The gift of sight comes at a dangerous price When Deep Down Salvage begins the hunt for the "Josephine Marie, " it seems like any other dive...until Genevieve Wallace sees the vision of a dead woman in the water, her vacant eyes boring into Genevieve's very soul. Terrified and confused by what she saw, Genevieve is haunted by the memory, but no one -- including her diving partner Thor Thompson -- believes her. When a dead woman washes up on shore, everyone assumes this is Genevieve's "vision," but Genevieve knows the truth: the dead woman is "not" the ghost she saw but another victim of the same brutal killer.
Sensing that the threat of death is coming closer, she and Thor are forced to acknowledge that some things can't be explained, but simply "are." Somehow they have to link a violent past with a present-day mystery or risk losing themselves in an abyss of terror.
New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.
Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.
She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.
Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.
This book was 98% terrible and 2% interesting, and even that might be overestimating the interesting. The beginning was a trainwreck, the middle was okay, and the end was a mess. I had SO MANY issues with this book.
Are there normal looking people in this world (to be fair, this is a criticism I level at the genre in general, not Graham in particular). Like, do these normal people do any sort of interesting jobs? Because the (usually female) lead is always 'instantly arousing' and the secondary characters (co-workers/friends in this case) are usually mentioned to be good looking as well. Like...do attractive people just never interact with hot people in Romantic Murder Mystery World?
As for leads...wow that was an incredibly sexist opening conversation for you romantic male lead...especially when it's literally the FIRST TIME we meet him. Look, I don't anticipate these books being particularly enlightened when it comes to sexism/gender/etc, but damn this was bad. I say that as someone who goes into these kinds of books with low expectations in that area. I was already sick of the jerk by page 18 -he's insulting a woman he had never once talked to, but is totally checking her out and saying he's bang her if the opportunity arose...but she's still completely untrustworthy/crazy and of course it'd be dangerous to work with this professional. He was a complete douchebag by page 45, where he basically strongarms our female lead into saying 'if I lose this bet, you can f*ck me' (and I choose that phrasing in particular because the tone came across that he didn't care what she thought about it really). Just...how are we supposed to root for these two? He's gross and how the hell does she find this attractive? He spent the first hundred or so pages insulting her to her face. Seriously Graham, I expected better from you.
On that note, this woman needs new friends too. They're dicks. She's very much telling them to drop the teasing because it's really bothering her (both verbally and in an obvious non-verbal way), but they completely ignore her. In fact, a few of them consider making it worse.
On top of all that, the serial killer plot seemed like a forced after thought. It doesn't feel like it belongs at all. It would have been much better had they scrapped that (plus the random character personality switch that came out of nowhere for a side character, which I feel was just to build tension before she could get to the real reveal) and just focused on the ghost/treasure hunt plot.
I really wanted to like this book because it has ghosts, a treasure hunt, underwater archaeology, and pirates. I love all of those things, and while I will admit it got better (I figure Graham realized half way that her male lead was terrible, and then did a 180 and made him less terrible. That's where it improved), but it was not enough to save it.
It's been a long while since I picked up a Heather Graham book. Not because I grew tired of the author, but because so many new authors have captured my attention in the last few years. But feeling a bit nostalgic recently I ransacked my TBR pile and pulled out "The Vision" by Heather Graham then curled up on the sofa with my comforter and a hot cup of tea while the snow and sleet did their damage outside. What I really enjoy about Graham's mystery/crime/romance books are the numerous potential "who done its" the author puts in the story. I can never seem to pin-point the villain until the last moment. I like that.
This story took sunken treasure, ghostly apparitions, a romance and a serial killer and wrapped them all up in beautiful Key West Florida. The heroine is Genevieve "Gen" Wallace an experienced diver on a team searching for a sunken ship. During a dive Gen sees a dead body or a ghost, she's not sure which but reports it as a dead body. The rest of the dive team see nothing and the police dive teams come up empty. Gen is teased by her friends the other divers and thought to be crazy by Thor Thompson, one of the men leading the dive exposition. Thor contemplates tossing Gen off the team because he doubts her ability to keep a clear head, but Gen's reputation gives her another chance - that and the fact that Thor thinks she's great eye candy.
