If you are feeling emotional maybe wait to read this, either that or have a huge box of tissues at the ready! However tissues will be needed regardless!

This book is the first in a new series, The Sacramento Series, and it introduces some new faces as well as bringing back some old favourites. Special Agent Gideon Reynolds will soon be a fan favourite and he has all the hallmarks of a Karen Rose perfect male specimen! Tall, body of a greek adonis, brooding and a genuine good guy. A man with a dark past, one that is about to be brought back to the surface connecting him to an ongoing case with a serial killer.

Daisy Dawson is a character that was touched upon in earlier books, the daughter of Frederick Dawson, who moved his family into isolation to protect them from their stepmother’s ex PI Clay Maynard.

Now she takes centre stage and is another trademark protagonist, a feisty female, carrying her own inner demons and a pet service dog, Brutus. With a name like that you expect a big slobbering Rottweiler or some other large scary dog, but no, this one spends its days in her handbag! Other that Gideon I think she, (yes the dogs also a girl!) is one of my favourite characters!

Gideon and Daisy’s paths cross as Daisy escapes an abduction by a man they soon realise has form, not only does he abduct women, he tortures and kills them. Working together they follow the killers trail to the peril of them both on a personal level and costs them both dearly.

At times I couldn’t escape the feeling of deja vu but I guess having read all of her previous 23 books that is to be expected and just like her previous books this one is just as good as the others. If you have read her previous work then you won’t be disappointed with Say You’re Sorry and if this is your first Karen Rose book then it will have you adding her back catalogue to your shopping basket.

You don’t need to have read any of them to go straight into this one, there is enough back story on Daisy and her family for you to follow their story but if you want to know more about Frederick Dawson head for MONSTER IN THE CLOSET.

A serial killer that will chill you to the bone and a special agent to make you swoon!

For fans old and new, another fantastic read by the queen of romantic suspense.

Say you’re Sorry will be published on 12 Feb 2019 in the US and UK readers will have to wait a few extra days until 14 Feb!

A big thank you to author Karen Rose, publishers Headline and NetGalley for my digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest and independent review.

https://debbiesbookreviews.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/say-youre-sorry-by-karen-ros... ( )

The blurb for this story gives a good description of this story. What it leaves out is the emotional flavor and the personalities of the main characters.

Daisy Dawson is attacked on her way from an AA meeting. She is in her mid-twenties and has been sober for eight years. She suffers panic attacks and has a service dog who manages to keep her from spiraling out of control. She has named her tiny purse dog Brutus.

When she was a pre-teen her father gathered up the family - Daisy, her two sisters, his second wife and her daughter - and took them to an isolated location to keep them safe from his wife's ex-husband. There he taught them to take care of themselves. The oldest daughter rebelled, ran away, and died of a drug overdose. As the second wife was dying, she confessed that she had lied about her ex and essentially kidnapped her daughter to keep her from him. Daisy is still angry at her father for uprooting their lives.

Gideon Reynolds also has a troubled past. When he was a young child, his mother got involved with a cult that advocated forced marriages as soon as a young girl turned twelve and welded a locket around her neck which claimed ownership of her. Boys at thirteen were considered men and began apprenticeships which also included pedophilia. Gideon was nearly beaten to death after he objected and killed the man who was trying to rape him. His mother helped him escape but returned to protect his younger sister Mercy.

He has never given up trying to find this settlement called Eden but has not been able to locate it since it relocates frequently. His sister Mercy escaped at thirteen after being abused by her "husband" also with her mother's help. Gideon, then seventeen, managed to find her but she was so traumatized that she wanted nothing to do with him. At the time of the story seventeen years later, he hasn't seen her for a couple of years and knows nothing about her current life.

The villain of the story is a serial killer who was abused by his stepmother ever since he was twelve and still is being abused by her at twenty-eight. He has managed to kidnap and kill a number of women from around the US. He brings them home to his "guest room" - a sound-proofed room in his basement where he tortures and kills them. His situation was almost enough to make me feel sorry for him but for the way he chose to mask his pain.

The book also introduces a number of characters who are just aching for stories of their own. The Sokolov family includes Karl and Irina - the parents - who were friends of Daisy's father until he disappeared with his family, Sasha and Rafe - two of Karl and Irina's children, who are good friends with Daisy and Gideon. Rafe and Gideon have been friends since they met in middle school and the Sokolovs have adopted him into their family.

This was a long story at over 600 pages but it had enough action and enough romance to carry that length. ( )

The author describes her genre as Romantic Thriller, which is a fair description of this story. FBI officer Gideon Reynolds becomes romantically involved with Daisy when she is attacked in the street. Both have complex back stories, which create difficult psychological problems but are eased in each other's company. Gideon was in a religious cult, escaping as a young teenager in harrowing circumstances. Daisy's father suffered PTSD paranoia and the family on a remote ranch away from civilisation. Daisy has a support dog Brutus who goes everywhere with her in a bag and ironically the villain has a dog, he is quite fond of and turns out to be a hero... ( )

I really didnt like this book at all.
Initially I was a big fan of Karen Rose as i found her style of keeping the suspense good.
Now having read quite a few of them, I am not so convinced about her.
First of all, the child abuse. Almost all her books seem to have a central theme around child abuse.
And in many of her books there is way too much child abuse. It almost makes you feel nauseated by the end.
In this one, the hero was so unimpressive. He is closed, conflicted, cries. When is he interesting?
Daisy. Her being raised in isolation. The father being fooled so badly. None of it was really something I could buy into.
The chemistry also I really didn't find it convincing.
If you haven't already read this, I would give it a miss. ( )

Say You’re Sorry by Karen Rose
Sacramento book 1. Thriller with a touch of romance (mostly in the epilogue).

High Intensity and suspenseful with alternating chapters between an FBI agent, a victim and an unhinged serial killer. Complex and faceted character building.
Edge of your seat reading. Over 600 pages so not a quick read, but worth the time. ( )