Member Reviews
Another great thriller. A well written perfectly paced story pulling you in from the start. This is a murder that started twenty years ago and finally got solved. Vaughan and Zoe get to the bottom of a big family case. These stories written are great insight into how cases go through steps when it is cold cases to get solved.
I absolutely love Mary Burton. I have read all of her books and she never disappoints. I am not a big fan of the Romantic/Suspense genre, but for some reason, I love Mary's books. Probably because she goes a little heavier on the suspense part for most of her stories. She is also the master of introducing characters for her next books in each of her previous books. I enjoy looking forward to possible future storylines. Well, I See You was no exception. It may actually be a new favorite! I loved the characters of Zoe and Vaughn and the mystery of a recently found body that has been missing for 20 years was stellar. I kind of figured out whodunnit, but there were still some surprises. I can definitely recommend this action-packed, past meets present book!
A special thank you to Mary Burton, #NetGalley and Montlake Romance for this much appreciated ARC!
I will also post on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, Twitter and Instagram on October 8th.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
This is my first Mary Burton book, and I had high hopes. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver.
There were just so many things wrong with it. If I was not bored while reading the book, then I was irritated.
First of all, Zoe was a Mary Sue character. She was a dancer, FBI special agent, artist, sculptor and a profiler. All of these are full time profession by themselves, and our heroine was all of them. The next problem I had was, even after having capability for being all this, she was dumb. She didn't follow the necessary leads, she barely stumbled onto the killer's identity, she confronted a killer without backup, and basically, the book would have been no different if she had not been in it.
Secondly, this book had very visible lack of research. Even after just watching crime tv shows, I had better knowledge than what was portrayed in the book. Leads that should have been obviously followed were ignored, forensic procedures were a joke, procedures and laws ignored when convenient, protocols not followed, confessions thrown out the window by lawyers or confessions acquired in front of lawyers (I don't know which one is worse) ... basically, the book was a mess.
My next problem, was lack of clear logical sequence and explanations. The book was very haphazardly written and there was no 'hallelujah' moment at the end, where it was all explained. There was so many unanswered questions and plot holes, like...
- How was a teenager able to overpower both her mother and father? And if she took her mother with her to hide, why didn't she take her father too? She would have no idea that he would live.
- People don't generally snap and kill their mother.
- Why did Hadley hide that her sister was out on a date with Jason on the night that she was killed? She was hardly involved and she had no motive to not tell anyone.
- If Mark was protecting his daughter, why didn't he confess from the very first? Why get a lawyer?
- If Mark was in on it, why didn't he know where his daughter was?
- When police realized that there was a serial killer, why didn't they try to find similar cases?
- For that matter, why was there only one detective and off the records FBI agent on all the cases?
- How did a teenager manage to hide for so many hours, despite the AMBER alert?
- How did they connect all the cases? There was no apparent connection.
Lastly, I found a lot of chapters to be extraneous. Take for example, the chapter where the journalist talks to Jason Dalton. They talk about all the things that he already talked to with Zoe and Vaughn. It was repetitive and unnecessary. This made the book quite boring at parts.
Overall, I would have liked the book far more if it was well researched and had a more satisfactory ending. I didn't like that the main protagonists basically stumbled onto the answer. It could have been better written.
There’s a reason Mary Burton is my “go to” author. It’s because she never disappoints. I see you is a cleverly crafted book with a spine-tingling plot, complex characters and a devious killer. What more could a girl want.
I love Mary Burton’s books. I have read every single one. She is one of my favorites because she mixes my two favorite genres of books together, romance and mystery/suspense. I love getting the best of both worlds and her story’s are super steamy and also chilling to the bone. This one was amazing. Great characters and I couldn’t put it down. Thanks NetGalley.
Mary Burton is one of my favorite authors. She writes intriguing, suspenseful mysteries with a touch of romance. I See You is an enjoyable mystery that will keep you guessing "who did it" well into the night.
The story opens with the discovery of the skeleton of a young woman that had been hidden away in a trunk for years. FBI agent Zoe Spencer is a forensic sculptor and is called in to rebuild the skull in order to identify the body. It turns out to be a young woman named Marsha Prince who disappeared some 20 years before. Zoe and Detective William Vaughan team up to work the cold case. And boy do things get interesting after that. After they notify Marsha's sister, Hadley, and her family that her sister's body has been found, she is stabbed and kidnapped along with her daughter Skylar. Zoe and Vaughan race against the clock to find them while trying to make sense of the story about what happened that they are getting from Hadley's husband Mark Foster. Past and present secrets are dredged up, and it seems that someone is killing women resembling Hadley! Even though I had an idea of who the killer was Mary still was able throw in a surprise or two.
