Her Dying Breath (A Slaughter Creek Novel)

In this sequel to Dying to Tell, Brenda Banks, an investigative reporter, tries to get an exclusive story on Commander Blackwood, a sadistic madman who tortured children in the insane asylum at Slaughter Creek. Blackwood is now in prison, but another killer, possibly one of the children he tortured, is strangling people in Slaughter Creek. Nick Blackwood, one of the Commander's sons, is now an FBI agent trying to clean up the mess his father created. He has loved Brenda Banks since high school and he doesn't want her involved with his father, but his plans to keep her out of the investigation are thwarted by the killer who leaves a trail of clues that only Brenda can understand.

If you like suspense, this novel has plenty as Nick Blackwood and Brenda Banks try to understand their childhoods and track down a sadistic killer. There were too many scenes of sadistic torture involving children for my taste, so I didn't enjoy this novel.

I found the main characters less interesting than the comparable characters in Dying to Tell. Sadie and Jake seemed much more real. They were focused on trying the help Amelia, Sadie's twin sister, one of the Commander's victims. In this novel, Nick and Brenda focus on their own pasts. I found it hard to get to know these characters, particularly with all the scenes of torture both remembered and current thrown in between glimpses of their interaction.

I can't recommend this book unless you like gritty, sadistic mysteries with a hint of romance, but if you want to follow the lives of the Slaughter Creek characters, you may enjoy this second installment.

While an improvement over its predecessor, Dying to Tell, this book shares similar flaws. Focusing on FBI agent Nick Blackwood and buxom reporter Brenda Banks, the sequel picks up where the other left off. The Commander, the sadistic mastermind of military experimentation on the juvenile inmates of a mental hospital and father of Nick and his brother, Sheriff Jake, is in jail. It appears that some of the test subjects have turned homicidal and are pursuing their own twisted and bloody agenda. Brenda has a troubling connection to both the killer and the sanitarium where the experiments occurred. She also has a case of apparently unrequited love for the stoic Nick. Nick is actually fighting his attraction to Brenda while trying to keep her safe from harm. But circumstances and the killer have very different plans.

This is an okay read, hampered by poor writing and clumsy dialogue. The author has no grasp on the niceties of legal or police procedures. The murders are appropriately sordid and she does flesh out Brenda's character. The romance is slow and it is hard to fathom anyone holding on to a juvenile crush years after high school. The author does not demonstrate much insight into the behaviors of survivors of child abuse and she does the mentally ill no favors. They are all skin crawlingly creepy, which is really not fair. But then again the whole town is insular in a this is what would have happened if the Children of the Corn attained adulthood way. Not my favorite, but not the worst either.

Ms Herron as done a good job with this romantic suspense series I would guess but all should be read in order to get the whole story. I'm not sure but I think this the #2.

Commander Arthur Blackwood has been found out!--he worked for the CIA on the project using the poor children of Slaughter Creek, TN to program them from a very young age to be killers. Commander Blackwood treated his own sons like he did the other children--the man treated all the children unthinkably. The boys, Nick and Jake,are now in law enforcement and have the job of findng out all that can be found out about this secret project. Most who know anything have been killed!

Our heroine is journalist Brenda Banks who has it bad for Nick, she was in love with him while in high school but didn't let him know. Of course Nick has been crazy for her so many years too. Now their chance but......

I enjoyed the book but did feel I had missed part from the previous book or two. I'm having computer problems so don't dare leave this page to find out more. I have read some of Ms Herron's category romance over the years and like her style.

I was unfamiliar with this series when I got this book, but now I’m hooked. The characters are complex, but likable. The interesting but fast-paced plot makes it difficult to follow what’s going on at times for a casual reader like myself. However, this book made for an overall excellent read and although the ending left me satisfied, the plot hanger makes me want to know what happens next in the series.

I love her books

The Slaughter Creek Strangler has been caught and he is the father to FBI Special Agent Nick Blackwood and his brother, Jake Blackwood, the sheriff. They were helped by Jake's sister-in-law Amelia (sister to his wife Sadie) and by Brenda Banks, an investigative reporter.

Brenda helped uncover all the horrible "experiments" that the elder Blackwood performed on children at a psychiatric hospital. The town of Slaughter Creek is still in shock when Brenda gets a text that someone has left a "present" for Blackwood and where. She goes to the low-life motel to find a dead body of a young man. Nude and strangled with piano wire. Brenda quickly calls in Nick and Jake.

As Brenda starts investigating who this new killer is, she is also still dealing with finding out that she is adopted. Her adopted father is the mayor of Slaughter Creek and wants her just to accept things and not look for her biological parents, but Brenda starts having nightmares or memories(?) of being a toddler and of being in a hospital where there is screaming.

As Brenda with Nick's help starts looking into her past and for the new killer, she puts herself and others in even more danger!

Fascinating!

Many female writers who move from the "romance" genre into "mainstream" produce novels that read like longer formula romances with murder, explicit sex, and coarse language. I don't mind those elements if they're well done and germane to the plot. They just seemed tacked on in this story.

The main character just seems dumb and careless and it's hard to see why anyone would fall in love with her.

It was a struggle to finish this book and I'm not interested in reading the previous or any future ones.

Many female writers who move from the "romance" genre into "mainstream" produce novels that read like longer formula romances with murder, explicit sex, and coarse language. I don't mind those elements if they're well done and germane to the plot. They just seemed tacked on in this story.

The main character just seems dumb and careless and it's hard to see why anyone would fall in love with her.

It was a struggle to finish this book and I'm not interested in reading the previous or any future ones.

I enjoy reading all of Rita Herron's romantic suspense and am anxiously awaiting for #3 to be available in April 2014.

I generally do not read romance novels, this one was under the heading of mystery when I chose it to read, and occasionally
I have read mixed genre books where difference genres, for example: Mystery and Romance, were skillfully combined, and would be enjoyable to a fan of either genre.

This one started out somewhat promising, a rather sordid mystery, with a rather sexually explicit murder scene, but shortly after that the author was downplaying the mystery component and basically drowning it under a heavy dose of romance.

The plot of the mystery was promising, but the novel became too much of a romance for me to enjoy.

I think fans of romance that enjoy a touch of mystery might like this novel, but the mystery was too buried under the romance for it to be enjoyable for a mystery fan.