Seeing Red is the latest stand alone mystery by Sandra Brown. Per her usual style, Brown wastes no time setting up a mystery that includes an attempted murder, greed, and deception. And of course, what would a Brown book be without a romance side story? Kerra Bailey, a well known reporter, is about to break television history after landing an interview with the Major, a well know American hero who shunned the limelight. Famous after saving a child from a hotel bomb 20 years earlier, he now lives like a recluse. But Kerra has an agenda and won't stop till she reaches her goal.

Along the way, she contents with the Major's son, John Trapper (is the name a reference to the MASH character Trapper John?) who has not spoken to his father in years. There are also a slew of side characters who play an instrumental role while Kerra and Trapper search for the truth about what happened in the past to doing all they can to stay alive in the present, while battling a strong physical attraction to one another.

The storyline is a bit complex and convoluted, and figuring out the good and bad guys is tricky business. That made for some good reading.

I haven't read a Sandra Brown book in quite a while, but once I started this one I was drawn in as usual with her writing style. She keeps you on the edge of your seat and when one chapter leaves you hanging you just have to find out what happens in the next. So many twists and turns that just keep you guessing and keep you reading to find out what's to come!

Seeing Red

Sandra Brown





SEEING RED by Sandra Brown hooked me from the very first page and never let me go. It reminded me of exactly why I have always loved Sandra Brown's books. The pages are filled with mystery and twists and turns you never see coming. Don't you love when an author can hook you, throw you on an emotional roller coaster and then spit you out at the end? You just sit there wondering what the heck just happened! That is exactly what happened to me while reading SEEING RED.


Sandra Brown is the ultimate story teller and will keep the reader guessing right up until the end of the story. Kerry is a reporter and is going to be interviewing Major Frank Trapper. He is a survivor of the Pegasus Hotel bombing that happened in Dallas twenty five years ago. His son, John Trapper has kind of been left behind while his father became a hero. Kerra had to go through John to get to The Major and now her life is never going to be the same. John was eleven years old when the bombing happened and his father was photographed carrying a young girl out of the rubble. SEEING RED throws the three of them together in ways the reader will be blown away by. The list of suspects who are trying to stop the three of them just keeps growing and growing and just when you think you have it figured out, Sandra Brown throws you in a whole new direction.


SEEING RED is filled with twists and turns, mystery, suspense, some romance, greed, and conflict. Sandra Brown has always been a favorite author of mine and I love the way she tends to pull the rug right out from under her readers and blows them away. The banter between Kerra and Trapper, is spot on and will have you giggling out loud, to the point of snorting. Well, that's what happened to me anyway. All I know is it has been entirely too long since I read a Sandra Brown book and SEEING RED reminded me as to why I love her writing! I now need to get caught up on her books that I haven't read yet. If you have never read a Sandra Brown novel, SEEING RED is a great place to start.

Sandra Brown is back! I'm sure there are many that felt that she never left, but her last two books left me feeling, bleh. This book though, grabbed me from page one and didn't let me go. There were twists, there were turns, and there were sudden drops that you didn't see coming. By the end of the book, you've felt a gamut of emotions, and you can't help but just pause and take a breath.

It's not a perfect book, I didn't particularly like the hero, Trapper, he had his flaws, like all heroes must, but his were just too much for how easily accepted they were by the heroine. That aside, this book is a page turner like none other that I've read in quite some time. Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2129685352

If you like a thriller with some romance thrown in, then Sandra Brown is for you. Seeing Red had enough twists it kept you guessing, maybe not all the way to the end, but long enough to get you hooked. Trapper was not one of my favorite bad boy characters, but you could understand where he was coming from, but I did enjoy the other characters. As always, looking forward to her next book.

Another great Brown novel. I would love to see this made into a movie. Truly one I will read again.

“Two minutes after you knocked on the door of my office, I was fantasizing your mouth taking me.”

Seeing Red, the latest novel by Sandra Brown was amazing in so many ways. From start to finish, Seeing Red delivered a story of the kind that is rare in the genre today. Ms. Brown has always been an author that pushed the boundaries of “convention” that many authors safely stick to when writing their books. So it is not surprising that when a new novel from Ms. Brown hits the stand, I am always eager to get my hands on it.

Seeing Red tells the story of John Trapper, ex ATF agent, whose mundane existence of a life starts to unravel the minute television journalist Kerra Bailey comes seeking him for an interview to do with his father. Trapper had been just 11 years old when his father, Major Franklin Trapper had become a hero in the eyes of the country owing to his daring rescue of victims of a hotel bombing that had shocked the nation. Trapper’s life had changed drastically, so had Kerra’s, and it is only when their lives entwine at this point that everything starts to unravel.

