Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

3.5 Hearts This is a great name for this book, because Ominous is what it is.

First, this story is very explicit and has some violent scenes. These scenes were a bit hard to read but as sad as it is these exact situations happen every day.

Three girls had to deal with a night of terror after having a little bit of fun skinny dipping. Now the girls are adults and have come back to town for various reasons. And the man who wanted to kill them on that terrible night 15 years ago is back after them because they are the girls “who got away”.

This is good and yet scary story. I think you really have to be in the mood for this kind of story. It is not a light suspense novel. This is one that makes you leary as soon as the lights go out.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is another hit by Lisa Jackson for those of you who like suspense/thrillers. I love that she gets you right from the very beginning and then has you holding on to your seat throughout the whole book always guessing who the “monster” actually is. Ominous is the story of three girls who were teenagers doing teenage things… like skinny dipping in a nearby lake. The only thing with this is that there was someone watching them and this someone had no good intentions when it came to Kat, Shiloh, and Ruth. They had sworn never to tell anyone what had happened that fateful night. With the town missing other girls at this time the three girls knew it was someone evil that would do what was done to them.

Since nobody helped the girls deal with their ordeal the girls chose various paths when growing up. Eventually the three of them ended up back in their small town. Girls go missing again and Kat, Ruth and Shiloh get sent pictures of them from the night that changed them forever. Who is this man and will they be able to find out in time before another of them go missing?

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for a freely given and honest review.

This is a classic in the women-in-peril genre, only this time there is rape and trafficking at the core. Some of it was more graphic than I wanted to read and frankly the story would have benefited from fewer women being abused. Kat, Ruth, and Shiloh are all good characters and I appreciated the fact that the authors tried to portray them in healthy relationships with men. The twists here are pretty good, as is the writing, but beware that the red herrings mean there is sometimes more going on than might be necessary. Is this because there are three authors? I don't know but I do think a strong edit to tighten it up would have helped. Thanks to net galley for the ARC.

Zebra Publishing and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Ominous. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Teenagers Shiloh Silva, Katrina Starr, and Ruthie McFerron vow to never tell the story of what happened one night near the lake. 15 years later, after both Shiloh and Ruth return to town, a series of both past and present disappearances has all of the young women wondering if they should dredge up their frightful night. When a photo of that day anonymously ends up in one of their mailboxes, will Shiloh, Kat, and Ruth take matters into their own hands? Will the truth finally come to light?

Ominous would have been better as a suspense thriller, sprinkled here and there with romance. Instead, the authors cheapened the main story with insta-romances, contrasted with violent fantasies. With too many side plots and too many main characters, the book became a muddled mess. The authors do not portray law enforcement in a good light, either, as it seems that most of the investigating in the book is done by private citizens. With such a lineup of authors, I expected more from Ominous. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend it to other readers.

Cold case becomes hot once again. Due to description of male reaction to females and other intimate sexual details, as well as the rape and kidnapping parts, I almost did not finish reading this book. I did enjoy the variety of the three main females and the men in their lives, so I overlooked the parts I didn't care to read. I have switched to mostly cozy mysteries and this definitely is not one. I did care enough to find out who the serial rapist/kidnapper was. All other suspects had to be eliminated first. I know most could consider the sex parts mild and I am not as unreasonable as the preacher and his wife are in the book, but I do try to read books that leave out that stuff.

I had not read book one in this series, but it didn't affect my ability to get into this story. I chose it mainly because I've been a fan of Lisa Jackson's work in the past. I won't rehash the book description, except to say that it is three brief stories in one. Each of these three women ends up with her own love interest and her own part to play in solving the mystery of who attacked them and whether it is connected to the string of missing girls. I didn't really enjoy the Ruth portions. I didn't like her character, and as a counselor, I did not find her counseling dialog believable. On the other hand, I really liked Kat's and Shiloh's storylines. I would have loved more of Shiloh. The relationships between the main characters were steamy but not overly so, however the scenes with the super creepy skeevy villain were very sexually graphic. I appreciated that there were enough potential subjects that I was not able to determine who the villain was until the end. Overall I was not to bothered by the sections which frustrated me so much that I wanted to stop reading. I definitely was happy that the ending was from Kat's perspective.

Net Galley provided an ARC for honest review.

I tried hard with Ominous but I just couldn't get on with this book at all. I have read other word by Lisa and enjoyed that but this one just wasn't meshing with me. I'm not sure if its because I hadn't read Sinister first that made me have issues or the general pace but after 21% I called it a day. If I return and re-read this book in its entirety I will be in touch with an updated review and rating.

To begin with, I have to say I strongly disagree with the book cover. "Scariest novel of the year" this was not. At least not for me. In fact I found myself putting this book down quite a lot. I just couldn't stay invested - which was very disappointing given how interesting the book sounded.