Mary Burton also creates great characters. All her books have mature, intelligent leads. Zoe has overcome tragedy in her past and has reinvented herself a couple of times, Vaughan is a single father, has just taken his son to college and is facing an empty nest. Mary doesn't push their relationship at us, rather allows it to grow quietly and naturally.
My thanks to the author and to Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I See You is a great read by a talented author. I enjoyed this novel as well as others written by Mary Burton. I See You is a fast paced story, but it all comes together at the very end. I liked all the twists and turns and how she keeps you guessing what will happen next. I liked FBI profiler Zoe Spencer because she is tenacious in her pursuit for justice. I like how the past and present come together and how there is more to the story then just what happened in the past. The past is only the beginning of what ends up being an intriguing story that ends up being solved in the present. The author keeps you guessing, because even though you think you have it figured it out there is much more to be revealed. I highly recommend this story because you will not be disappointed.
A great engaging murder mystery that had twists that had me guessing until the very end. I liked how the book had different POV, but sometimes it got a little hard to keep track of what character was saying what. While the book was engaging, the story dragged on a little more than I thought it should.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me with the ARC.
The Guessing Game
This was a great story of who done it which left me turning pages as fast as I could. Every time I thought I had it figured out the game would change. So sit back and be ready to be taken on one heck of a ride with Mary Burton’s “I See You”.
An engaging, suspenseful, intriguing, layered murder mystery...
This is the second book in the Criminal Profiler series that can be read as a stand-alone.
A killer wants attention, a disgraced television news anchor receives an anonymous tip on her crime website that leads her to a skeleton in an apartment storage unit. With no accompanying identification or available DNA, the bones are forwarded to the FBI where a forensics reconstruction sculpture is done of the skull.
With her artistic talents, FBI Special Agent Zoe Spencer, a member of the criminal profiler squad, tends to catch the cases requiring forensic sketches or sculptures. Her current reconstruction is identified as the face of a young woman from Alexandria, Virginia who vanished eighteen years ago. After six weeks of meticulous work on the skull, Zoe became invested in the person whose face she brought forth and wants to bring justice to the deceased. She takes on the cold case of finding out what happened years ago working with local Detective William Vaughn, a man she’d met at an FBI training class and who is her occasional lover when they are in the same place.
There are many questions the two will have to answer on a case where the trail is long cold. Why after so many years did a tip come in? What triggered the source to bring to light the remains now? Family and witnesses have moved on or died and the reactions of those that are available could be deemed suspicious, memories are vague and lies are apparent to the trained investigators. What long-buried secrets are they keeping? Is the fact that women bearing a resemblance to the missing teenager are being killed in the present somehow connected?
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read that engages the reader’s attention and doesn’t let go. The storyline was intriguing, full of action and suspense, the deeply layered murder mystery delightfully complicated with numerous twists and points of view to keep you guessing. As the investigation progressed and the suspect pool increased it was the motivations that you wondered about.
The strong, well-developed, interesting characters made this story, the baggage that defined them was understandable, the tentative connection the main protagonists made previously blossomed the more time they spent together on this case, each had reached a point in their lives where time’s passage made healing possible. Though the romance was subdued, a slow-burn, it fit the plot perfectly, the dynamics between the two was tangible and intense.
An advanced reading copy was obtained from the publisher via NetGalley.
I received an ARC from netgallery and I am voluntarily giving this review.
The story starts off with a nosy reporter finding the remains from a cold case years ago. As more bodies are turning up detective Vaughn and special agent Spencer eventually find similarities relating all of the homicides. So many twists in story that every time I thought I solved who the real killer was something changed and I was totally off-kilter. I figured out part of what was going on but the other half definitely sent me in a spiral. I loved the dynamics between William Vaughn and Zoe Spencer. Zoe was definitely my hero in the end because she went straight badass when it came to fighting in order to stay alive.
So hard to decide on a favorite Mary Burton book because each book seems better than the one before. We've met Zoe before but here is her story. A strong woman triumphing over a devastating loss. An agent and an artist. Vaughn is the perfect foil. Homicide detective, single father, leading Zoe at her pace. The plot catches you up; the characters come alive; it all fits and flows seamlessly.
4.5⭐
It has been years since I last read a Mary Burton novel and after finishing I See You I can't believe I've lasted so long. As this was a great story that got better as it went along, and with so many twists and turns I was completely hooked. Particularly as the tension really increased when the hunt for Marsha Price's killer took a very unexpected and thrilling turn.