Soon Gen is haunted by more ghostly visions, dreams of pirate corpses and pranks by her buddies. Then a real dead body washes up on shore and everyone stops teasing Gen. Things get stranger, people go missing and more bodies show up while a romance begins to bloom between Gen and Thor. When friends go missing the dive crew begin to panic and wonder if one of them is a serial killer. Everyone is a suspect and no one wants to be alone.
I enjoyed this book for the most part. The only draw back I have is one I find common with Graham's books. The author adores Florida and often fills her books with pages after pages of local details that aren't necessary and sometimes just boring. I find I am skimming a great deal at the beginning of her books because they read like a tourist guide to Florida's hotspots. I like Florida, but when I read a mystery novel I don't want a tourist guide. There is such a thing as too much detail. A red marker would have gone a long way in the first few chapters of this book.
That said, it was an enjoyable mystery/crime/romance read. I kept turning the pages wondering "who done it" right up to the climax and I was shocked- I thought that character was "one of the good guys". The romance wasn't the main focus of the book, but it was there with a few steamy (if vague) love scenes. Thor and Gen didn't like each other at all when they first met- water and oil. But they drifted together and the chemistry was there all along, so it worked. To wrap it up, kudos to Graham for delivering on the mystery and romance under the sun of Key West, Florida.
One word for this book : creepy! *at least for the first parts ^-^ Honestly, I got the creeps for only reading the first few chapters
Anyway, I thought I got the killer but ouch! I pick the wrong guy! I just wondered, am I losing my deduction touch? *as if I'm Sherlock Holmes himself (*rolling eyes, LOL)
Overall, this is an enjoyable book, providing you're into creepy kind of story which gives you goosebumps :)
As with the first books in the series, this one starts off really slow. Expecting this, I read speedily through the first chapters, trying to remember a key item about each of the many characters so I could recall them to my mind when they came on the page later and not caring about where they bar hopped and what they drank.
I was bored all the way to about the middle of Chapter 9 when I read the scene with Marshall. That was about page 190 in my paperback so that's a lot of fairly boring pages. The Marshall scene sucked me in and I stayed sucked in for the rest of the book. That's how this series has been for me. Patience required.
The good thing about this book is that Adam Harrison has more than just a cameo appearance. He's still a mysterious character but he's on the page long enough to have a few conversations. We are not privy to his first conversation with the heroine Gen which is a missed opportunity in my opinion.
There are a couple of other things not to like about this book. It's too long at 410 pages. The hero Thor is often an ass, especially in the beginning. And Thor is a terrible name to have to read for the aforementioned 410 pages. As you might imagine, there were some super hero puns.
There are also some pretty brutal scenes though a lot of it is off the page and/or described in past tense.
So I will go ahead and recommend this book for a Halloween ghost read with the above cautions. Expect half boredom followed by the inability to put the book down.
This book lost a star after I experienced nightmares all night. I guess my subconscious registered more violence than I initially thought. Something to keep in mind if you are a sensitive person.
THIS IS NOT REALLY A HARRISON INVESTIGATION BOOK!!! Yes Adam Harrison and Nikki & Brent Blackhawk make an appearance but it is no different then The Killing Edge... They are just back ground people who come to Key West to help out at the request of a friend.
That being said.. The funny thing about Graham & her ghost stories are they all follow the same flow, yet I never seem to know exactly who did it and this is book is no different. Yes I usually can narrow it down but so far I have only gotten it "right" once in all her books.
This story is about Genevieve & Thor. They have been teamed together with their groups to find a sunken ship. Gen sees a ghost and Thor thinks she is insane but yet he finds himself infatuated with her. Then a real body drifts up on the beach,everyone thinks that is what Gen saw but she knows it's not the same woman. Then friends start disappearing, Gen feels she is losing her mind every time the ghost comes to her and Thor wants to protect her but how can he protect her from her own imagination? Adam Harrison comes down with Nikki & Brent to help. You can feel the love that Thor has for Gen and his desire/need to protect her and you actually start to feel Gen's fear that she is going insane.
