Crystal Illusions The Steve Williams Series Book 5
Paranormal Romantic Suspense
JET-Fueled Fiction
November 15, 2013
345
Assistant D.A. Carolyn Hastings has an uncanny knack for putting away criminals. With one of the best prosecution records in recent history, her future as Manhattan’s next District Attorney looks certain. But her sixth sense for winning cases threatens to work against her when she starts seeing a string of murders through the eyes of the killer.
With suspects piling up as fast as bodies, and the motives of those closest to her questionable, Carolyn doesn’t know who to trust. When the FBI assigns Special Agent Steve Williams to the case, Carolyn discloses her deepest fear - that the man she loves may be the one responsible for the city’s latest crime spree.
The only thing Steve knows for sure is Carolyn has an inexplicable psychic connection with the killer, and all the victims have one thing in common…a striking resemblance to Carolyn Hastings.
And he knows it’s only a matter of time before this psychopath knocks on her door.
Reviewed By: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
I was asked to review this book and it is my first book by J.E. Taylor, but not my last. I am so happy I found this author and especially this book. It has it all. Move over Agatha Christie there’s a new sheriff in town, and she is great.
Carolyn Hastings is an Assistant District Attorney in New York City. She is known for taking cases that involve children, especially those who are being abused physically and sexually. Besides her talent as a DA with a record of winning, she also reads what is in peoples’ minds and has visions. Unfortunately, the visions she is having lately are horrendous. She is witnessing the murder of women through a killer’s eyes. There is a serial killer loose and the news media has named him the Scarlet Psychopath. Long before the police let it be known that the killer is leaving a lipstick kiss on the dead women’s foreheads, Carolyn had already seen it in her visions and nightmares.
The murders are vicious, the women are cut up, and throats slashed in some cases limbs cut off. All of this witnessed in detail by Carolyn. All of the victims appear to be specifically picked by the killer, the looks are the same and it becomes apparent to Carolyn’s boyfriend, Randy, that she is a perfect match to all the dead women. Could she be next? Is it possible that if she confesses what she is seeing that she could be a suspect? Then Carolyn starts to suspect her boyfriend, he leaves unexpectedly at night, comes home dirty or covered in what appears to be blood. Is it possible?
I especially loved the fact that the author lets you see into the mind of the killer. When he goes for the kill you are privy to his thoughts and can feel his torment and anger at the victim. The characters in the book are fascinating but who is the killer? Jim, the District Attorney appears to have some skeletons in his closet. Could it be him? Trent another Assistant District Attorney in Carolyn’s office comes off as a womanizer. Is he the one? Or is it Randy Carolyn’s boyfriend? So many suspects.
Special Agent Steve Williams enters the scene and he has talents that are absolutely unbelievable. He is such a fascinating character, and I am sorry that I didn’t read the books prior to this and learn more about him. Steve is a man who catches serial killers with abilities that border on supernatural.
I am writing this review at 5 AM because I could not put the book down until it was finished. This has to be one of the best mysteries I have ever read. It was so hard to figure out the killer, and I didn’t. WOW this was a great book and I look forward to more of Steve Williams.