Name: Before I Wake
ISBN: 9781414308159

Dee Henderson

The sheriff of Justice, Illinois and a new private detective in town, Rae Gabriella, are searching for a serial killer, but Rae might be the next victim.

Before I Wake

Kenzi Linton

** spoiler alert **
           I would have rated it 5/5 stars but the ending wasn’t my favorite. Who was the cook?? Will Rae end up with Bruce or Nathan? I want more details!!

Jeni Enjaian

*Update* While I would say that this book surpassed "The Witness," by a lot, it did not reach the height that it apparently reached the last time I read this book. I still struggled to connect with the characters. Thankfully, this time around, Henderson did not include quite as many. This book, while not bad, did not have enough going for it to help it survive round two of the purge from my personal collection.

Out of all the Dee Henderson books I've read recently, this is the best. Henderson's storytelling ability is showcased well in this relatively high-paced drama. Henderson manages to fit in a lot of information without overwhelming the reader. She also manages to tell a decent crime/detective story without leaving out important details or focusing on too many characters. (That was my complaint in the first book of this series. At least, I think it's a series, not one dependent on the prior books in the series, just one with overlapping characters.)
I'm not sure what I think about the relatively unresolved nature of the crime in the book. (I'll leave it at that to avoid any spoilers.) Henderson used this technique in the last book of the O'Malley series too. On one hand it makes the crimes seem more realistic. The bad guys aren't always caught in the real world. At the same time, for a narrative purpose it leaves a bit of the plot hanging out there, unresolved.

Still, this is an excellent book and I would definitely recommend it.