It's another great story by Graham! Two words: Read it!
Stars: 3 / 5 Recommendation: A neat blend of history and paranormal folded with romance and murder is what we see with this plot.
The Vision is the fourth book in the Harrison Investigation Series by the paranormal author Heather Graham published in January of 2006. The plot revolves around two treasure hunt and sea salvage divers - Genevieve "Gen" Wallace and Thor Thompson, who get embroiled into a sinister plot by a serial killer who has a twisted version of past vs present. It is set in Key West, FL.
Long before her Krewe of Hunters series (My review of the books I have read in that series so far are here: https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...), she had her Harrison Investigation Series headed by Adam Harrison. She credits him for starting the FBI special division called the Krewe of Hunters. While I was reading those books I was curious to read about Adam Harrison and books that came under his series. And now I have a few books from that series that I can read. This current book is the third in the series.
Genevieve "Gen" Wallace finds the corpse of a woman tied down during one of the dives, that moves and talks to her. But when she comes up to air and has everyone dive back in to bring the corpse back, no one finds it. But then when a dead body turns up by the shore a few days later, all bets are off for Gen. Reluctantly she teams up with Thor and try to get to the bottom of the mystery as well as the salvage.
The other folks who are part of this intriguing plot are: Marshall Miro (owner of Deep Down Salvage that Gen belongs to), Jack Payne (an old-time expert diver), Elizabeth "Lizzie" Green and her husband Zach, Victor "Vic" DamonBethany Clark (Gen's friend), Alex Matthews (Another diver on Gen's team), Jay Gonzalez (Deputy Sherriff), Henry Sheridan (a professor), Coast Guard Lieutanant Larry Preston, Audrey Lynley (a tarot card reader and friend of Gen).
As much as a believer is Gen, so a non-believer is Thor. Opposites attract in every way in their case, and they do complement each other well during their dives in the sea or on bed. Heather takes the readers on a journey where Thor follows Gen despite him thinking her as a crazy at times and himself as crazy. It is quite a road before they finally fall on the right path.
Heather Graham with her flair to spin a plot, also takes the reader down the history lane with some fictional and real facts - Story of Count Von Cosel who wasn’t really a Count, How Key West came to i's name and its history of being called as Cayo Hueso (Island of Bones), Cemetery in Key West, haunted Hard Rock Café, tale of Conch Republic, Captain Tony's Saloon and it's hauntings, restaurant called Hog's Breath.
Interestingly enough this time around the protagonists are not directly a part of Harrison Investigations nor in any way related to Adam Harrison. However, he and his team get involved in the case towards the middle of the plot.
With so many characters, there would be repeat paraphrasing of having to explain a particular scene to the remaining characters. However, it was lesser compared to her previous books. She tied up all the inconsequential details in neatly towards the end of the plot, except that I had expected her to connect the past with the present in a little more depth than she did.
I was debating between two characters as my prime suspects from almost 1/3rd into the plot. To my surprise it actually turned out to be a totally different person. How ingeniously written.
A neat blend of history and paranormal folded with romance and murder is what we see with this plot. Like always Heather Graham makes it chiller without making it gorier and at the same time makes it softly erotic with the undertones of sexual tension between the two lead characters.
On a side note, this time around the hard-card inserts are missing which readers could use to buy books.
Another intriguing plot that would lead to a plethora of books in this series and entertaining the reader every step of the way.
