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Deadly Impulse
Famed nature photographer Clayton Chase survived a lightning strike—only to discover his wife brutally slain. Clay can recall nothing of that fateful night. But when
an autopsy revealed that his wife was pregnant with another man’s child, the headlines screamed that he got away with murder. Now a second trial is looming and, more than ever, he needs to remember.
Piper Jordan has a personal—and tragic—understanding of the natural but deadly phenomenon. And now, in her role as a therapist specializing in victims of lightning
strikes, she agrees to help Clay. Despite the rumors that he killed his wife, Piper sees only a man fighting his demons. But as the mystery behind his wife’s death unfolds, she must face a startling possibility: could she be passion’s next victim?
an autopsy revealed that his wife was pregnant with another man’s child, the headlines screamed that he got away with murder. Now a second trial is looming and, more than ever, he needs to remember.
Piper Jordan has a personal—and tragic—understanding of the natural but deadly phenomenon. And now, in her role as a therapist specializing in victims of lightning
strikes, she agrees to help Clay. Despite the rumors that he killed his wife, Piper sees only a man fighting his demons. But as the mystery behind his wife’s death unfolds, she must face a startling possibility: could she be passion’s next victim?
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2005
11 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Olga Bicos
36 books14 followersOlga Bicos made an entrance into the romance writing world that few other writers have taken.she was working as an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and decided to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. Since that monumental decision, Olga has devoted her time to both writing and being a mother. Readers are glad she made this career change since she has made such a hit with her well-written romances. In fact, Olga has earned much kudos for her work including a nomination for Best First Historical Romance for her book, By My Heart Betrayed and the K.I.S.S Award for Best Hero from Romantic Times. She was also selected as "Bestselling Romance Author" by Bookrak and her fourth romance, More than Magic was a finalist for the RITA Long Historical Category.
Olga was born in Cuba and fled with her parents to California when she was a small child. She became a lawyer and served as staff attorney at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. When she started her own family, she decided to try her hand at writing. She now lives in Southern California with her husband and two children and is currently working on her next book. Olga speaks five languages and has traveled abroad extensively researching her books, plus she and her family share their home with a menagerie of animals.
Olga was born in Cuba and fled with her parents to California when she was a small child. She became a lawyer and served as staff attorney at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. When she started her own family, she decided to try her hand at writing. She now lives in Southern California with her husband and two children and is currently working on her next book. Olga speaks five languages and has traveled abroad extensively researching her books, plus she and her family share their home with a menagerie of animals.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 11, 2009
There's some solid craft on the sentence level, but this book is highly silly.
Incidentally, isn't it funny how you can actually identify the murderer based on who no one in the book suspects? That's true of the, "who did it?" mysteries, not the, "will s/he get away with it?" ones, of course.
Brought it to the beach. Won't be taking it home.
Incidentally, isn't it funny how you can actually identify the murderer based on who no one in the book suspects? That's true of the, "who did it?" mysteries, not the, "will s/he get away with it?" ones, of course.
Brought it to the beach. Won't be taking it home.
September 13, 2019
I figured out who dunnit within the first few pages of this book. The rest of the book was superfluous.
June 1, 2017
"Gli antichi ritenevano che il fulmine fosse una maledizione: chi ne veniva colpito era condannato. Le culture primitive negavano alle sue vittime i riti di sepoltura, e persino i graffiti neolitici raffiguravano il fulmine come un cattivo presagio."
Per la prima volta mi ritrovo a leggere un thriller con un titolo che evoca davvero l’argomento principale del romanzo: il fulmine.
L’autrice parte da un dramma raro: il protagonista è un fotografo reso famoso dalla sua ossessione per i temporali e per gli scatti straordinari in cui riesce a catturare l’essenza del fulmine. In una notte buia e tempestosa — è il caso di dirlo — Clayton Chase viene colpito da un fulmine e sopravvive.
Sopravvive solo per risvegliarsi nel suo appartamento, assieme alla moglie morta in una pozza di sangue, mentre stringe una pistola in mano. Clayton non ricorda nulla di quello che è accaduto.
Il romanzo gioca con l’amnesia del protagonista fin dall’inizio, e affianca al personaggio maschile tormentato e incapace di tornare a scattare fotografie, una donna che per colpa del fulmine è rimasta vedova, Piper l’analista specializzata in vittime folgorate.
