Red Red Robin

by Stephen Gallagher

Beneath Tim Hagan's polite veneer lies a rage as deep as the ocean. He needs a woman to save him from his gruesome past--and those who fail become part of it. And now, as Ruth Lasseter unwittingly becomes a part of the picture. She will penetrate the very heart of Tim's madness, and find herself irrevocably locked in a chilling dance to the death. Ballantine.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Horror, Suspense

Mass Market Paperback

First published September 11, 1995

About the author

Stoker and World Fantasy Award nominee, winner of British Fantasy and International Horror Guild Awards for his short fiction, Stephen Gallagher has a career both as a novelist and as a creator of primetime miniseries and episodic television. His fifteen novels include Chimera, Oktober, Valley of Lights and Nightmare, with Angel. He's the creator of Sebastian Becker, Special Investigator to the Lord Chancellor's Visitor in Lunacy, in a series of novels that includes The Kingdom of Bones, The Bedlam Detective, and The Authentic William James. In his native England he's adapted and created hour-long and feature-length thrillers and crime dramas. In the US he was lead writer on NBC's Crusoe, creator of CBS Television's Eleventh Hour, and Co-Executive Producer on ABC's The Forgotten. Recent screen credits include an award-winning Silent Witness and Stan Lee's Lucky Man.

He began his TV career as a writer on two seasons of Doctor Who, and wrote two novelizations of his stories under the pseudonym John Lydecker.

** Photo by Lisa Bowerman **

Reviews

[Linda Strong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruth Lasseter is having an affair .... with her married boss. She must bring a date to the company dance in order for her lover's wife to not become suspicious. Contacting an escort service, she is given a brochure with all the available men's pictures.

She chooses Tim Hagan, although he is much younger. He's good looking, charming, polite, well-mannered .. everything a woman could ask for. He's also seething with rage underneath.

Ruth makes her first mistake ... she sleeps with him. Now she can't get rid of him. She seems him everywhere. He send flowers ... thousands of dollars worth of flowers. Her car is tampered with. He becomes the stalker we all hear about.

In the meantime, one of the security guards at her office, Aiden, has also become enamored of Ruth. He's always pleasant but keeps an eye on her.

One evening, while working late, Hagan appears with a gun and forces her outside into her car. During this car ride, Ruth notices a car that seems to follow them .. it's Aiden. What results is a car chase, with the car rolling off the road. Ruth grabs the gun, but doesn't have it in her to use it on her kidnapper. Aiden is hurt and she tends to him instead.

A few months later, Hagan's body is found in a ditch close to where their accident occurred.

And this is where the story ends ... RIGHT? no..no..no.. this is actually only the beginning of a living nightmare for both Ruth and Aiden.

This is billed as a novel of suspense.. and that it is. But it is also a psychological thriller. I found it really hard to put the book down. So much action, so many strange things happening ... are they really happening .... or is she losing her mind? Aiden doesn't believe her .. cops don't believe her ... Hagan's family doesn't even believe her. And just who exactly who and what is/was Tim Hagan?

Excellent, well written, with characters that are believable. A must read!

[Robin Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kept its promise of being a suspenseful read. 4 Stars because I couldn't stand the main character, Ruth.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and suspenseful story with several interesting twists and turns. The ending was very compelling. I had a bit of a hard time with the main protagonist, who worked so often against her best interests. Of course, there wouldn't have been a book if she hadn't. Even at the end I didn't particularly like her, but I could picture her as a real person so the author did his job.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ruth Lasseter is having an affair with her married boss. She must bring a date to the company dance in order for her lover's wife to not become suspicious. Contacting an escort service, she chooses Tim Hagan, although he is much younger.

Ruth makes her first mistake ... she sleeps with him.
In the meantime, one of the security guards at her office, Aiden, has also become enamored of Ruth. God knows why...

She's not a nice person and somewhat of an idiot as well as messed up.

Hagan appears with a gun and forces her outside into her car. During this car ride, Ruth notices a car that seems to follow them .. it's Aiden. Aiden is hurt A few months later, Hagan's body is found in a ditch close to where their accident occurred.

This is the beginning
It wasn't bad up to this point.
But Ruth gets fired and then loses it.

Aiden doesn't believe her .. cops don't believe her ... Hagan's family doesn't even believe her

You can guess where it's going.
It does.
happy ending? I don't know, I think Aiden made a mistake too.

[Mark Buckmaster · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted something different than the loads of sci-fi I’d been reading recently, so I dusted this off. I don’t recall how I came to be in possession of this one, but I know that I’d almost donated it a few times when purging.

This title is a straightforward suspense / thriller. The surprises aren’t surprising, the characters try to be interesting, but they miss by a big margin. Yes, I turned 376 pages and technically finished the book, but my heart wasn’t in it.

Also, and I’m probably missing something, but the title of the book seemed arbitrary to me. Was there some meaning or explanation that I missed?

I don’t think I can recommend this in good conscience. I imagine there are much better psychological thrillers out there.

Cheers.

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oldest on tbr pile, this read from 1995 turned out to be a nail-biter. Ruth Lasseter picks an escort for her firm’s annual ball, purely as a smoke-screen, hiding the fact she’s been having an affair with a married man. The escort is perfect, and they end up in bed that night. What Ruth considers a one-night stand turns into several years of increasing horror. It was funny how this seemed a little dated, written at the dawn of the mobile/on-line age, but a great read nonetheless.

[Lori Schiele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great psycho-thriller. Fast-paced, lots of twists and turns. My only issue is that none of the twists were actual surprises. Still, a very enjoyable read.

Side note: didn't realize when I grabbed this at the library that this Stephen Gallagher is the same Stephen Gallagher that has written a number of Doctor Who episodes--an interesting and exciting point for me, may not mean anything to most

[Yvette OHara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, lots of twists and turns in it to keep you thinking

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why I finished reading this, I really do not know. Not badly written. But the plot is quite stupid.
What did I learn? Do not get involved with crazy men.

[Tracie Stokka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn’t stop reading, but I also had the sense that the beginning of the book didn’t match the end, that the characters were too different at the beginning from what they became at the end,

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable psychological thriller. Lots of twists and turns and breath holding moments.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling psychological thriller about a woman named Ruth Lasseter who employs an escort to a company party in order to conceal her love affair with a co-worker. Ruth and the young escort get along well; however, when Ruth rejects him after one night, he woos her, stalks her, and finally kidnaps her. Ruth escapes her kidnapper but cannot escape his violence and can only hope to free herself by examining his past.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good psychological thriller...

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent page turner.