Murder At Sunrise Lake
By Christine Feehan
ISBN: 9780593333167
Author Website: christinefeehan(.)com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro

Summary:

It starts in her dreams. Hideous flashes from a nightmare only she can stop. Images of a murderer stalking the ones she cares about most…

Stella Harrison thought she got away from the traumas of her past. Running the Sunrise Lake resort high in the Sierra Nevada mountains has brought her peace, even though she doesn’t truly share her quiet life with anyone. Not even Sam, the hired handyman that notices everything and always seems to know exactly what she needs.

Stella doesn’t know anything about Sam’s past, but somehow over the last two years his slow, steady presence has slipped past her defenses. Still, she knows she can’t tell him about her recent premonitions. So far there’s been no murder. No body. No way to prove what’s about to happen without destroying the life she’s built for herself.

But a killer is out there. And Stella knows that this time she’ll do whatever it takes to stop him.

Review:

Stella Harrison was a child when she first started having dreams about her father murdering people. She tried telling her mother, but appearances and social status were more important than believing her husband was a serial killer. When Stella’s father was finally caught, she thought things would go back to normal, but as she got older she kept having dreams of other men killing. Throughout the years, Stella helped put the serial killers away advising police, along with sacrificing her privacy. When she got older, Stella changed her name, moved away, and put everything behind her.

Stella started working and then became owner of the Sunrise Lake resort making it a successful visiting location. She partnered with local businesses to attract tourists to their community. Eventually, Stella turned her life around, made new friends, and hired Sam Rossi as handyman, with whom she also developed a special bond. But the nightmares have started again after so many years, making her fear a serial killer may be close and targeting her friends and community. More importantly, Stella fears the killer may be someone she knows.

Murder at Sunrise Lake serves as an introduction to what may be Feehan’s new series. Stella is the main character, who dreams or has premonitions of murders happening, which later are always confirmed with the finding of a body two days after the last dream. Throughout the story, Stella learns more about how her dreams work and with the help of her friends, she learns to capture details and information that can help solve who the killer is.

Sam becomes the first victim, but Stella arrives just in time to save him. After this near fatal encounter, Stella confides in Sam about her father, her past, dreams, and a potential serial killer in the area. But Sam has a past of his own that catches up to him, making his relationship with Stella flourish.

The book introduces Stella’s friends as well, briefly letting the reader know their background stories and individual skills. It was interesting to read about the different ethnicities of Stella’s friends, along with information of current events linked to them. As it usually is with Feehan’s books, there are several characters and all of them are always interesting to learn more about.

Learning who the serial killer was, did take me by surprise, but I was expecting him to stay as the main villain, and continue as the serial killer throughout the series (in case there is one). There were several character introductions which made the book a little confusing trying to keep track of who was who, but I can easily see individual stories for them. I already have one that caught my attention.

Murder at Sunrise Lake was a good start to what could be Feehan’s new series with an established list of potential main characters for future books. If you’re a fan of Feehan and her books, this can be a good addition to your collection.