Someone Is Watching: A Novel
** I received this in a Goodreads “First Reads” giveaway **After many fits and starts in the career choices department Bailey Carpenter has settled on being a private detective for an elite Miami law firm. She excels at her job and more importantly she really enjoys it – well most of the time – she could do without trying to catch errant spouses and deadbeat dads. It is on just such an assignment that the unthinkable happens. Bailey is on surveillance when suddenly she is attacked from behind, a pillowcase pulled over her head and she is brutally raped and beaten. Lucky to be alive she remembers very little about the actual attack and virtually nothing about her assailant, except that he was wearing Nike athletic shoes, his breath smelled of mouthwash and his words still play over and over in her head, “Tell me that you love me”.
Her physical injuries are healing but the emotional ones are taking a little longer to scab over. Bailey cannot face going outside much less back to her job. She cannot bring herself to leave her apartment and fears she is beginning to lose her sanity. Every man she sees is her potential assailant, so even a simple elevator ride to the apartment gym is a nightmare.
Her support system consists solely of her brother Heath, a frequently unemployed actor and very frequent drug user, until she gets a surprise visit from estranged half-sister and her teenaged niece. She and Claire have never been close but being a nurse, Claire swoops in and takes over Bailey’s life. Claire is ultimate caregiver, while her niece Jade is the epitome of a sassy uncensored teenager. Between the two of them running intervention and forcing her back into a semblance of reality Bailey seems to be getting her life back. Until one night a pair of binoculars gets them all into trouble. Is it possible someone has been watching Bailey all along and the attack was not random? Could he still be watching her?
This book had me hooked from the first few pages. The plot itself was a good one and add to that the fact that I liked the characters, how could I not enjoy the book? I liked Bailey and found her reaction to what happened to her a believable accounting. I mean who wouldn’t want to hide from the world? I could feel her anxiety as she wandered around the apartment checking every nook and cranny holding a lethal sounding pair of scissors in her hand.
Without giving anything away let me just say that despite the author’s cleverly disguised hints throughout the whole book (easy to see now that I’ve read it all) I was quite astonished when the rapist’s identity finally came to light, so well-done Ms. Fielding, but even better was the second twist that totally caught me off guard. As I turned the last page and closed the book I was nodding my head and thinking that I should have seen it coming. I’m glad this book ended up on my shelf. I enjoyed it very much.