And with a slow burn romance between FBI profiler Zoe Spencer and Alexandria PD Detective William Vaughan thrown into the mix, it really had all the elements of a terrific romantic suspense and I would happily recommend it to others.
As with all novels that are in the middle of a series, I was worried that I may be a bit lost in I See You since I hadn't read the previous novel. While I'm sure there is a few things I'd have picked up on better if I had read the prior novel I felt this book easily stood on its own (but now I really want to go back and read the first!).
I See You follows two agents as they attempt to solve a cold case that may have ties to a modern day killer. Zoe Spencer is the FBI agent who was brought on to create a sculpture of what a skeleton they found may have looked like to attempt to find out not only who the Jane Doe is but also who killed her. Detective William Vaughn is along for the case once they start to piece together that perhaps the old case and new case are tied together.
This book was a very quick read and a captivating blend of suspense and a weee tinge of romance. It was perfect! I found myself wanting to keep reading and reluctant to put the book down.
Overall this is a great book for any fan of suspense/crime novels.
Thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for a copy of the eARC novel in exchange for my honest review.
Nikki has been given a lead on a story, not knowing that it will lead her to an old story she worked on. Detective Vaughn is working the case of a murdered young prostitute when he is called in to work with FBI agent Zoe Spencer. As they dig deeper into the tip that leads them to the reporters old story they find that both cases are related.
Love, Love, Love this Author's books. This is the 2nd in this series. While you don't have to read #1 why wouldn't you? Romantic suspense at its BEST. The characters and the plot will keep you turning the pages faster and faster until you reach the end of the book. I could read her books non-stop.! Thanks to NetGalley, Montlake Romance and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.
Ok fellow readers, if you are thinking about reading “I see you” from Mary Burton....DO IT!!!!! Don’t worry about it being a series. You’ll not be lost. It can be read as a stand alone. This story is AMAZING!!! I LOVED EVERY MINUTE!!! When reading this plan on sleepless nights and lots of twists and turns.....Mary keeps you guessing and interested in what’s happening next from page one. I’ve read MANY of Mary’s books and I’m telling you, she’s still doing it. You can NOT go wrong reading anything from Mary. She knows how to tell a story, she makes all of her stories so “real and believable”. There’s characters you love and others that you want to slap. My point is....the characters are VERY REAL in Mary’s stories. Loved loved loved loved this one. Enjoy and happy reading!!! :))
Mary Burton keeps me guessing till the very end. This was no exception. Never disappointed with her characters development. Alaways a great read and look forward to the next one.
This is book 2 in the criminal profiler series. You don’t have to read the previous book in the series, I found each book to be kind of stand alone. The main theme running through and connecting the books is the FBI Behavioral Unit and its profilers.
‘I See You’ tells the story of FBI special agent Zoe Spencer who uses her artist talents to carry out facial reconstructions from skeletal remains in order to identify victims. Her latest case finds her work identifying the remains of a teenage girl who went missing nearly twenty years ago. Also working the case with Zoe is local homicide detective William Vaughan, who is also her current on-again, off-again lover. While trying to solve their cold case, Zoe and William begin to realise their case isn’t so cold anymore, especially when more women begin to go missing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. More than I thought I would. When I started the book I wasn’t too sure how Zoe’s job of being artist within the FBI worked, if it would make the storyline a bit boring, but it turns out the artistic stuff is a sideline of what Zoe does. She is a criminal profiler who uses her talents to assist in her cases.
I couldn’t figure out the bad guy until the 90% mark and even then I was a bit surprised when it came to the ‘big reveal’ scene. That’s the sign of a good romantic suspense book to me.
I See You is the second book in this series. I've fallen in love with Mary Burton's novels this year alone and have become quite a fan. This story has its complicated, twisted and non-stop action that I love about her stories. I like that you gradually flow into knowing who actually committed the crime amongst the multi layers that develop as the story flows to the ending.
FBI Agent Zoe Spencer and Homicide Detective William Vaughan have a somewhat slow burn type of romance with their "friends with benefits" involvement related to the history that they have with one another. The story was well written, the plot good, and the mystery terrific. I loved that she weaved her characters into their respective roles and bringing out the many skeletons held by members of the this seemingly perfect family.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story with all its intrigue, mystery, secrets and romance. Another great suspense with a little bit of romance by Ms. Burton. Recommend the read.
Thanks very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
4-Stars