The characters were a little too one dimensional for my tastes, and the plot seemed too thin for what the reader was promised. Honestly, if not for bad luck, I doubt the killed would have been caught considering a retired police officer, and two of the three girls in the photograph (neither of them police officers) were running around questioning suspects and witnesses. I also didn't care much for how the book was written when it came to the "current" events. We get a snippet of Shiloh's new life and her budding relationship with her half sister and step brother, then we get bounced over to Ruth as she worries about her daughter, then finally we land on Kat and spend the rest of the novel with her. While Ruth is mentioned to an extent, Shiloh fairly disappears from the pages, popping in randomly to accuse Kat (who is a detective) of "freezing her out" of the investigation. Well yeah, that is how its supposed to work.

In the end, while I am sure this story may still appeal to those who enjoy psychological thrillers, this one just wasn't for me.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

Three teenage friends , Kat , Shiloh and Ruth, went skinny dipping in the night fifteen years ago. Someone was hiding in the bushes watching them. He finally appears in a ski mask and attacks Ruth. Kat and Shiloh run back to save her and manage to injure the attacker before escaping. Under Ruth’s insistence they decide to keep the assault a secret and move on with their lives.

After fifteen years they are together in their hometown under different circumstances. Ruth is a psychologist, Shiloh comes back to take care of her stepsister after her mom’s death and Kat is a local detective. Seeing all of them together the attacker sends a copy of a picture taken on that fateful night. He is watching them, waiting for an opportunity to exact revenge and to capture the one that got away.

I didn’t realize this was a second book in the Wyoming series. There were some references to people I guess from the first book but it can be read as a stand-alone. It’s a well written book with lots of colorful characters and an abundance of suspects.

Many thanks to Kensington Books/Zebra & NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

I just could not get through the book. Maybe I'm just not the target audience. For me the characters were bland, one dimensional. I neither liked nor disliked them. The instantaneous hatred/lust between Shiloh and Beau seemed formulaic. In the 30% that I read my reaction was, Chick Lit. Whether this is true throughout the book I'll never know.

My thanks and apologies to the Publisher, the 3 Authors, and NetGalley for my free copy in exchange for my unbiased and honest opinion.

Definitely prepare yourself to indulge in this amazing and captivating edge of your seat book!! I couldn't put it down! The writing by all three authors flowed so smoothly. This story will have your heart pounding through this creepy crime!! I highly recommend this book!! It's a quick page turner!

Very good read! I loved all the mystery. It kept me guessing until the end. I enjoyed all of the three girls stories and how the story went back and forth between the present and the past. Suspense and romance at its best.

An exciting thriller which had me guessing the whole way through. Nice to work through the characters problems with them.

Ominous by Lisa Jackson, Nancy Bush, Rosalind Noonan published by: Kensington Books Zebra. Was a very interesting and quick read. First off, I want to say that this is a second book in a series which I didn’t know when I requested it. I have already purchased Sinister just to see how it all started.
Usually when you think of a small town when it comes story plots you think of boy meets girl they fall in love it’s a happy ending. Not when it comes to this one. These three authors do an amazing job giving a spooky setting for an awesome tale. It all started 15 when three girls go skinny without knowing that a creepy predator was watching them have fun.
Ruth, Shiloh and Kat are back in town after 15 and while they try to piece their lives back together and the body of another girl is found. I love the way that these women are so brave and strong while having some kind of normal life. I loved the pace of this book and how it turned into a fast paced page turner. I have always been a Lisa Jackson FAN and now I have two new authors to add to my must read pile. 5 Stars all the way!

Shiloh, Kate and Ruth were teenagers when a predator attacked and raped one of them. They all went their separate ways and are now back living in the same town. This book has twists and turns. It was engaging and the writing was subperb.
****I voluntarily reviewed and gave my honest opinion of this Advanced Readers Copy of this
book from NetGalley****

I've loved Lisa Jackson for a very long time. Her stories are so good, so full of mystery and suspense that you just can't put them down. This one is no exception.

Three girls, one lake, one dark night, and everything is forever changed. They escape, but just barely. Too ashamed to tell anyone what happened, they go their separate ways. When Shiloh's mom dies, however, she's called back to Prairie Creek. And as fate would have it, Kat and Ruth also have found their ways back. So, too, has their attacker from so many years ago. And he's set on revenge.

This book is full of suspense. It's a thriller of the best kind. My only complaint is that the ending was bit drawn out, too many loose ends trying to be tied up at once. Still, a great story!

Ominous is a great suspense novel with a well written plot and good character development. Loved this book.

I really loved this book.Loved Ruth,Kat and Shiloh ! I really liked all the different stories and characters this book kept you wanting to read into the night. Best part of all I had no clue who was the serial killer and why he was killing till the end.Great fast read !!

This book started off strong and, well, ominous. After a strong beginning, however, I felt like the story dragged on but then the conclusion came like lightning. I also thought that the romantic relationships of the three main characters came about too quickly and did not add to the story.

This was a good story and I enjoyed the writing. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had gotten to know the characters in the first book.