Seeing Red starts off with an introductory chapter that blows one’s mind, and it does not let up from that point onwards. Taking the reader to the days since before the event and then beyond, Seeing Red delivers a story that goes deep into understanding the lengths to which a cult-like society would go to in order to protect an age old secret. From one harrowing experience to another, Ms. Brown does an amazing job of weaving the multiple threads of the story together to deliver a story that was mind blowing in all the good ways.

Trapper, oh dear Trapper; he is the kind of hero that Ms. Brown has perfected along the years of writing romance novels. I have always been a fan of her hard-edged heroes who do not conform to the standards of behavior as is expected by majority of readers of the genre nowadays. This is exactly one reason why I adore Ms. Brown’s books. Because they never fail to deliver a hero that is delicious, sexy as they come, and can talk dirty like the best of them that makes you quiver on the inside.

Trapper has his own vulnerabilities and scars that he hides. However the ingenuity in the buildup of his character lies in the fact that he hasn’t grown bitter throughout what life had dealt him with. Taking second stage in his father’s life from a tender age had definitely left its mark, so had how his career had turned out, all because Trapper had not given up on pursuing what he had felt was right.

When his path crosses that with Kerra’s, for the first time in a long while, he starts to give a damn, which of course makes him irritable and then some. However, Kerra’s unrelenting nature and her way of standing up for herself means that for Trapper walking away was no longer an option. Nor was standing on the sidelines and watching Kerra get hurt in the aftermath of the can of worms that she had opened up with her interview.

The sexual tension between Kerra and Trapper was off the charts, and Ms. Brown delivered on that exceptionally well. On the suspense side, with all the twists and turns that came, the ending and the revelations were explosive enough to make me go “oh my god” every couple of pages. Yes, it was that good!

Definitely and absolutely recommended!

Final Verdict: Seeing Red is Sandra Brown at her exceptional best. A good Sandra Brown goes a long way towards curing all reading woes.

Favorite Quotes

“I’m not him. I’m not noble, not a gentleman, not a hero, understand?”
“That wasn’t so hard to deduce.”
She thought the putdown would anger him, but he retaliated by gently placing his palm against her cold cheek. He brushed his thumb across her beauty mark.
“I noticed this right off, and the whole time you were sitting there in my shabby office, wearing your city get-up, acting all sassy and know-it-all, you want to know what was going on in my mind?” He ceased the stroking motion of his thumb, stopping it right on the small mole. His mouth lowered to within a hair’s-breadth of hers and he whispered, “Figure it out.”

“Why do you ask? Do you know him?”
“By reputation only. Everything I’ve read about him says he’s secretive. Keeps his business private. Shuns media attention.”
“All true. I had to finagle him.”
His eyes narrowed to slits. “That sounds like really dirty foreplay.”
She laughed, but stopped laughing when he slid his hand under her hair at the nape of her neck and turned them until her back was to the door. Leaning in, his lips skimmed her beauty mark on their way to her ear, where he whispered, “I’d like for you to finagle me.”
She didn’t speak a word, didn’t move, didn’t do anything except give herself over to his body heat and largeness and maleness and sexiness, the blend of which seeped into her like a potent restorative.

He moved his hand up from her nape to cup the back of her head and held it in place while their mouths opened to each other. During the deep and greedy kiss he worked his free hand under her top and into the elastic waistband of the baggy pants. He lightly ground the heel of his hand against her hipbone while his fingers curved around the slope below her waist. He drew her hips forward. She gladly went along with his subtle invitation, and their parts fit together perfectly on the first attempted connection.
He groaned, “Christ, Kerra. Please tell me I’m gonna get to fuck you.”

“You never asked what I was thinking.”
“When?”
“In my office while you were sitting across the desk from me looking all prissy and disapproving. Did you ever figure out what was going through my mind?”
Sounding prissy and disapproving, she said, “I didn’t want to know.”
He grinned. “I was thinking about your beauty mark.”
“That’s it?”
“Disappointed?”
“Surprised. I thought it would be something crude.”
“No. I was focused on your beauty mark, thinking it looked like a speck of dark chocolate and wondering if it would melt against my tongue.” He dabbed his tongue against it now, then a second time. “Hmm. Still there. Guess I’ll just have to keep testing it.”

“I might’ve been thinking about more than just your beauty mark,” he whispered. He shifted closer, covering half of her, and used his nose to nudge aside the collar of the tracksuit jacket so he could nibble her neck, then lowered his head and nuzzled her breast, rubbing his open mouth against the hard tip, taking love bites of it through her t-shirt, pushing at it with his tongue.
“You’d blush to know all the places my wandering mind has taken me. I’ve touched you, tasted you…” He wedged his hand down between them and cupped her sex. “…everywhere.”