Spoiler Alerts: 1. Plot Reveals: a. Heather Graham has one of her characters, Jack, mention about a guy killing prostitutes around Eighth Street in Miami. I don’t remember any of Heather Graham's so far read plots that has this certain plot. Perhaps it is from one of the books I didn’t read or maybe it was just an off-hand instead mentioned for the sake of the plot. b. From the time Adam Harrison had been introduced, Heather had mentioned that he had lost his son and his urge to connect with this son's spirit is what started all his paranormal investigation teams - Harrison Investigations and Krewe of Hunters. Finally we get to meet him, Josh Harrison, albeit in spirit. c. We meet Nikki and Brent Blackhawk again in this plot; whom we had met in the previous book in the series, The Ghost Walk (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...). 2. Sub Plots: a. In the second book, The Presence, we get introduced to two of the investigators working for Adam Harrison - Darcy Stone and her husband Matt Stone. I started reading the remaining books in the series, but yet to get to Darcy and Matt's story.
3. Grammatical / Historical / Location / Character Errors: a. On Pg. 68, Line 24, "approaching" is mis-spelt. b. On Pg. 151, Line 3, it should be "me now." c. On Pg. 190, Heather first mentions that Victor was opening the door as seen by Bethany and Gen from afar. And then a few lines later she has Gen on Victor's porch waiting to open the door when Victor opens it. A rather mis-representation of whether the door was open before or after, and no connection in between as to when it was closed. d. On Pg. 288, Line 14, the beginning quotes is not needed. e. On Pg. 359, 2nd line from last, it should be "…that the murderer"
I really liked this book. As always, Heather Graham keeps you guessing until the very end about who was behind the killings. Gen and her friends are expert divers hired to help find an old sunken pirate ship that perished hundreds of years ago. Gen encounter's a ghost of a woman warning her, "BEWARE". Thor is another diver assigned to the project who is a complete jerk that thinks Gen is going crazy and shouldn't be on the project. The book is full of creepy things going on, twists and turns that keep you enthralled. I really liked Gen's character and at first I really did not like Thor. He started to grow on me after awhile and then becomes a hero.
This is the second book I've read by this author and I'm hooked! The first was Waking the Dead. That was good, but this one was much better. More of a mystery mixed with a ghost story. Kept me guessing who-dun-it until the end of the book...and that's saying a lot since I usually figure things like that out in books and movies very quickly...much to the irritation and chagrin of my friends! ; )
This was a great book. Kept me turning pages and not wanting to do anything else but read! Heather Graham's ghost stories are some of my favorites of all of her works.
The Vision is the perfect suspense novel. I did not have a clue as to who the serial killer would be until the killer was caught towards the ending. Up until that moment, I was completely clueless and so were the protagonists and their friends. There was a dark shadow that hung over the pages. One of their inner circle of friends had to be the killer. But the question was, who? The police had very little to go on. The heroine had a vision of a dead woman. No one believed her until a dead woman was found. However, it wasn't the same dead woman she found in the water. Therefore, everyone knew there was probably a killer at large. The evidence was non existent. Someone was toying and frightening off the innocent members of the group. When they got too close, or wouldn't let the case rest, the serial killer came after them.
Paranormal elements were found here. There were some dead ghosts that popped up and added more depth to this book. One of the ghost added some humor to it as well. He ended up irking the hero of the book until the hero finally admitted something.
The romance that bubbled up was instant, hot, and amazing!
Heather Graham is a pro at creating the best romantic suspense reads. I haven't found a book of hers that I haven't liked yet. I was surprised to meet a member of the Krewe Hunter FBI group! I loved the Krewe Hunter series! If you haven't read that series yet, you must read it too. Overall, I loved this novel.
I bought this copy from Harlequin website. I love their books. This is my voluntary review.
I think this is the first real romantic suspense novel I have read. I love both, even better together. Add some ghosts and you got me. I enjoyed this romantic story that turned suspenseful very quickly. This is the first Heather Graham novel I have read. I enjoyed it. I was confused at times. But I enjoyed the story and I would read her again.
One thing about romance novels though, I like the characters to be believable. Two people who hate each other and then all of a sudden they are in bed together with no explanation of the attraction removes the build-up. I wanted more romance in the romance and not just a sudden turn-around with a sexual encounter.
