Lisa Jackson is a master of suspense. She gives the reader just enough clues, and then throws a twist in at the end to bring a satisfying surprise. Along with a fast-paced plotline, Lisa creates great characters. If you have read her previous books, you'll be reacquainted with some familiar faces, such as Detectives Bentz and Montoya. While this is a stand-alone novel, the glimpses of back-story revealed should entice new readers to look up past titles. ( )

Didn't finish this book - too much wringing of hands and mental circular thinking to be interesting. I guess it was meant to show the distress and nerves of the characters but quickly became annoying. ( )

Well done suspense albeit with romance. ( )

This book has the perfect mix of secrets, lust and murder to keep readers coming back again and again. And with the door left open at the conclusion, we can hope that there will be another installment. Hey, Lisa. Enough of the asylum. It’s served its purpose. Move on. ( )

This was my second book by Lisa Jackson (her latest Tell Me was excellent). I read the audio version of Absolute Fear (and have not read the others in the series, which I will read later as sure would be helpful). This could be a standalone; however, looking forward to reading Shiver and her previous books.

As her other book, this was definitely a thriller filled with suspense – the narrator did an outstanding job with the characters. The setting was a mental hospital with lots of secrets to uncover and bad deeds. Eve was the main character who spied on mental patients when she was a child with her best friend Roy.

Eve/Cole was a good combo and the book was very intriguing; however, the ending was rather strange as replayed it a few times to make sure I had not missed anything. Assume it will pick up with the following book (New Orleans 5 & 6).

A thrilling mystery with lots of twists, and turns and dead bodies along the way. You just never know who is out for revenge and the lengths they will go to get their way!
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There’s a lot going on in this novel, some good, some bad, some a bit confusing. In this novel Abby Chastain discovers she might have a long lost half-sister in Eve Renner. Eve’s father used to be the head of Psychiatry at Our Lady of Virtues Mental Hospital. Eve is nearly killed by a tattooed freak psychopath, and she suspects the killer is her boyfriend Cole Dennis, who was present when she was assaulted. People continue to get killed and conveniently enough Abby’s boyfriend Reuben Montoya is the lead detective on the case. The plot is a bit convoluted and sometimes messy.

I generally don’t like serial killer novels because they are so overdone and usually poorly executed. Absolute Fear is better than most that I have read. Having said that, the novel still has its flaws. The serial killer lacks believability and there are clear plot and logic holes laced throughout. However, there is enough intrigue to keep the novel going. I would tentatively recommend it, but with lowered expectations.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street ( )

Other reviewers mentioned this was a sequel book (Shiver was the previous item) - - but I couldn't tell - - didn't feel like there was anything I was missing.

I've become a fan of Lisa Jackson's books in this past year - - she tells a well-crafted thriller that keeps the excitement going from page 1 to the end. ( )

Action and suspense were good. Setting was interesting. You sort of have to read the books in order if you want to understand the relationships. ( )

Eve Renner was nearly killed and recovering by a gun shot. Eve was thrust into a murderer's game. everyone that is killed is conected with Our Lady of Virtues Hospital a asylum. The book is a page turner. I in Joyed it. ( )

Horrible. Will not be reading anymore Lisa Jackson books. Overrated. The writing, to me, was one step above V.C. Andrews. ( )

Lisa Jackson’s newest release, Absolute Fear, is a real page-turner. The most shocking aspect of this book was the ending. It definitely leaves the possibility of a sequel. If you have read Lisa’s previous books, you’ll be reacquainted with Detectives Bentz and Montoya. While this is a stand-alone novel, I would suggest reading Shiver first. It will give you more background into the characters. I totally recommend this book! ( )

Great reading. I recently discovered Lisa Jackson through a friend. The book was very interesting and at times it seem to have some run ons, but I did enjoy reading it. ( )

Blurb from Lisa Jacksons Website
For the past three months, Eve Renner has struggled to remember the night she was nearly killed and her lover was tried for murder. She remembers getting the anxious call from a friend from her past: “Meet me at the cabin. I’ve got evidence.” She remembers seeing that friend lying in a pool of blood. And she remembers a horrifying glimpse of her lover Cole Dennis’s face as a gunshot plunged her into darkness. Now, her memory and emotions scarred, Eve has returned to New Orleans to forget the past. But the past will not be forgotten. Eve’s shattered memory has helped Cole walk on murder charges just as a new series of killings begins.

The latest murders are bizarre and baffling. The victims are killed in ritual fashion, a series of numbers tattooed into their bodies. 212. 101. 111. 323. There is no clue to their meaning, no connection to the victims except one: Our Lady of Virtues Hospital, the crumbling old asylum that was once the scene of unspeakable madness. For Eve, it was a second home as a child. Her father was a doctor there and she spent hours exploring its secret chambers, hidden rooms, and forbidden passageways. Somewhere in its decaying rooms lies the key to a terrible crime, a betrayal beyond imagining whose echoes are now being felt with vengeance--a crime that seems to lead to Eve herself. And the only man she can trust with the search is Cole, her former lover and, just possibly, a cold-blooded killer.

As forgotten memories begin to surface, bodies are found and each twist leads to another terrifying piece of the puzzle. Someone is watching, planning, luring her back to the ruins of Our Lady and the shocking truths hidden there—someone who has been waiting for this moment to strike. He is deadlier than she could ever have imagined and closer than she knows. For the sins of the past must be revealed, the crimes brought to justice, and the price paid—in blood.

