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Good Intentions
When an obsessed listener begins to harass her mother and daughter, Chicago radio talk show host Rachel Snow begins to realize that the stranger may already be acquainted with the most intimate secrets of her life
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Patricia O'Brien
104 books20 followersPatricia O'Brien is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Glory Cloak and co-author of I Know Just What You Mean, a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Writes also under the pseudonym Kate Alcott.
Writes also under the pseudonym Kate Alcott.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
January 12, 2026
Either thrillers from the late ‘90s ran sleepily tame, or this one bombed—I lack the expertise to declare it definitively.
Rachel Snow returns to Chicago, where her journalism career has plummeted from the glory of anchorwoman days. A morning talk show on a failing radio station marks her low point, and even the station manager confesses in a candid moment that the program demands major revival—it faces six months to rebound or shut down. In a nostalgic impulse, Rachel purchases the dilapidated house from her childhood and pledges to restore it. Still smarting from a bitter divorce that both sides likely earned and required, Rachel envisions the house as a hub where her 16-year-old daughter, Edie, can settle in, perhaps ditching her pricey boarding school for the local public one.
These characters all harbor secrets and repel sympathy. Rachel dives right into bed with a recovering alcoholic newspaper reporter who ditched her years ago, yet she convinces herself he has reformed. Mere pages on, she beds her boss, the radio station manager. Edie snags a shady college boy during her boarding school escapades and flings her virginity his way as if it means nothing. Rachel’s retired mother starts the book broke in Florida and relocates to Chicago, desperate for employment.
Few setups chill more than a female radio host fielding deeply personal threats live on air—when executed well. A skilled author plunges you into the host's terror and mindset, while listeners, innate eavesdroppers, huddle closer to their radios, sensing a raw clash between a twisted caller and a host whose exposed fears emerge as a vivid presence. That works if handled properly. Unfortunately, this author botches it. A caller who says his name is “the Truthseeker,” turns eerily intimate with Rachel on air. He details her ideal appearance. He boasts of murdering women across Chicagoland long ago. Police dismiss the assertion, maintaining they nabbed the killer called Truthseeker, now deceased. Yet the spectral voice persists.
As expected, Rachel fields silent calls at home. She gets enigmatic flowers and a dead mouse anonymously. The perpetrator aims to unsettle her and frighten Edie and Rachel’s mother. Yet none of this strikes as innovative or truly frightening. It mostly comes off as foolish through the book.
I also foresaw the ending early. Endless stretches of dialogue drag on, which the author could have slashed for a sharper read.
My irritation stems from the squandered potential—it devolves into bland cliches. This scrapes by with one star, thanks solely to Pam Ward's narration; she voiced audiobooks for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled when NLS produced this.
Rachel Snow returns to Chicago, where her journalism career has plummeted from the glory of anchorwoman days. A morning talk show on a failing radio station marks her low point, and even the station manager confesses in a candid moment that the program demands major revival—it faces six months to rebound or shut down. In a nostalgic impulse, Rachel purchases the dilapidated house from her childhood and pledges to restore it. Still smarting from a bitter divorce that both sides likely earned and required, Rachel envisions the house as a hub where her 16-year-old daughter, Edie, can settle in, perhaps ditching her pricey boarding school for the local public one.
These characters all harbor secrets and repel sympathy. Rachel dives right into bed with a recovering alcoholic newspaper reporter who ditched her years ago, yet she convinces herself he has reformed. Mere pages on, she beds her boss, the radio station manager. Edie snags a shady college boy during her boarding school escapades and flings her virginity his way as if it means nothing. Rachel’s retired mother starts the book broke in Florida and relocates to Chicago, desperate for employment.
Few setups chill more than a female radio host fielding deeply personal threats live on air—when executed well. A skilled author plunges you into the host's terror and mindset, while listeners, innate eavesdroppers, huddle closer to their radios, sensing a raw clash between a twisted caller and a host whose exposed fears emerge as a vivid presence. That works if handled properly. Unfortunately, this author botches it. A caller who says his name is “the Truthseeker,” turns eerily intimate with Rachel on air. He details her ideal appearance. He boasts of murdering women across Chicagoland long ago. Police dismiss the assertion, maintaining they nabbed the killer called Truthseeker, now deceased. Yet the spectral voice persists.
As expected, Rachel fields silent calls at home. She gets enigmatic flowers and a dead mouse anonymously. The perpetrator aims to unsettle her and frighten Edie and Rachel’s mother. Yet none of this strikes as innovative or truly frightening. It mostly comes off as foolish through the book.
I also foresaw the ending early. Endless stretches of dialogue drag on, which the author could have slashed for a sharper read.
My irritation stems from the squandered potential—it devolves into bland cliches. This scrapes by with one star, thanks solely to Pam Ward's narration; she voiced audiobooks for the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled when NLS produced this.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review