Triple Exposure

Shivers: Vieux Carre Captives #1

by Colleen Thompson

Two mothers bent on avenging their sons’ lives, and a deranged killer guided by the mysterious Marfa which one is after photographer Rachel Copeland as she returns to her home town to try to put her life back together and coax a handsome loner out of his shell?

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Suspense, Contemporary, Ebooks

Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2004

About the author

Colleen Thompson began writing the contemporary romantic suspense novels she loves in 2004. Since then, her work has been honored with the Texas Gold Award, nominations for the RITA, Daphne du Maurier, multiple reviewers' choice honors, along with starred reviews from Romantic Times and Publisher's Weekly. A former teacher living with her family and their latest rescue dog in the Houston area, Colleen can be found on the web at www.colleen-thompson.com.

Reviews

[jenjn79 · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I'm having a hard time trying to decide what to say about this book. It wasn't awful...I didn't have any urges to throw it across the room, but I didn't particularly like it either. It didn't have any zing to it, anything to make it stand-out, and at times, it seemed to plod along. Plus there were some plot things that didn't really work for me.

The story is about Rachel Copeland, an artist/photographer who has been having the worst year of her life. She was stalked by one of her students, tormented by him, in a situation that ended with her shooting and killing him when he broke into her apartment. She was charged, and acquitted, of murder, and returns to her small Texas hometown to try to put her life back together. But that won't be easy when she's getting threatening phone calls she suspects originate from her stalker's mom. Once back in Marfa, Texas, she meets reclusive furniture maker Zeke Pike. There's an instant connection between the two; they're both lost souls. Zeke's got more secrets than she does. Neither wants to get involved, but they can't seem to help themselves. It's rough going, though, with Rachel being sued in civil court for wrongful death, plane accidents, being shot at, threatening phone calls, and other terrors. Either one will be lucky to survive let alone survive together.

I thought this story sounded rather interesting...young woman being stalked, is forced to kill him, goes to trial for murder, is acquitted and then must try to move on with her life. It sounded like it would be a good story about perseverance, struggle, growth and change, with a good suspense plot thrown in. And the book sort of lives up to that. But not really. I never really got a sense that Rachel was trying to work through the situation, just push it aside and hope it goes away. I would have liked it better if Rachel had been a little more...I don't know..."I am woman, hear me roar" type of thing. A little more feisty, instead of "don't rock the boat."

(((BEWARE: the following paragraph has detailed SPOILERS!!!!)))

It was more the plot of this book, though, that bugged me. There's so much going on in this story. Because there's a whole pile of bad guys. It was like, let's see how many psychos we can stick in one story! First, you've got Rachel's stalker...who is already dead, but widely used. Then the stalker's family who is suing Rachel and possibly harassing her via the phone. Then there's this thing with Zeke...twenty years earlier, he was sort of an accessory to a handicapped boy's death. The boy's family blamed him. Now the mother has finally found him (he's been on the run since), and she's on a killing spree avenging her son. But there's more...the boy's sister is chasing after the mother, and the sister has lost a few marbles on the way and gone bonkers. Now she's ALSO coming to kill Zeke, and anyone in the way. Oh, but wait, there's more yet...a worker of her father's is trying to kill Rachel because he fears now that she's back in town, she'll inherit her Dad's business. The man wants it for himself, so Rachel's got to go.

So yeah...SHEESH! That's a whole pile of bad guys. Add into that old high school enemies, a petty step-mother/step-daughter battle, death by chocolate for grandma, mysterious alien lights in the desert, and you've got a total soap opera going on. Whenever I read a book with several bad guys, I end up shaking my head because it's kind of ridiculous for all the psychos to come out of the woodwork at once. I wanted to tell them to take a number and wait their turn.

Plus, I think author Thompson tried a little too hard to misdirect suspicion on who was doing what. It leaves you trying too hard to figure it all out. I'm all for a good whodunit, but with this book's pile of bad guys, you end up just kinda confused.

The romance angle was so-so. It needed more development, in my opinion. And the ending seemed over-simplified. Bang, bang, bang, bad guys vanquished, Zeke exonerated, the-happy-end, all in a short chunk of pages that left me feeling kinda unsatisfied. There needed to be more substance to wrapping everything up, moving on from the past and all that.

So yeah...this book didn't do much for me. It had a lot of potential, but it fell flat. I've read worse books, by far, but I can't say I'd recommend this one.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was worth every cent I paid for it. It was a free book on Amazon for Kindle. Frankly, I can't imagine why I persevered to finish it...just stubborn I guess. I kept thinking it would get better. It didn't.
Over-wrought sex scenes, undeveloped characters, convoluted plot twists that lead nowhere do NOT a good book make.
Really~skip it.