L’idea è molto originale. L’autrice semina nel romanzo molte informazioni legate alla mitologia sul fulmine. Si dice che sia un evento rarissimo essere folgorati, un caso su un milione. A quanto pare non è così: accade un caso su tremila.
A parte questa capacità di gestire un argomento originale in modo dignitoso, affrontando le tematiche dello stress post traumatico legato a eventi drammatici, il romanzo non mi ha colpito molto.
La notte dei fulmini è catalogato come un thriller e se c’è una regola che un thriller di qualità deve rispettare è quella di non essere ovvio e scontato. Purtroppo partire da un’idea originale non è sufficiente. A un terzo del romanzo, forse anche prima, il lettore capisce chi è l’assassino di Jillian, la moglie di Clay. Non è difficile da capire se l’autrice elimina uno alla volta i possibili responsabili.
La scarsa gestione delle dinamiche dei personaggi, su cui l’autrice avrebbe dovuto puntare, visto che non sono molti gli eventi che compongono la trama, mi ha portato a leggere con tiepido interesse la storia.
Arrivata a metà ho corso verso la fine, stanca della lettura. Non dico che sia stato un fiasco totale, ma non ha aggiunto niente alla mia preparazione da editor e men che meno ha dato uno scossone a quelle parti di me che ancora devo conoscere e con cui amo fare i conti.
Le letture tiepide si incontrano spesso nel proprio cammino e ultimamente sono stata così fortunata nella scelta dei romanzi che me lo dovevo aspettare.
La notte dei fulmini: un romanzo dignitoso. Ve lo consiglierei? Ni.
Per la prima volta mi ritrovo a leggere un thriller con un titolo che evoca davvero l’argomento principale del romanzo: il fulmine.
L’autrice parte da un dramma raro: il protagonista è un fotografo reso famoso dalla sua ossessione per i temporali e per gli scatti straordinari in cui riesce a catturare l’essenza del fulmine. In una notte buia e tempestosa — è il caso di dirlo — Clayton Chase viene colpito da un fulmine e sopravvive.
Sopravvive solo per risvegliarsi nel suo appartamento, assieme alla moglie morta in una pozza di sangue, mentre stringe una pistola in mano. Clayton non ricorda nulla di quello che è accaduto.
Il romanzo gioca con l’amnesia del protagonista fin dall’inizio, e affianca al personaggio maschile tormentato e incapace di tornare a scattare fotografie, una donna che per colpa del fulmine è rimasta vedova, Piper l’analista specializzata in vittime folgorate.
L’idea è molto originale. L’autrice semina nel romanzo molte informazioni legate alla mitologia sul fulmine. Si dice che sia un evento rarissimo essere folgorati, un caso su un milione. A quanto pare non è così: accade un caso su tremila.
A parte questa capacità di gestire un argomento originale in modo dignitoso, affrontando le tematiche dello stress post traumatico legato a eventi drammatici, il romanzo non mi ha colpito molto.
La notte dei fulmini è catalogato come un thriller e se c’è una regola che un thriller di qualità deve rispettare è quella di non essere ovvio e scontato. Purtroppo partire da un’idea originale non è sufficiente. A un terzo del romanzo, forse anche prima, il lettore capisce chi è l’assassino di Jillian, la moglie di Clay. Non è difficile da capire se l’autrice elimina uno alla volta i possibili responsabili.
La scarsa gestione delle dinamiche dei personaggi, su cui l’autrice avrebbe dovuto puntare, visto che non sono molti gli eventi che compongono la trama, mi ha portato a leggere con tiepido interesse la storia.
Arrivata a metà ho corso verso la fine, stanca della lettura. Non dico che sia stato un fiasco totale, ma non ha aggiunto niente alla mia preparazione da editor e men che meno ha dato uno scossone a quelle parti di me che ancora devo conoscere e con cui amo fare i conti.
Le letture tiepide si incontrano spesso nel proprio cammino e ultimamente sono stata così fortunata nella scelta dei romanzi che me lo dovevo aspettare.
La notte dei fulmini: un romanzo dignitoso. Ve lo consiglierei? Ni.
June 2, 2016
I'm torn on how to rate this one. The writing was quite nice, on the page, but the story was not for me, really.
The bad guy is obvious to me, though I admit I wavered a bit at a few red herrings, and there were elements of the silly throughout. I also frequently felt that nothing was happening, which is a shame in a book this length.