My review

This book was kinda meh for me. The story was entertaining enough but there was nothing that really grabbed me about it. Part of my problem may have been that this was the fifth book in a series and a sequel to the previous book. I hate when that happens and I found it really jerked me out of the book everytime something that happened in a previous book was mentioned. The main characters were okay although there wasn't a lot of focus on the relationship but it might have been previously built up in one of the other books I don't know. Also, there was a twist at the end of the book that I didn't quite get and seemed unnecessary so that kind of ruined the end of the book for me. It was really just an okay book for me there were somethings I liked (the scary parts were definitely creepy) but the story just didn't grab me. It was most likely because it's the middle of a series which will ruin a book for me anyways if I haven't read the previous books. I will be picking up the first book in the series the next time I'm at the bookstore.
flag abuse ( )

When Eve Renner gets a phone call from an old friend with a mysterious message, she rushes to meet him and instead finds him brutally murdered, and the killer still lurking in the house. Minutes later, she sees her boyfriend’s face through a window, and is stunned to see him pointing a gun at her. That’s all she remembers when she wakes up in the hospital, the rest of her memory taken by temporary amnesia.

As she tries to rebuild her life, Eve is about to be thrust into a murderer’s treacherous game and things get quite a bit worse before they get better. Eve has always known that she was adopted, but never knew who her parents were. Now someone is leaving old newspaper clippings in her car about a woman who jumped to her death at the mental hospital Eve’s father, a psychiatrist, worked in, and a string of savage murders that seem to be connected somehow to the old asylum are keeping the police and coroner’s office busy. Meanwhile, Eve’s ex-boyfriend is out of jail and doing his best to convince Eve that he didn’t try to kill her that night, and something in Eve believes him although her eyes and memory tell her differently.

This is your standard romantic suspense thriller, I guess, although I probably don’t read enough in the genre to say that with certainty. It’s pretty well done, at any rate. There are many points of view used – Eve’s, the killer’s, Cole’s (the boyfriend), and the two detectives working the case. This is the first thing of Lisa Jackson’s that I’ve read, but she’s published many books as far as I know (not a rookie, in other words). Although I’m not a big reader of this particular kind of novel, if I had to guess I’d say it’s probably one of the better ones and Jackson more talented than many of her colleagues. The story is fast-paced and well-structured, and Jackson seems to be a pretty seasoned pro. ( )

Girl gets married to a charming and good looking husband. She changes completely for him, never knowing that her husband is a serial cheater. Everything is peachy, till her husband gets caught by his firm having sex with a co-worker. The firm likes him, so to solve the matter they ship him to the states. Once there, the girl starts to go back to her roots and gets a reality check.

I liked the novel well enough, not so much the main character since she annoyed me a lot. Surprisingly enough, I liked the husband for all the little excuses he'd make for cheating. Good chic lit. ( )

In her stunning follow up to the 2006 best seller “Shiver,” Lisa Jackson has proven that there’s room for a little romance amid all the death and depravity. Absolute Fear is part of the Bayou series, which includes, “Hot Blooded, Cold Blooded, and Shiver.” The plot line is in depth and complicated yet developed simultaneously with the characters, in such a way that Absolute Fear stands on its own. This book has it all, child abuse, scandalous behavior within the church, unethical medical practices, sex, murder and mayhem. Having enjoyed this novel on every conceivable level, I have added all three previous titles to my list of must reads.

Absolute Fear opens three months after the ritualistic murder of Roy Kajak and the attempted murder of Eve Renner. Eve, still suffering from amnesia, returns to New Orleans. That very day, Cole Dennis was set free. It seemed like a life time ago that she had met Cole at her fathers farm house. A hot shot attorney that successfully represented Dr. Renner after his patient committed suicide. There was a part of her that had never been convinced that he had tried to kill her. On the night of her return, this belief would be tested, when Cole appears at her door.

Unspeakable madness had once been perpetrated behind the walls of Our Lady of Virtues - and he intended to revive that madness, just for Eve. She would pay for her sins, he would make sure of that. Then he would be deified, his god had said. The “Reviver” is a sick, twisted, ritualistic murderer. The tattooing, cryptic clues and murders are all part of his elaborate revenge. He knew they were all so blinded by sin that they were unable to interpret that which he had written in blood for all to see? He wouldn’t just spell it out for them - and yet that is exactly what he had done. As the true nature of his actions and extent of his manipulations are revealed, the skillfully coded clues scattered throughout become crystal clear.

Absolute Fear is an Absolute Best Seller! Lisa Jackson has continued her series, while creating a novel that stands tall on its own merit. Jackson’s ability to explore the inner workings of this characters depraved mind is an astonishing literary feat, that should not be overlooked. Successfully delivering to the reader a fright filled journey into the dark recesses of a madman’s desires, while maintaining a relationship filled with explosive passion places Lisa Jackson in the company of the best! This book has the perfect mix of secrets, lust and murder to keep readers coming back again and again. And with the door left open at the conclusion, we can hope that there will be another installment.

Happy Reading!
RJ xx ( )

lots of twists ( )

http://reviews.armchairinterviews.com/reviews/absolute_fear ( )

Great edge of your seat romantic suspense story. Continues from the previous novel "Shiver". ( )

Alyssa Bresnahan