[Cecly Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

She did it again

Colleen Thompson delivers another page turner. I could never figure out who is the culprit. I love how the author weaves the plot....incredible! Now on to the next title.

[Carol Kroger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. A little slow starting but definitely picked up and kept my interest.

[Michele Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Triple Exposure by Colleen Thompson starts out in the perspective of the killer well at lest one of them. Just so you as the prospective reader understands in advance this book switches between the eyes and points of view of at least three different people. Though most of it is from the main characters angle. Another thing to know is this not just a mystery/thriller (and yes I would put it in the thriller genre) it is also a romance novel. Though not all mystery/romance novels delve so much into the romance genre this one does (much to my happiness and excitement). There are love scenes and they are somewhat descriptive. Not to the point that I would label them erotic but possible more than those that don't read romance novels on a regular basis are used to reading. If you are put off by this then please pass on this book. Please don't buy and read this book just to give it a low rating because it has a couple of sex scenes (yes two) in it. On the other hand if you want a decent romance and well written mystery with many twists and turns then by all means grab this book and read it.

Now on to the review, and please remember all reviews are the opinion of said reviewer. That being said starting out I wasn't a huge fan. It was a little slow out of the gate but about 25% of the way in that changed and I was glad I picked it back up plus I was at the point of not wanting to put it down. Rachel Copland has come back home to West Texas and her daddies small town airfield after a traumatic previous year. Almost convicted of murdering a man who entered her home intent on hurting her up in Philadelphia where she had tried to make a living with her photography (her true passion). She has returned to her childhood home to try and start over and get past what happened. Problem is people won't let it go and they don't forget not to mention the woman that keeps finding her with threatening phone calls. All Rachel wants to do is to move on and maybe Zeke Pike (if that's his real name) can help with that. Zeke Pike showed up in the town of Marfa, Texas (yes it is a real town that has the light phenomenon depicted in the story) several years back. Turns out Zeke is running from his past and a murder that happened fourteen years ago. He thought Marfa was a good place to lay low and live out his life all he has to do is keep to himself right? That worked for years but then Rachel moved home and he realizes everything he's tried to forget and ignore actually matters. Can he have a future while running from his past? Can Rachel find peace after being forced to shoot a man, a shooting that killed that young man, but saved her from who knows what? Also who is the woman that keeps calling and threatening her and are these accidents just that or does someone really want her dead?

Usually I figure out who the killer is before it's revealed in the book hence I'm not surprised or left guessing. Colleen keep me guessing. Just when I thought I had figured it out she would prove me wrong. There were so many twists and turns, some that left me with my jaw on the floor surprised she had gotten me yet again. Colleen does a great job leading you to suspect one person just to reveal an oops it's not them without revealing who the real culprit is until that moment she want's you to know. If you can get past or don't care about the romance part of this book then I wholly recommend picking it up. Even though it was slow to start it more than made up for it as the story picked up and gained speed. I happened to have picked up this book back when it was offered for free. Yes there were a few errors but nothing that pulled away from the story or that interfered with the flow of the writing, and no more than what I've found in books that I've paid for. I would be more than willing to pick up more of Colleen's books and will at some point down the road.

[Sharon Rosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good story about righting our wrongs even if they seem long buried in the past.

A story about two lost souls whose unlucky circumstances caused them both to run from their pasts. Once they realize that with the love of family and each other, they can face their demons and overcome their fears.

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a Myster/Romance. I am not much for romance novels but this was not so bad considering it was free. I could have done without the "intimate scenes" and skimmed through. The mystery part and the writing were good.

[Judith Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Triple Exposure by Colleen Thompson

This book was fantastic and full excitement. It kept me reading non stop from beginning to end. I loved the great ending

[Carol Borden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Great book couldn't put it down read from cover to cover in a afternoon look forward to next book and more

[Judith Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just wow

What a great suspenseful to the last minute edge of seat great writer great book loved it thank you Colleen

[Jane Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Complicated plot. A mystery with many suspects. I did not like the heroine enough to enjoy her story.

