodied, lifeless corpse and believe he killed her. Now he sits in a mental ward, no life in his eyes. Now she’s an author whose books are being made into movies. Staying in Hollywood in a rented beach house, she’s currently working on the next movie. One morning she wakes up to the slamming of a car door. Answering the door was the worst thing she could have done; reporters were camped on her doorstep, wanting to know her reaction to a murder that was taken straight from one of her books.When another murder happens, her producer, Annette hires a security firm. Michael Flynn, ex-cop, is on the case, determined to protect her. But he’s also falling for her, and his brother, John, ex-DEA, wonders if it’s a repeat of a past case that went horribly wrong. Their sister, Tess, makes up the entire security firm, she’s their computer expert. When more events occur, John believes Rowan’s hiding something, and believes Michael’s too smitten to properly protect her. He wonders if what she’s hiding could get them killed.As more and more murders occur, and her books left behind at the scene, FBI and the Flynn brothers agree that someone is after Rowan. But who could it be? Someone she put away, a family member of someone she put away or a victim? And then she begins to wonder if it’s someone from her past. But who? Everyone but herself, her brother Peter and her father are alive. Who could it be?** I have to be honest; If this had been the first Brennan novel I’ve read, I probably would have enjoyed it more. But because I’ve read her more recent work, I found this one lacking.For a debut novel, it was good. Not great, but good. I’ve read similar plots before and I didn’t find this one original enough to score 5 stars from me.And emotionally diconnected. Rowan closed herself off from everyone. And in doing so, the reader also feels disconnected from her. Yes, what happened in her past is terrible, no kid should have to live through that, and I have to say I was proud at the life she built despite it. But with an emotional lack coming from the main character, it through the whole book off. Intelligent, strong, she can defend herself. But her past tortures her emotionally, and the reader doesn’t feel it.John. Ex-DEA, he brings baggage to the story as well, but I found him more likable than Rowan. Strong, self-assured, he’s haunted when a case went terribly wrong, and he’s determined to catch Pomera, the man he’s been after for years. He started the security firm with his brother.Michael. How am I supposed to approach this? He’s supposed to be an ex-cop. Supposed to have been a cop for 15 years before he quit. I’m sorry, but what I got from him was a smitten teenager in his late teens! OMG! He was attracted to Rowan right from the beginning. While they had their runs on the beach in the morning, he’s too busy watching her than their surroundings. When John pushes Rowan for the truth, for details, Michael makes him back off and coddles her. WTH?! He acted more like a love-sick teenager, jealous of his brother, than the grown man he was supposed to be. Granted, what happens in the book is awful and while I wished him off the case, I didn’t wish for what happened to happen.And while I felt a physical attraction between Rowan and John, I didn’t feel anything else but. I felt more from the other characters. I did like the suspense and the mystery, even though finding out who the killer is was rather predictable. The climax and ending had me flipping pages. Started of slow, picked up in the middle, and about 3/4’s of the way in, became really good.Will this stop me from reading The Hunt and The Kill? No. I’ve been told they’re much better. But this one doesn’t rate top marks from me, and I’m sad to say it.
Ugh. This was almost a DNF for me so I feel generous giving it one star. If anyone's read my other reviews of Brennan's work, you'll see that she's all over the map for me, but I tend to like her latest Lucy Kincaid books the best. I don't have any interest in her paranormal work, but I have no interest in that genre at all, so it's not about Brennan. I've also said that I think Brennan does series characters (like Lucy Kincaid) much better than her stand-alone novels (even when they're linked by family or friends); mostly because the series tend to have less romance in them. I really hate the romantic component of romantic suspense. Anyway, this book is a prime example of why I detest romance in my suspense. I didn't like any of the characters to begin with but I figured they'd grow on me. I was surprised to find that Brennan was going for a love triangle, but then again I think she wrote this around the height of Twilight madness when you couldn't toss a dead cat and not find a book with a love triangle. So far we have romantic suspense and now a love triangle, which leaves me with hate-squared. However, I am still curious about the ending and how the villain will be brought to justice (even though it's written on the wall who the villain really is and how he's been getting away with the murders) so I kept on reading (also I do want to read Miranda's book because she was one of the highlights, cameo that it was, in Fear No Evil). The book turned for me when John managed to pick just the right fight with his brother so that (view spoiler)[Michael took the night off so John could fuck, err talk, to Rowan. Insert so much eye-rolling here. There's a shitty soft-core porn scene that I skimmed and then BAM! Michael goes back to his apartment and is murdered by the villain. ALL THE WHILE HIS BROTHER IS FUCKING THEIR CLIENT AND THIS IS SO GROSS THAT I CANNOT EVEN WITH THIS WHOLE SITUATION. This is not romantic, this is not the way to set up a romance. I really can't jive with people who think the whole John/Rowan thing is ~fated for ~reasons and they will just "pull through" this "rough patch." NO. The best part of the book was Tess showing up to tell Rowan off, but even that was undercut by John and Rowan feeling oh-so bad for themselves. Excuse me while I vomit, okay? I hate both of these characters so much that I can't think straight (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about The Prey (2005)?
The Prey4 StarsA solid and entertaining thriller, however, the plot is extremely predictable and as such the story lacks originality. Rowan is a prickly character. There are aspects of her personality that one cannot help admiring such as her mental strength and fortitude. Nevertheless, she has a tendency to break down emotionally, and while this makes it easier to sympathize with her, it also undermines her characterization as a strong willed and resilient heroine. The romance is one of the highlights of the book. The hero, John, is a no nonsense, ex-DEA agent with his own personal baggage and an uncanny ability to see under all of Rowan's external subterfuge. Their attraction is immediate, but they must struggle through several obstacles before they can learn to trust and love each other. My one caveat about the romance is that the hint of a love triangle is superfluous and only adds unnecessary angst that detracts from the suspense story. Moreover, the resolution to this plot point is so obvious it might as well leap off the pages. Other predictable elements include the killer's identity, which can be guessed at very early on, and some of the other twists and turns, such as a certain character's escape and another's abduction as well as the location of the killer's lair. That said, the rest of the serial killer plot is engrossing, particularly the gradual revelation of Rowan's traumatic past and the killer's motivation. The murderer is one of those truly evil villains that make your skin crawl and the ultimate denouement is well-paced and satisfying.Overall, The Prey is an admirable debut novel and I will definitely be continuing with the series.
—Lauren
I really liked this book, just like the others from Allison, I think the plot was very well written.The missing thing was THE REASON. Rowan spend all the book wondering why her brother did all those killings, she was trying to imagine a reason, even when she thought he was dead, and at the end she had plenty of time with Bobby and never asked why? Why he decided to be like that? And I think she should have forgiven her father too, after to knowledge what really happened that night. That´s why I gave 4 stars.
—Liane Almeida
Wow was my first impression of this book. It has the kind of dark elements I like in a romantic suspense novel. The villains are EVIL twisted killers. I loved that. The characters are believable and the tension in this story is so thick it would be hard to cut with a knife, unless a sharp one. It's Allison's debut novel and I had the chance to meet her when I was in the US at a conference. She's definately a gifted writer and her chosen genre suits her. She's not affraid to make her characters suffer and I like that too now wishy washy girlie girlie heroines and iritating overly macho heroes in this book. Plot driven it's a fast moving story that I'll be picking up to read again, soon.
—Gail
