*Have You Heard? * Audiobooks For Your Listening Pleasure* Dying to Please by Linda Howard

Dying to Please by Linda Howard
Published by Brilliance Audio, Ballantine Books on April 29th 2002
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 0345452704
ASIN: B001E23RQW
Goodreads

Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized. Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many distinct qualities. First and foremost a butler par excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly and efficiently, she is also a trained bodyguard and expert marksman–indispensable to her elderly employer, a courtly gentleman whom Sarah has come to respect and love as a father.

Then one night she thwarts a burglary in progress, a courageous act that rewards Sarah her requisite “fifteen minutes of fame” with the local press. But the exposure is enough to catch the attention of a tortured soul who, unbeknownst to Sarah, will stop at nothing to have her for himself.

Sarah’s perfectly ordered life is shattered when tragedy strikes: her beloved employer is brutally murdered. The detective investigating the case, assures Sarah that she is not a suspect. Until lightning strikes twice. There’s a second killing–and this time, despite a lack of evidence connecting her to the crime, Sarah cannot escape the shadow of guilt.

The only option left for Sarah is to carry on with her life. But she doesn’t realize that a deranged stalker is luring her into an elaborate trap . . . one in which she, once ensnared, might never escape. For Sarah soon finds herself at the mercy of a man who will tend to her every whim, smother her with affection, and crush her in his all-consuming embrace.

In a nonstop roller-coaster ride of unrelenting suspense, Linda Howard has written her most chilling novel yet. Dying to Please is a breathless thriller of desire and obsession.

From the Hardcover edition.

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble

#Bodyguard #FemaleButler #Stalker #PsychologicalThriller #LindaHoward #SusanEricksen

I have long been a fan of author Linda Howard and actually began reading her books back in the ’80’s early on in her career. As her popularity grew, I learned that this very creative lady is a resident of the town in north Alabama where my husband and I lived for many years before moving to Florida. I share that bit of information to point out that if you think well-known people “aren’t from around here”, you may walk right past one of them in the grocery store! I originally chose Dying to Please for two reasons — special pricing and an author I like. When I happened to notice that Susan Ericksen, one of my favorite narrators,  would read the book to me for a little more money, I was hooked. The story has a lot to recommend it. Sarah Stevens is a very strong female character with an unusual career who manages to attract herself a creepy weirdo stalker who would kill to hire her away from her current employer. Detective Thompson Cahill is a hot police detective who admires everything about Sarah except her stubborn independence, the quality that makes her who she is. When dead bodies start turning up all around Sarah, the two of them are thrown together both professionally and personally. The setting is Birmingham, Alabama and I always enjoy reading books whose street names and neighborhoods are familiar to me.

There’s no need for me to rave on about Susan Ericksen, the voice of the J. D. Robb In Death series. She turns in her usual excellent performance with Dying to Please . . . I just kept expecting Roarke to show up at any minute!

Dying to Please is a darkly romantic tale with its psychotic stalker and the burgeoning affair between Sarah and Cahill. This is an older book from 2002, but fans of Linda Howard who haven’t read it will find it good to take on vacation. I recommend the audio version with Susan Ericksen especially if a beach or pool are in your plans. It’s so much easier to plug in those earphones than to shut out the glare of the sun and the voices around you as you try to read. But if you prefer reading, you can do as I did and have the ebook available as well.