Kiss: review

I enjoyed some of Dekker's early books like Blink. Then he slid into what I'll call horror, and I stopped reading them. Kiss intrigued me. One, because it was co-authored, and two, the title piqued my interest. Kiss had the threads of Dekker novels I enjoy: suspense, a sci-fi/supernatural twist, without the elements I shy away from.

Shauna McAllister awakes from a coma with six months of her memory wiped away. She's accused of doing things that she can't imagine doing, but how can she clear herself when she doesn't remember the most crucial time period. Out of necessity she leans on Wayne Spade and others that tell her she can trust them...but can she really? Then she discovers a hidden ability that pushes her as she struggles to solve the riddle of her past.

Shauna struggles to learn how to control her gift/curse. At first it manifests randomly, then she begins to manipulate it. However, she wrestles with whether it's worth the price. There is a strong cast of characters, though Patrice, plays the role of evil stepmother from her first scene without any sense of redemptive quality. The complex plot weaves together well and kept the pages turning as I raced to stay ahead of Shauna and see how the mystery/suspense would resolve.

This book also has a romance with a twist. What happens when you can't remember the man that you were secretly engaged to? While not central to the plot, the romance certainly satisfied.

Kiss is the kind of book you should pick up when you have time to sit down and read it in its entirety. I anticipated a few of the twists, but couldn't turn the pages fast enough at the end.

Here's more about the book:

Let me tell you all I know for sure. My name. Shauna.
I woke up in a hospital bed missing six months of my memory. In the room was my loving boyfriend-how could I have forgotten him?-my uncle and my abusive stepmother. Everyone blames me for the tragic car accident that left me near death and my dear brother brain damaged. But what they say can't be true-can it?

I believe the medicine is doing strange things to my memory. I'm unsure who I can trust and who I should run from. And I'm starting to remember things I've never known. Things not about me. I think I'm going crazy.

And even worse, I think they want to kill me.

But who? And for what? Is dying for the truth really better than living with a lie?

Sometimes dying with the truth is better than living with a lie.

After a car accident puts Shauna McAllister in a coma and wipes out six months of her memory, she returns to her childhood home to recover, but her arrival is fraught with confusion.

Her estranged father, a senator bidding on the White House, and her abusive stepmother blame Shauna for the tragedy, which has left her beloved brother severely brain damaged. Leaning on Wayne Spade, a forgotten but hopeful lover who stays by her side, Shauna tries to sort out what happened that night by jarring her memory to life. Instead, she acquires a mysterious mental ability that will either lead her to truth or get her killed by the people trying to hide it.

In this blind game of cat and mouse that stares even the darkest memories in the face, Shauna is sure of only one thing: if she remembers, she dies.

If you would like to read the first chapter of KISS, go HERE

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What people are saying about KISS:

“The human brain could actually be the real final frontier—we know so little about it and yet it drives the world as we know it. So when authors like Erin and Ted bravely explore these mysterious regions, going into complex places like memory and soul and relationships, I become hooked. The creativity of this suspenseful story is sure to hook other readers as well. Very memorable!”
~Melody Carlson, author of Finding Alice and The Other Side of Darkness

“Dekker and Healy prove a winning team in this intriguing, imaginative thriller.”
~James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Try Darkness

“Kiss by Erin Healy and Ted Dekker is a superb thriller that hooked me from the first sentence. The original plot kept me guessing, and I may never look at a kiss the same way again. I’ll be watching for the next book!”
~Colleen Coble, author of Cry in the Night

“The writing team of Erin Healy and Ted Dekker has taken me through a page-turner with Kiss. It’s one of those books that you think about when you’re not reading it. I highly recommend it, especially if you don’t mind staying up late because you can’t put the book down!”
~Rene Gutteridge, author of Skid and My Life As a Doormat