4.25 ⭐ I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The ghost story was engaging, and the beach setting was perfectly atmospheric. The pacing was well-balanced, keeping me interested throughout.I appreciated how the romance took a subtle backseat, allowing the other elements of the story to shine. The author also struck a great balance with the diving aspect, providing just enough detail without overwhelming the reader. My only criticism is that there were too many characters to keep track of, which occasionally made it hard to follow. Nevertheless, this was a minor quibble in an otherwise captivating read.
When Deep Down Salvage begins the hunt for the Josephine Marie, it seems like any other dive, until Genevieve Wallace sees a vision of a dead woman in the water, her vacant eyes boring into Gen's very soul. Terrified by what she saw, Gen is haunted by the memory. But no one==including her diving partner Thor Thompson--believes her. When a dead woman washes up on shore, everyone assumes this is Gen's vision, but Gen knows the truth: the dead woman is not the ghost but another victim. Somehow she and Thor have to link the past with a present-day mystery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was an interesting addition to the series. I wasn't a fan of the romantic interest straight off, because, hey... "Thor"? And it feels like Graham is just choosing random side people to be the villain without much forethought. I did like seeing some characters from previous books in the series pop in, though. Did NOT realize that these were Harlequin novels, though, until just now, and that makes me feel a little icky, but will probably continue on, as the books are super quick, mostly light reads.
this time i have to say it was good but a little disappointing compared to the books of her's that i have read. The story line was excellent but found about half was dragged out. it just seemed to go on and on before it got exciting. i felt the story line was more about two people getting together and making out then dealing with a mystery of adventure. Still once again she made me want to go to KEY WEST and scuba dive for treasure.
As always a fun book to read. I love the Harrison Investigation Paranormal series, even though I hate romance novels. This one involves sunken treasure, pirates, distorted history, murder and a serial killer closer than the heroine thinks. What I love about Heather Graham's paranormal romances is the history lessons and the travel info I gain from each story. You can tell she has been to these locations and loves them each. This one is in Key West, a bucket list spot for me, even more so now.
This is the fourth Graham novel I've read in a row and it's starting to feel like Hallmark movies--always the same premise with very slight differences. Don't get me wrong, I like Hallmark movies, but not one after another after another. All four books I've read have involved divers, the two main people hating each other then ending up in the sack, etc. Numerous sex scenes that are relatively easy to skip, moderate swearing, an annoying amount of constant drinking
This was the worst one yet. Another reviewer called it a "trainwreck" and I think that's accurate. "Dumpster fire" would be a great alternative. By 50 pages in I hated the two main characters and thought their friends were jerks too. Not to mention the main plot was horribly done, more like filler than an actual story.
I'm trying to get through some series so I can get them out of my house. I kind of hope I'm missing the next book so I can switch to something else.
This was another winner. I just love this series. My favorite author. I have read almost a!l of her books and enjoyed everyone of them. I highly recommend all her books. She writes wonderful storylines and great characters in every book. Diana Romano
I don't give star ratings to books that I don't finish (and normally dont leave reviews) but I do need to say that this book is just BAD! Not that the previous two in the series were good, but they at least had something to keep me reading. This one is just horribly written, has some pretty bad editing, and the characters are all kind of terrible people.
Whilst diving in the keys on a search for an historic wreck one of the female divers sees a woman in the water. Her feet are attached via a rope to weight. Surfacing she tells her team about the woman but a further search reveals no body. Everyone thinks she is hallucinating but she heard the message from the ghost “Beware” A good read.
I liked this Harrison Investigation book because I not only love ghost stories but I love to SCUBA dive and I love the Florida keys. By combining all of these elements I really enjoyed this book. I also liked how two of the main characters managed their budding relationship while realizing that some people "had the gift".
The book starts with a prologue about a ghost appearing to Genevieve “Gen” Wallace during a treasure hunting dive off the coast of Key West and warning her to “beware.” That’s the best part of the book—it’s downhill from there. Gen belongs to a group of treasure divers who have joined with another group following clues to the location of the Marie Josephine, which sank around 1820, supposedly loaded with gold. Graham does a very good job handling the dialog and interactions of the members of the group as they talk and banter away over insignificant subjects—not an easy writing task. Graham also has excellent descriptive powers. It should have been an excellent book. So where did it go wrong?