STORY BRIEF:
Rachel is an artistic photographer in Philadelphia. She shot a nineteen-year-old stalker Kyle in self defense. She spent all of her money paying lawyers to defend her in the trial. She returns to live with her father in the tiny town of Marfa, Texas. She believes Kyle’s mother is behind threatening phone calls and accidents/murder attempts on her life. Twenty years earlier, Zeke was somehow tied to a crime and has been on the run and living as a recluse with a fake name in Marfa. Someone may be after him as well. Rachel took a sensual shirtless picture of Zeke without his knowledge which causes the first conflict between them.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
This story has a lot of complicated interwoven plot and mystery, which is ok if one enjoys that sort of thing. There is a lot of conflict, dislike and/or desire for revenge among multiple characters. Rachel and Zeke are both objects of people trying to hurt them. Most of the characters in this story are flawed or unpleasant, including the heroine. Early in the story I was thinking “aren’t there any good guys here?” No one was appealing to me. I had trouble liking Rachel because of her actions. She is deceptive and dishonest with Zeke about the picture she took of him. She refuses to return phone calls to her psychologist for weeks because she doesn’t want to think about a particular event that will help her lawyers. I had trouble buying the relationship between Zeke and Rachel. I felt like the author didn’t know how to get it going so she had Zeke forgive Rachel in a way that was too easy and not rational for me. Later they have a fight. Rachel asks Zeke a reasonable question, but he gets mad at the question which had me shaking my head. At times I wanted the story to be over. Readers who enjoy the mental exercises of a mystery full of red herrings may enjoy this more than I did. I prefer more emotional draw in a story.

DATA:
Story length: 321 pages. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 2. Length of sex scenes: 2.2 and 2.7 pages. Setting: current day Marfa, Texas. Copyright: 2008. Genre: romantic mystery and suspense.

[Elizabeth (Stuffed Shelves) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to say about this book, because I am so indifferent about it. Nothing really stood out about this book to make it interesting so I just kind of kept up with the book in order to finish it.

Rachel is an artist in Philly and the past year has been especially tough for her. It only just start from being stalked one of her art students. It escalades into Rachel shooting Kyle in self defense, ending in his death. As if that wasn't bad enough, now they're accusing her of murder. Luckily she's acquitted and returns back to her hometown in Texas to pick up what was left of her life.

How can she move on with her life when she move on and restart her life, when she's still getting threatening phone calls from family members of the stalker she shot. She meets a handsome man Zeke Pike who she seems to have an instant connection with but will he be willing to be a part of her hectic life.

When I read over the synopsis I think this book sounds so interesting and fun. A young woman being followed by a stalker she eventually ends up killing and being charged with his murder. Even though she's acquitted of his murder, she still has the problem of being sued in civil court for the wrongful death. Instead I found it to be overwhelming with conflict. It seems everyone is out to get Rachel and Zeke.

Once I opened the book, I realized every bad guy that can possibly be written about is being sent after Rachel and/or Zeke. She can't get a hold of her hectic life. I wish Rachel would have been more independent and strong. Hiding from all her problems and just kind of running away from it all, hoping it will all go away, seemed like she should have grown some balls and stood up for herself. At least in a more proactive kind of way. She hides from everyone including her psychologist, despite the fact that there are people out there who want to help her.

But for the zero cost, I can't be too surprised with this book. I give this book a rating of 2/5.

[Pia · Rating 2 out of 5]

First and foremost, this Kindle freebie was full of typos that kept pulling me out of the story. We're not talking simple mistakes like missing a closing quotation, but full sentences that appeared to have half of their words cut and paste into the middle of another word, and words so badly misspelled that I couldn't guess what they were meant to be. After spending too much time trying to figure out what the author was trying to say, I'd skip that paragraph and move on. While some of this is on the editor/publisher, the errors are huge and frequent, and the author should've caught some if not all of them during line edits.

Second, I chose not to finish reading the story. This review is based on the first 25%, according to Kindle’s status bar.

About the characters, I didn't like most of them. While every character must have flaws, these characters flaws were lack of umph. They felt flat, and their issues were not relatable or interesting.

The heroine should've been interesting having suffered through a lengthy and very public trial for murder when she killed a man in self-defense, but I found her flat and uninteresting unless she was talking photography.

Zeke was the only interesting character - a gruff artist that kept up walls between people because of a broken past. I wanted to learn more of him and his past and watch him grow, but between the heroine and her family, and the crazy mourning mother and her family, I couldn't stay interested long enough to get back to Zeke.

Overall, the story itself had potential, and I noticed a few great reviews from people who loved the plot twists and plethora of bad guys, but the characters couldn’t hold my attention long enough to get into said plot twists.

