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Customer Reviews of The Crush

satisfyingly good
In this book virtually all three of the main characters, the villain, professional hit man Lozada, the protagonist, Wick, a hot-headed and suspended police officer, and the object of Lozada's obsession, lady doctor Rennie, are all victims, mas o menos. Each has had a major traumatic experience of one sort or another than seriously affects their lifestyles, but Brown has managed to bring them together artfully. She also avoids the pitfall of so many authors who use superflous characters as walk-ons that only cloud the machinations of the plot. By using very few supporting players, such as Wick's best friend Oren, a cop who seems to have the only normal psyche and familial relationship in the bunch, she keeps the story line "clean." The concept, like most of Brown's books, is elegantly simple: Bad guy stalks woman, hero falls for woman, they both suffer a bit as he becomes her protector, both struggle to outwit the bad guy. It would seem almost trite except for the introspection and delving into each personality just enough to give them some depth and a consequent sense of reality. One begins to care about their fates because, as in all good writing, the author makes them come alive off the pages with bits of homily, such as Rennie's barrel racing expertise, or the reaction to her mean-spirited and ruthless father whom she adored as a girl. At a pivotal point in her life when she is at her most impressionable age, she discovers the truth about him, i.e., he's a real bastard. She then becomes the small Texas town's reigning punchboard, her slutty behavior her only weapon to show her disdain and anger, hoping to hurt her father with the only weapons at her disposal. How she changed and altered her life into an adulthood of self-denial toward love and sex, turning instead to her beloved horses, made her story and ultimate fate much more interesting to this reader.
Wick, a man who lost a brother through what he interprets as his own fault, an inability to control his temper, is equally marred, but in his case by guilt and sullen resentment at his own faults and the world in general. His character seemed more two-dimensional to me, a little too predictable as the (what else?) lanky, boot-wearing Texas hardbody who fights at the drop of a Stetson, but that is to be expected when female authors attempt to write from a man's perspective, just as the opposite is true. How these two get together to combat the insidious and crafty artifices of Lozada, whose main problem aside from being a complete psychopath, is his rabid rationalization in thinking Rennie returns his feelings. Brown is good at letting the reader know that self-delusion is almost always a factor with stalkers. Lozada cannot really love anyone else but himself, yet he rationalizes his need to control and take what he wants as honest caring. By throwing a little extra effort into such insights, Brown makes her characters more intriguing, and thus the relatively straightforward, by the numbers plot becomes a richer backdrop for the antics therein. My main criticism is that the sex scenes, (I hesitate to call them "love" scenes) seem too contrived and raunchy in places, almost as if the author felt she had to throw them in for prurient titillation to fulfill the publisher's quota of "sex sells" criteria. I notice this trend among other top female authors, seemingly wanting to get it out of the way as quickly as possible so they can go back to writing the more important scenes. Being a romantic, I would enjoy it more with a slower buildup, little signs of caring that grow at a normal pace, more innuendo and less graphic description of the act. But that aside, the overall plot, pacing and action sequences were excellent and there is a modicum of violent confrontations that are welcome, especially to male readers who often decry "chick" books as being too weepy and boring. Not this one. I enjoyed it and recommend it to fans of this genre.
- Barker Reviews

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creepy stalker
Sandra Brown has become one of my favorite writers. This book in particular wasn't as heavy as some of her books. This one you knew who the bad guy was but didn't know when he would come around. The chemistry between the two main charaters was typical and predictable but with their different personalities they meshed very well together.
A very good book.

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It's a keeper
This book couldn't win an originality contest, but it's a page turner. It kept me hooked from the start.