“I want to take you like that,” he whispered as he dragged his open mouth down her neck to her collarbone, then lowered his head and rubbed his face against her breasts.
“I haven’t forgotten how you feel inside. I want to be there. In you deep.” His voice was rough and low, his lips aggressive against her raised nipple under her t-shirt. “It may never happen, but the mere thought of any other man being on you, in you…I’d want to kill him.”

Taking her face between his hands, he fused his mouth to hers, pressing his tongue deep, thrilling to the way she hummed her pleasure. He might have gone on forever just kissing her if not for a greater hunger that he must gratify or die.
He worked her top up over her breasts. Her bra was lacy and sheer and only half there to start with. The cups were easily lowered. He took a moment to cradle a breast in each hand. “I freakin’ love that,” he murmured.
“What?”
That they get so hard so fast.
The words were in his mind, but he didn’t say them aloud because by the time he thought them through he was already taking one nipple into his mouth and toying with the other, deriving pleasure from the pleasure he was giving her.

He dipped his head and sucked her nipples in turn, causing her to whimper.
Even during this love play, he didn’t stop pumping into her. He probably had been this hard before, probably as strained and blood-infused and lust-mad and unable to command the instinctual mating movement of his hips.
But if so, he didn’t recall it, because this was the only time that mattered. He wanted this time to be an exorcism and possession at once. Doom and salvation. He wanted it to be both carnal and sacred.
He wanted this to be the fuck Kerra would remember for the rest of her life.

His voice low, Trapper said, “It felt good, Kerra.”
“It did,” she whispered back.
It was simple, but, in its way, profound. He wasn’t one to make romantic declarations, and if she said anything now, it would be more than he would want to hear.
She was perilously close to letting this evolve into something that would leave her heartbroken. She was perilously close to becoming like Marianne. But she wouldn’t take back having made love to him. Not for the world.

He took her hands and stretched her arms above her head. Fitting her palms into his, he linked their fingers and began to stroke her inside. As before, he wanted her to remember this, because it would be engraved on his memory: the feel of her around him, the way she hugged his hips with her thighs, the sexy undulation of her belly against his, the sight of his chest hair dusting the hard tips of her breasts.
The kiss.
He kissed her, and, of all the other mind-blowing sensations, it was that of her mouth so greedily taking his tongue that caused his control to burst. When it did, she arched up and ground against his straining pelvis and brought on another soul-rending orgasm.

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Rating = 4.75/5

FANTASTIC READ!

I was a little disappointed as my reading experience was not as strong as anticipated, thus my rating. While the book provided a twisty plot line and a variety of interesting characters, I was never really pulled into the story and did not feel I was experiencing the situations that occurred.

In general the writing was good so I understand the supportive fan base and would recommend the book as one worth reading. For me the story just did not have a "can't put it down" pace that makes a book a strong match to my taste. It was just missing the "thrill"

Explosive chemistry and fast paced action make this a memorable story.

The main plot was engaging and interesting, but the secondary love story was too trite and formulaic. The author presented neat, digestible backstories for the characters without getting lost in details. While some "twists" are foreseeable there was at least one fun surprise. This is a sure pick for an entertaining weekend read.

Seeing Red
Sandra Brown
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great mystery by Sandra Brown. I've been a huge fan for years. I enjoyed reading this and was glad I was unable to figure out who the mastermind was. Certain parts seemed a little drawn out and I found myself just reading to get to the ending. But then something would happen that drew me back into the story.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book by Sandra Brown. I found the mystery part of the book good, especially the twist at the end. But I really didn't like the extended sex scenes between Trapper and Kerra. I felt they were unnecessary to the story, and I pretty much skipped those pages. As such, I didn't enjoy the book as much as I could have.

I love Sandra Brown and when I saw I had been approved to read Seeing Red, I was so excited! This book was smart, sexy, and suspenseful, and everything I wanted it to be.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sandra Brown is one of the authors that I enjoy reading. She delivers thrillers with enough suspense that it is hard to put the book down. The romance part of this book was not so much romantic as lustful with some descriptive sex scenes that I skimmed over. Having said that, I still enjoyed this story very much.