The story line; The ghost had great promise. Then nothing happens. The ghost appears a few more times and leaves puddles of seawater around Gen’s bed when she sleeps. The first three-quarters of the book is mostly a lot of the group bantering and information about South Florida that does not move the plot. There is some setup of some plot points, most of which turn out to be unimportant in the resolution.
The descriptions; This is one of Graham’s strong points. However, the book is overloaded with descriptions—of things that are superfluous. It reads a lot like a Key West Chamber of Commerce pamphlet. She does give excellent descriptions of characters when they first appear. As a result, I knew a lot about them, and I filled in the blanks with my imagination. Then the next time they appear Graham adds more description. This kind of messes up what I had added. This goes on and on with some characters until I realized my imagination and participation were not needed.
The dialect: Dialect is a good way to differentiate characters. Graham uses a dialect that stands out, using things like, “Hey, it’s all real stuff “– “Hell, I’m accusing you right now” – “Hey…for every tale out there” – “But, hey, let me see your palm” – “She headed back for her cottage.” This is done very well—except—all or most of characters use that dialect, the narrator uses it, even a ghost uses it. Hell, that gets overwhelmingly tiresome and boring and hey, rather than helping to differentiate characters, it begins to befuddle them.
The group: Graham handled the interaction of the group very well when she first introduced the group, so well that that was enough to get to know it. However, the group is together so often it becomes a pseudo character. Fairly soon, the bantering interaction becomes boring. At about three-quarters of the way through, the plot finally begins to pick up, at which point Graham brings it to a skidding stop by putting the group together and, “They talked in circles.” That statement by the narrator would be enough because the reader has seen the group talking in circles many times before. Unfortunately, Graham feels that the flow of the story should be broken at this point by taking us through the actual talking in circles experience—again.
The Sex: A couple forms spontaneously when one character goes to a character’s cabin (a character she doesn’t like) in the middle of the night and they hop into bed. Graham is fairly descriptive (not pornographic) of the experience. Then they wake up in the middle of the night to have sex again and then again before breakfast. From then on they have sex every night, and we have to be told about it. Pretty soon the sex gets boring—if that’s possible.
The characters’ actions: The initiation of the sex described above didn’t really fit the characterization of one of the participants. Here is another example. A character who Gen really cares about goes missing and it is suspected that a serial killer has her. Several very important things are happening regarding the plot and the killer at the same time. The book is really beginning to move. It is at this point that Graham thinks it’s a good time to bring it all to another skidding halt by having Gen and Thor follow up on a clue in Miami (about three and a half hours away). This is a clue they had for several days before the plot started to move. After some gratuitous sex, they spend the night bar hopping, looking for the clue. The next morning, they decide the best way to search for the clue is to rent a boat and check all the harbors and boat launches in the Miami area. Gen decides she doesn’t want to be disturbed while driving a boat in the open sea looking for harbors, etc. She so much doesn’t want be disturbed while doing this that she turns her cell phone off and so does Thor—meaning if there is any news about the person she cares about or if something in the mystery breaks, no one is going to be able to contact them. And she is soooo concerned about this person she really cares about that she forgets to turn her phone back on. Go figure. Oh—and the clue in Miami is actually not important in the resolution.
The ghost: The ghost is my favorite character. Graham describes her very well and the ghost has almost no dialog—no chance to engage in the boring dialect. The ghost sets up the story and plays a prominent role in the resolution.
I gave Graham a star because she is a good writer, (New York Times bestselling author, according to the cover). Unfortunately, the pieces didn’t come together for this novel.
Good beach book if you like a little scary touch and a little sexy heat going on too! I love books that take place in Florida and Heather made this one a little different. If you're looking for a quick read with a little more depth, this is a good one!
The story was decent, what I expected. Two stars for having an unlikable main character. Thor was pompous and disrespectful. He didn't like Genevieve but he was more than happy to sleep with her and lead her on. And, why did she tolerate his obnoxious attitude?