Waking Nightmare: The Mindhunters

Wow! This is a great story, the writting is first class, the suspense is spine-tingling and I can't find a thing wrong with this book. The H & H even call each other by their fist names! Ms. Brant has a good sense of humor and knows when and how to use it. Thanks for a great read.

When a serial rapist strikes again and the police, including lead detective Ryne Robel, still have no leads. Forensic profiler Abbie Phillips is brought in to help find the rapist. Abbie doesn't get a warm welcome from anyone, but she quickly proves to be an asset to the investigation. As Ryne and Abbie struggle to discover the rapist's identity before he can strike again, their simmering attraction begins to boil over. Neither of them believes in happily ever after, but that doesn't stop them from looking for one. Waking Nightmare is an intense, edge-of-your-seat thriller that will keep you riveted from the first line to the last. Abbie and Ryne have intense chemistry but a complicated relationship. The scene where they are making love and discussing the case is very powerful. It shows their deep emotional and physical connection. I've never read anything quite like it. The characterization in Waking Nightmare is excellent. I could feel Ryne and Abbie's emotions and I felt like I got into the villain's head. Constant suspense and a shocking twist at the end add to an already gripping storyline making Waking Nightmare an excellent beginning to The Mindhunters series. Nannette Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

While the conflict of the criminologist creating a profile and the detective who doesn't believe in "psychobabble" has been done before, it's handled well here. Ryne isn't over-the-top or oblivious in his doubt--he just needs to be convinced. And Abbie has dealt with doubtful cops before, so she handles it pretty well. The characters have quite a bit of depth and are interesting and enjoyable; the chemistry between Abbie and Ryne feels real, and their mutual desire to ignore that attraction feels believable rather than serving as an artificial means of keeping them apart. My favorite part of Kylie Brant's Waking Nightmare, however, is Abbie's sister, Callie, who's bipolar (among other things). This is one of the best (i.e., most accurate) depictions I've seen of someone who's bipolar--from a single paragraph of dialogue I immediately found myself saying, "she's hypomanic!" Followed, of course, by amazement that there was so much accuracy to the flow of the dialogue that I could tell that so easily. While there's plenty of tension and great pacing to the suspense and mystery portion of things, one thing disappointed me. To me, the best part of a suspense/mystery novel is trying to figure out whodunit. This requires a tricky balance of foreshadowing/hints, and red herrings/obfuscation, such that the reader waffles on the identity of the perpetrator until the very end, but feels satisfaction and a feeling of, "of COURSE it was him/her!" at the end. To be fair, this is extremely hard to achieve, and to a certain extent this line will rest at a different place with each reader, so take my complaint with a grain of salt. Despite that, however, I enjoyed Waking Nightmare enough to immediately pick up its sequel, Waking Evil, so it definitely isn't a deal-breaker problem. Besides--it's more than made up for by how Callie and her illness are handled throughout the book! [Standard adult material warning: explicit sex between the romantic leads and dark subject matter.] [Review book provided courtesy of publisher]

The first sentence will intrigue you and the next one causes chills. By the third sentence, you will be completely hooked on WAKING NIGHTMARE as the frightening development becomes all too clear. Kylie Brant begins The Mindhunters series with convincingly realistic predicaments featuring spiritedly determined characters, where nothing is certain and all can be lost in an instant. After another brutal rape happens in Savannah, the head detective of the task force investigating these vicious crimes is willing to have another cop brought in to join his group. However, when Ryne Robel learns the new member is Abbie Phillips, he is not overly thrilled. He had wanted an experienced detective, not a petite younger woman who is only a forensic psychologist. Although her company, known as The Mindhunters, is run by a renowned ex-FBI profiler, Ryne does not believe she is qualified to actually help with the investigation but his protests are overruled. With many previous successful cases, Abbie knows she can be a valuable member to his team by contributing her opinions about the perpetrator. As she studies the connected cases to form motivational reasoning behind each one, she comes to some startling conclusions while proving her worth more than once. Abbie believes the person responsible for the sadistic acts somehow learns of a private fear and uses this knowledge to cause even more anguish to each of his victims. As Ryan and Abbie work closely together to stop the terror seizing Savannah, they come to respect each other, both professionally and personally, while desirous longing continues to mount. Unfortunately, the person they are after does not plan on ever being caught. Kylie Brant never lets the reader down, as emotions are stirred and imaginations are captured. The creative talent of Ms. Brant is apparent in every story she writes, and her gift has never been more evident than in the first book of The Mindhunters series. With grippingly suspenseful scenarios and numerous potential outcomes, every word of WAKING NIGHTMARE is highly anticipated. Though plenty of clues are given, one does not know for certain where they will lead, and these doubts often turn to surprise when unforeseen revelations are finally divulged. There are countless twists in the story, and many of them will leave you totally stunned. Ms. Brant knows exactly how to keep your attention, as she may give you most wanted answers to a few questions but still keeps you guessing the solution of others. These hidden intrigues let your own imagination take over your thoughts, frequently causing heart-pounding moments as you await their resulting consequences. There is tension from the endless danger, while tension on another level is constantly taking place between Ryne and Abbie. Although they may not always agree on how to handle their case, the simmering sexual awareness they feel for each other is never completely forgotten. When their control over these desires explodes, the

Set in Savannah, Georgia. Detective Ryne Robel heads the task force set up to catch a serial rapist. Ryne asks his commander for another detective to be added to his group. Instead of a detective, Abby Phillips is added. Abby is an expert in forensic profiling. She does not receive a warm welcome to the task force, but Abby's talents prove invaluable. No one has been able to find a link between the victims. They appear to be chosen randomly. The women are being physically assaulted and then tortured. The elusive suspect is learning the victim's phobia and then specifically creating a torture designed upon it. Abby has more going on in her life than the investigation. Her wild sister, Callie, has followed Abby down to Savannah and she is up to her normal tricks. And while the task force follows their slim leads for the suspect's identity, he is watching Ryne and Abby. ***** FIVE STARS! This is the first of a new series revolving around the forensic consults hired from Raiker Forensics. Reading this story is a lot like watching CSI on television, but this story also includes a sizzling romance and creepy suspense. Readers will not have to wait long for the next episode. The first three titles will be printed one month apart. I do not know if this will stop as a trilogy or if it will continue on into the next year, but either way the author has a winner on her hands. This story is very realistic with close attention to the details and methods used by the brave people who actually investigate such horrors. (They have my undying respect and admiration!) A fabulous story that I cannot recommend highly enough. ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.