Because I'm Watching by Christina Dodd, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Maddie Hewitson was the only one to escape a massacre in her college dorm. Since then she has been tormented by memories and nightmares. Before she could adjust to a life without terrifying dreams, her fiancé was murdered. When she sleeps now she suffers from even more terrifying nightmares and, worse, hallucinations. She sees a ghost in her dreams, all dressed in black, haunting her. She can’t tell if he is real or not. At night she works, writing a mystery novel and sketching pictures of the monster that comes to her in her dreams. When she is awake it seems as things in her small house have been moved. She fears for the time when her nightmares begin to become reality, in Because I’m Watching, the third novel of suspense in the Virtue Falls series by Christina Dodd.

Across the street from Maddie lives Jacob Denisov, a wounded veteran, who was a POW and suffered horrifying mental and physical torture. Every day he lives believing he is guilty of the tortures and deaths of the men in his unit. He lives in darkness—his windows covered with black curtains. He lacks sleep, is starving and angry. He wishes he could die. He almost does when Maddie accidently drives her small SUV straight into the front of his house…and into his life. He can no longer live in the dark. He had come to this small town to die—to kill himself. Soon after the accident he found a spur of his old self with Maddie’s help, and as he watched her fight back against her demons and monsters he became protective of her. Most of the people in town believed Maddie to be a tad crazy because the odd, unexplainable things seemed to be happening around her. Sheriff Kateri Kwinault, a Native American had been called many times to Maddie’s house when she called about the black ghost appearing and other unexplainable events. Jacob, however, began to believe they were brought on by an outside source. It just may be that while helping Jacob find redemption, Maddie, with Jacob’s help, will find her release.

The recurring character in this series is Sheriff Kateri Kwinault, a woman who had died and was brought back to life—reborn—with special powers. Although she is active in this story, Maddie and Jacob are the lead characters. They are truly appealing and it is interesting to watch them as they come back to life and rid themselves of their demons. The other residents of Virtue Falls are a strong backdrop for their small town, where nothing stays a secret for long. An intriguing series overall.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Because I'm Watching.

Acknowledgment: St. Martin's Press provided a copy of Because I'm Watching for this review.

Virtue Falls
St. Martin's Press (Hardcover), September 2014
ISBN-13: 9781250028419; ISBN-10: 12500284198

Because I'm Watching

The Virtue Falls Series by Christina Dodd