[Vinzouille · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book while it was a free option on the Kindle and even then debated a lot whether I should read it or not. There were too few reviews to convince me it was worth my time and here it is: This is the first book that I've truly wanted to stop reading among all the books I've read over the last 15 years (but for some strange reason, I can't bring myself to not finish a book)

The story is only mildly intriguing and the twists and suspense are simply not thrilling, shocking or even interesting. If you want a good thriller, pick any of the stand-alone novels from Harlan Coben and you'll get a story that is 10 times better and doesn't take 80% of the book to become mildly interesting. Nothing really happens for way too much of this novel, and I simply couldn't bring myself to care about the main characters.

But the biggest issue was that the writing felt so heavy handed that I've been rolling my eyes enough times to last me a lifetime. For example:
"Fury burned in him like a live coal, igniting primitive instincts he'd swear he didn't possess. Archaic impulses to ride forth and wreak havoc, to avenge the woman his heart had no more sense than to claim." - this is in no way the worst example, but one I could quickly find while skimming back through the pages.
The whole book feels over written as if the author was trying to add fillers all over the place to manage to go over 300 pages. A dialogue is usually enough for me to understand what is going on between the characters, i don't need a whole other paragraph to then explain what was already stated during the exchange. And don't get me started on the love story, which here again, felt heavy handed, like it was written to make teenagers gush.

[Angela Risner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first Colleen Thompson novel. I think that she has a lot of talent.

The story follows Rachel, a photographer who is trying to restart her life after being acquitted for the murder of a former art student who stalked her. That's quite a mouthful, so I'll wait for you to read it again.

Rachel heads home to Texas, where her grandmother, father, and stepmother live. She's understandably brittle, as some people still think she might have committed the murder as well as other heinous acts.

However, she meets Zeke, a man running away from his own past. Can these two people, so beaten down by life, find love? I think you can probably guess the answer to that one.

There were some surprises, which always makes a mystery, well, a mystery. I think that if this had a bit more character development, I would have enjoyed it more. I just couldn't care about the characters as much I wanted to.

Overall, not a bad read and I will probably check out some of her other books.

[Lisa Rayns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book because it was nominated for the RITA Award for Best Romantic Suspense and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the book so much I bought Colleen's six prior books and I've loved every one.

A girl with a tarnished past goes home and meets a man with an even shadier one. The author has taken engaging characters, an interesting town, and an undeniable hot attractions, and swirled them all up with so much suspense, I couldn't put it down.

Loved it!

[Diane]

This was a great mystery with a fresh premise. The main character had killed a stalker and went home to her Dad and step-mother to recoup and gather herself after the trial. She had been getting harrassing calls which followed her home. Now you might think this was through the story - no this is just the beginning. Liked the characters a lot and the plot just thickens.

[Jacquelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read by this author and for the first quarter of the book I had a difficult time realizing that different people were telling the story. The narrator would change mid chapter, but I finally caught on to this style of writing, and then I wasn't so confused. Loved the story though! Great twists!

[DE ANN ALLEN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thompson always writes great books that capture the heart

When Rachel and Zeke meet, they are wary of each other. It takes someone trying to take Rachel's life that draws them together. I was surprised, but pleased, at the outcome. Great read.

[Suze · Rating 4 out of 5]

TRIPLE EXPOSURE

Rachel comes home to Texas to recuperate from killing her stalker and the subsequent trial. It's a very good story with some interesting twists, as she tries to navigate her future while seemingly being stalked again.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first experience reading this author. The book was ok...I will read more by Thompson, but just not rushing to add her to my TBR list now.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suspense

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I have to say I was surprised by the ending, but there were so many bad guys, that by the time the person was revealed, it was hard to understand the motive.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

the ending was not what I expected at all. I really liked how all the stories weaved together in the end. I didn't like the quotes at the beginning of each chapter, it was a bit distracting for me.

[Kathy Ridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a free book on Kindle but barely worth reading. A decent story line but labored writing that makes reading slow.

[Gwynethstwi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow to start, and the viewpoint changes can be a bit jarring, but it has some interesting twists and is a good read overall.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A free download onto my Kindle and it was a good romantic mystery! It was intriguing and best of all, I had no idea who the "bad guy" was -- it kept my interest!!!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a real page-turner. I kept guessing and triple-guessing who the bad guy was and actually never got it right. I'll definitely look for more books by this author.

[Linda]

A man running from his past and a woman facing hers'. They come together and find closure. The story has a few twists and turns that surprise the reader.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very easy, quick read. Enjoyed it but nothing special.