Absolute Fear review

I am blaming Elle Rossi for my recent inability to sleep - she recommended Lisa Jackson to me, and specifically Absolute Fear, and Jackson's books are so creepy that if I read them at night, I can't sleep :)

Needless to say, I enjoyed Absolute Fear a great deal despite a couple of character issues that really annoyed me. It definitely kept me guessing all the way to the big reveal and the romance is better than in the preceding book in the series, Shiver. Jackson is really good, maybe a little too good, at painting a picture of the very mentally unstable thoughts of serial killers. The plot thread involving Our Lady of Virtues and the family of Abby from Shiver provides great continuity but doesn't preclude reading Absolute Fear if you haven't read Shiver.

While overall I enjoyed both Eve and Cole, there was one sticking point with them for me that really brought the book down from great to good. Cole demands that Eve trust him and yet he is lying to her the entire time! Then he doesn't understand why she is mad at him. The flip side of that is while Eve does get very angry at Cole when the lie is exposed, as far as I'm concerned she forgave him way too quickly - I certainly wouldn't have forgiven him at all but that's why I'll never be a romance novel protagonist :) Other than that, the chemistry between the couple was palpable and their personalities were enjoyable.

Overall, I've enjoyed the two books in this series that I've read and am highly likely to pick up more books by Jackson in the future. 

Synopsis

Eve Renner has returned to New Orleans hoping to forget the past...but it will not be so easily forgotten. The cold-blooded killings that culminated in a near-fatal attempt on her life three months ago have begun again. The crimes are bizarre, baffling, but all connected to Our Lady of virtues Hospital, the crumbling old asylum that was once the scene of unspeakable madness. Eve's father was a doctor there, and she spent hours exploring its forbidden passageways. Somewhere in its decaying rooms lies the key to a terrible crime. And the only man she can trust with the search is Cole Dennis, her former lover and, just possibly, a cold-blooded killer. Now, as memories begin to surface, someone is watching, planning... For the sins of the past must be revealed, the crimes brought to justice, and the price paid--in blood.