What if transplanted corneas and other body organs passed on more than just the needed medical help? Rachel de Luca is about to ask that same question in SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON.
Rachel has focused on her lucrative self-help business, spinning out positivity and pithy sayings. She's a hero to many but Detective Mason Brown quickly sees beneath the public persona. Now, a private donation is restoring sight to Rachel but the transplant delivers something else in return- very disturbing images of a killer most likely responsible for the disappearance of many young men including Rachel's brother. Mason has his own secrets and he alone knows Rachel is innocent of any of the murders. Will Rachel and Mason learn to trust one another in time to stop the killer?
SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON is one of those books that are hard to categorize. It has elements of a romantic suspense, paranormal, and a women's fiction novel and yet it doesn't follow the traditional flow of any of the three genres. The beginning starts off much more like a women's fiction novel as the set up for the storyline has to occur. Later, we see the paranormal and romantic suspense elements emerging. I enjoyed the second half of the novel much more than the first, but this had to do more with my preferred genre styles rather than it reflecting on the story as a whole. Readers who have preferences of perspective should note that SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON is told in both first and third person.
Maggie Shayne tackles a tough topic in SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON. How does one react to horrendous family secrets? Initially, I was a little dismayed at Mason's reaction, but as the story progresses I began to sympathize with his choices. Rachel also initially comes across as a bit brash but her adoption of the blind dog, Myrtle, shows a softer side of her. I particularly love the way Rachel made sure Myrtle became familiar with each new setting or situation.
Maggie Shayne is one of my all-time favorite authors. SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON is a bit of a different read than my usual tastes but anything by Maggie Shayne is on my instant read list. SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON is an intriguing start to a new trilogy.
Through the eyes of a killer…
Rachel de Luca has found incredible success writing self-
help books. But her own blindness and the fact that her
troubled brother has gone missing have convinced her that
positive thinking is nothing but bull.
Her cynicism wavers when a cornea transplant restores her
sight. The new eyes seem to give her new life, until they
prove too good to be true and she starts seeing terrifying
visions of brutal murdersβcrimes she soon learns are all too
real.
Detective Mason Brown's own brother recently died, leaving
behind a horrific secret. In atonement, Mason donated his
brother's organs, though he's kept the fact quiet. Now he
wants to help Rachel find her brother, but when he discovers
the shocking connection between her visions and his own
brother, he suddenly has to do everything in his power to
save her from a predator who is somehow still hunting from
beyond the grave.
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