Twenty-five years earlier, a bombing at the Pegasus Hotel in Dallas forever changes the lives of father, Major Franklin Trapper, and his son, John. The Major, being in the right place at the right time, becomes a hero in the eyes of the world. John, "Trapper" becomes the forgotten son. He and his mother sit at home while his father travels and is interviewed over and over. In the last few years, The Major has become something of a recluse, but on the anniversary of the bombing, Kerra Bailey, a reporter from Dallas, wants to interview the Major. She is not having any success contacting him, so she tracks down Trapper to see if he can open doors for her. Three years earlier, Trapper and The Major had a falling out, but she is unaware of the situation or why it occurred. Her motivation for the meeting is more than just an interview. She has her own connection to that fateful day. Trapper and the local sheriff, a friend of the family, do not want the interview to take place. They each have their own reasons for that. Once the interview is completed, things go wrong and suddenly, Kerra finds herself in the middle of a possible conspiracy. With Trapper at her side, the sexual tension builds as they run and play hide and seek with the men after them.

Once again, Sandra Brown delivers an intriguing read in Seeing Red. Family dynamics, secrets, conspiracy, murder, and an underlying current of sexual tension drive this fast-paced story. Readers will need to set aside some time, because once you start this book, you will not want to put it down. The classic Brown twists and turns will bring you to another satisfying conclusion, even though you would not have guessed what was coming. The plot is well written with detail that sets the dangerous tone of this thriller. I raced through this one. If you enjoy a good suspenseful read with some sexual interludes, make sure to pick this one up.

Like always Sandra Brown kept you going to the final page was turned. I love reading her books she always does such a fantastic job!

The author weaves a well written and intriguing tale of suspense rooted in events that took the place when both of  the main characters were children, and which impacted on each of them in different ways.  Trapper's fascination with the bombing drives him to seek answers about the persons behind the tragedy which brought about so much change in his life.  With "The Major" refusing interview requests, Kerra reaches out to his estranged son for help in obtaining access to the hero.  The result is a reluctant partnership of sorts between the two as they search for answers to difficult questions. 
I found both Trapper and Kerra to be interesting and well developed characters.  The intricate plot has an abundance of twists and turns — a real page-turner — with non-stop action and elements of romantic suspense and sexual tension.  Although the sexual tension enhanced the story, in my opinion, the explicit descriptions of their intimate physical interactions were somewhat gratuitous and detracted from the story.

Seeing Red was a non-recycled, super interesting story with a diverse set of characters. While the plot did have some slow points here and there, the characters were well fleshed out and the story moved forward at an exciting pace. Brown keeps you guessing until the very end. So many twists and turns!

The author's vocabulary is rich and her storytelling compelling. In short, Brown is just a master storyteller.

I haven’t read all of Sandra Brown’s books, but I’ve read most of them over the years. I’m never disappointed and Seeing Red continues the streak. From the beginning, I could feel the author building my anxiety and anticipation of what happens next. The characters are not the norm as there are times that I like them and then times I couldn’t trust my instincts, and I didn’t believe them.

Seeing Red is the story of a pre-911, pre-Murrah Federal Building bombing and the way it impacts the lives of some of the people who survive and their families. Kerra Bailey, a television reporter, wants an interview with Major Trapper, the hero of the Pegasus Hotel bombing in Dallas. She will go to any lengths to promote her career and getting this interview will move her career forward by leaps and bounds.

When "The Major" refuses every attempt Kerra makes to contact him, she resorts to contacting his estranged son, John Trapper. John Trapper had a promising career with the ATF until his insubordinate behavior caused his dismissal. Trapper didn’t have a good relationship with his father before his dismissal; now they rarely talk. He doesn’t want to associate with any reporter interested in his father and refuses her request. However, Kerra has an ace up her sleeve and plays it. Before long, the story and the correspondent are stirring up old memories and enemies. The two main characters don’t have any choice but to join forces.

Sandra Brown is a master of dropping clues in her story that takes the reader down one road only to drop another clue that sends the reader in another direction entirely. Seeing Red is a page-turner without a doubt. There are so many characters who aren’t what they seem that sets up a push-pull of sorts between the two main characters as secrets are revealed. Tension builds between the characters causing distrust, sparking a need to protect, and the sexual tension that jumps off the page.

The author is skilled at plotting with twists and turns that make the reader continue on even when sleep desperately tries to take over. Who is the villain? Can anyone be trusted? Who is behind all the mysteries? Who is lying and Why? Seeing Red is an entertaining book full of everything I like in a thriller. I recommend taking this roller coaster ride of twists and turns as soon as you can.

Sandra Brown has her writing formula down pat. She pairs strong characters with tantalizing mysteries and erotic romance. I'm not a romance genre fan, but with Brown it's to be expected - and the mystery makes up for it. Something for everyone.

The characters were generally fairly good though perhaps a bit stereotypical. Some of the facts were a bit hard to believe, but I'm of the opinion one must suspend disbelief when reading in order to fully enjoy a book.

I don't ever give spoilers so I won't go into the story - I'll leave that for others. But what I will say is that there were more than a few jaw-dropping revelations. I love that in a mystery!!