Publishers Weekly
11/11/2019
In bestseller Johansen and son’s riveting seventh Kendra Michaels novel (after 2018’s Double Blind), FBI consultant Kendra, who has honed a keen sense of observation from years of blindness she experienced as a child, works on a double murder case at a school she once attended, Woodward Academy for the Physically Disabled, in Oceanside, Calif. Kendra, who knew the victims, groundskeeper Ronald Kim and survival skills teacher Elaine Wessler, can’t understand who would want to kill them or why. The clues she uncovers with the aid of the FBI lead her to Elaine’s ex-husband’s apartment building, where she finds the ex-husband on the roof with his throat slit—and eludes the man’s possible killers with the help of a friend who arrives at the building in the nick of time. The danger rises as Adam Lynch, a black ops specialist, joins Kendra in her quest for Elaine and Ronald’s killers. The authors pepper the twisty plot with plenty of red herrings. Suspense fans are in for a treat. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, Jane Rotrosen Agency (Jan.)
Booklist on The Naked Eye
The Johansens power-up the emotional stakes in this page-turning thriller that cements Michaels' reputation as a force to be reckoned with.
Real Book Spy
Kendra Michaels is a unique and compelling character, and Iris Johanson knows just how to use her. This latest collaboration is everything readers have come to expect from this high-powered mother-son writing duo.”
FreshFiction.com on Look Behind You
A nail-biting adventure" that "offers thrill after thrill.
RTBookReviews.com on Double Blind
5 Stars! Kendra Michaels is an exceptionally compelling protagonist...Get the snacks ready and keep the lights on, for this book will keep you hanging on until the last word!
Suspense Magazine on The Naked Eye
This read goes from good to great to spectacular as the hunt between predator and prey never stops. As always behind the name 'Johansen' in reviews, this is a definite 5-Star.
Booklist on Night Watch
The mother-and-son Johansen team delivers another high-stakes, high-powered thriller in the popular Kendra Michaels series.
From the Publisher
"Magnetic characters and atwisty, suspenseful plot ensure that readers will eagerly anticipate the next installment."—Publishers Weekly on Double Blind
"5 Stars! Kendra Michaels is an exceptionally compelling protagonist...Get the snacks ready and keep the lights on, for this book will keep you hanging on until the last word!"—RTBookReviews.com on Double Blind
"A long list of well-developed suspects makes this one of the more complex and satisfying entries in this bestselling series."—Publishers Weekly on Look Behind You
"A nail-biting adventure" that "offers thrill after thrill."—FreshFiction.com on Look Behind You
"The mother-and-son Johansen team delivers another high-stakes, high-powered thriller in the popular Kendra Michaels series."—Booklist on Night Watch
"The plot builds to a stunning conclusion."—Publishers Weekly on Night Watch
"This read goes from good to great to spectacular as the hunt between predator and prey never stops. As always behind the name 'Johansen' in reviews, this is a definite 5-Star."—Suspense Magazine on The Naked Eye
"The Johansens power-up the emotional stakes in this page-turning thriller that cements Michaels' reputation as a force to be reckoned with."—Booklist on The Naked Eye
Library Journal - Audio
08/01/2020
When FBI consultant Dr. Kendra Michaels was 20, she underwent surgery that restored her sight. As a result, Kendra has acute and heightened senses that allow her to notice details that other investigators do not. In her latest case, she is assigned to investigate the murder of two beloved staff members at the Woodward Academy for the Physically Disabled, a school that Kendra attended herself. She's having trouble making sense of the murders: one victim was brutally stabbed, while the other was shot in the head. With the killer (or killers) still on the loose, Kendra must put her life on the line to unravel a terrifying conspiracy. Elizabeth Rodgers does an excellent job reading the book and keeping the listener engaged. VERDICT Recommended for mystery and thriller audiobook collections.—Ilka Gordon, Beachwood, OH
JANUARY 2020 - AudioFile
Elisabeth Rodgers returns to narrate the seventh book in the Kendra Michaels series. Rodgers, with her clear differentiation of characters, both male and female, and her ability to convey strong emotions, creates an engaging fast-paced listening experience. Michaels is an investigator whose senses of observation were sharply honed from her experience of being blind during the first 20 years of her life. She is drawn into an investigation of murders taking place at the school where she spent her formative years. Romance fans will find the scenes between Kendra and her sometimes partner, Adam Lynch, scintillating, while suspense fans may roll their eyes. The twists and turns and the introduction of a dog named Harley will keep listeners hanging on to the end. E.Q. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2019-10-14
Sparks fly as a woman with extraordinary abilities fights her attraction to a dangerous freelance consultant.
Dr. Kendra Michaels has worked with former FBI Agent Adam Lynch before (Double Blind, 2018), but she's furious with him for getting her tossed out of Afghanistan after she sustained a minor wound while trying to root out corruption. Kendra, who was blind until an experimental operation restored her sight at 20, has highly developed senses of smell, hearing, and spatial awareness that she's used to help the FBI and CIA in many difficult cases. Now, as she returns to the U.S., they have another one she can't resist investigating. Elaine Wessler and Ronald Kim, both staff members at her old school, the Woodward Academy for the Physically Disabled in Oceanside, California, have been found murdered for no apparent reason, and FBI Special Agent Michael Griffin is anxious to use her skills and inside knowledge. Elaine had been fostering an unusual guide dog, Harley, who's had problems adjusting since the child he was working with was killed in a gas-main explosion. Now that Elaine is gone, his unearthly howls are upsetting the students. Kendra talks her best friend, Olivia, who's blind, into sharing custody of Harley until they can find him the right home. Meanwhile, she turns up clues the FBI team missed and is rewarded for her efforts with a bomb planted in her car. It turns out to be fake, but it's still a potent warning to walk away. Returning from Afghanistan to help Kendra, Lynch finds her still angry with him and intent on resisting his charms. Her friend Jessie Mercado, a private eye, turns up to help extricate her from a dangerous situation and sticks around to join the hunt for the killers. It will take all of them, including Harley, to solve the violent, complex case and get the school Kendra loves back on track.
Mystery, danger, and sexual tension abound in an action-packed thriller that breaks plenty of heads but no new ground.