However, my biggest problem is, while I found the main characters interesting, I didn't really respond to them as main characters of a romance. They were just too broken and never became fixed enough to give me a satisfying feel to the HEA. The hero came off as an obsessive stalker, and the heroine was obsessive, as well as having very clear confusion over ethics. Neither one felt like they were authentically in love; it was simply that their obsessions collided in a way that they felt was mutually beneficial, and... that's kind of creepy, to me.
So, I am torn between 2 stars, because it had some major flaws, and 3 - because, if this wasn't a romance, I would have found the characters much more compelling. In the end, I went with 3, as I typically round up, anyway.
I read it through, and it often kept me reading with some amount of drive, but I don't think I will be reading it again.
The bad guy is obvious to me, though I admit I wavered a bit at a few red herrings, and there were elements of the silly throughout. I also frequently felt that nothing was happening, which is a shame in a book this length.
However, my biggest problem is, while I found the main characters interesting, I didn't really respond to them as main characters of a romance. They were just too broken and never became fixed enough to give me a satisfying feel to the HEA. The hero came off as an obsessive stalker, and the heroine was obsessive, as well as having very clear confusion over ethics. Neither one felt like they were authentically in love; it was simply that their obsessions collided in a way that they felt was mutually beneficial, and... that's kind of creepy, to me.
So, I am torn between 2 stars, because it had some major flaws, and 3 - because, if this wasn't a romance, I would have found the characters much more compelling. In the end, I went with 3, as I typically round up, anyway.
I read it through, and it often kept me reading with some amount of drive, but I don't think I will be reading it again.
August 12, 2012
Deadly Impulse by Olga Bicos
This was a good story.
The description of the book I am listing below is from the back jacket of the book. I'm adding it because I believe the one on the Goodreads page does not depict this story.
Famed nature photographer Clayton Chase survived a lightning strike - only to discover his wife brutally slain. Clay can recall nothing of that fateful night. But when an autopsy revealed that his wife was pregnant with another man's child, the headlines screamed that he got away with murder. Now a second trial is looming and, more than ever, he needs to remember.
Piper Jordan has a personal - and tragic - understanding of the natural but deadly phenomenon. And now, in her role as a therapist specializing in victims of lightning strikes, she agrees to help Clay. Despite the rumors that he killed his wife, Piper sees only a man fighting his demons. But as the mystery behind his wife's death unfolds, she must face a startling possibility: could she be passion's next victim?
This was a good story.
The description of the book I am listing below is from the back jacket of the book. I'm adding it because I believe the one on the Goodreads page does not depict this story.
Famed nature photographer Clayton Chase survived a lightning strike - only to discover his wife brutally slain. Clay can recall nothing of that fateful night. But when an autopsy revealed that his wife was pregnant with another man's child, the headlines screamed that he got away with murder. Now a second trial is looming and, more than ever, he needs to remember.
Piper Jordan has a personal - and tragic - understanding of the natural but deadly phenomenon. And now, in her role as a therapist specializing in victims of lightning strikes, she agrees to help Clay. Despite the rumors that he killed his wife, Piper sees only a man fighting his demons. But as the mystery behind his wife's death unfolds, she must face a startling possibility: could she be passion's next victim?
October 1, 2014
Clayton Chase, photographer, is struck by lightning and when he wakes up he is next to his murdered wife with no memory of the slaying. Piper Jordan is his therapist. She specializes in counseling victims of lightning strikes after a strike kills her husband and traumatizes her son. A hung jury releases him but the press has convicted him. He wants to get his memory back because he wants to know what happened and the state is ready to proceed with a second trial. The book jumps among several stories involving family of the victim, the lawyers and some unsavory characters. I just thought it was too predictable especially throwing in the traumatized kid with the lightning connection. OK, but not great.
June 3, 2008
nothing- this book was choppy and predictable. it also helps when there is at least 1 character you can identify with or like.
April 3, 2009
boring
August 14, 2013
The book wasn't necessarily predictable but I did find parts to be corny.
April 8, 2014
very good read couldnt wait to see how it ended.
April 19, 2016
I've had this book a long time. I am glad I finally read it. A great a mystery. Didn't figure out who the killer was until almost the end. Happy the way things turned out.
October 19, 2022
J'ai totalement été absorbée par ce livre et par Clayton Chase ...
January 18, 2011
Guessed the ending about half way through but a page turner nonetheless
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews