Always Watching
Product Description
This daughter of a rock star has it all—until murder crashes her world. The exciting and suspenseful Rayne Tour series features sixteen-year-old Shaley O’Connor, on tour with her mother’s popular band. Shaley lives in a whirlwind of backstage secrets, hotels, and limos. With beauty and fame of her own, Shaley wants for nothing … except the one thing she can’t have. During a concert, sixteen-year-old Shaley O’Connor stumbles upon the body of a friend backstage. … More >>
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It is January 27th and I have not received the book I bought and paid for. I am very upset because I’ve ordered books throuth Amazon for years and have NEVER had this problem before.
Lois Curran
Rating: 1 / 5
Brandilyn is very good at keeping the rollercoaster going (thus the name for her books “Seatbelt Mysteries”)! Her daughter has taken a page from her mother’s writing!
Rating: 5 / 5
Brandilyn Collins (one of my favorite authors) teams up with her daughter Amberly to write “Always Watching,” the first in a brand new YA fiction series called “The Rayne Tour.” “Always Watching” is a fast paced, whip-through-the-pages, thriller that your teens are going to love!
Rating: 5 / 5
I realize this book was intended for teens but this 40 something enjoyed it. One of the better books I have read lately. Something a bit different! Still kept me guessing with some twists and turns. A look into a world different from mine. Fun, enjoyable, suspenseful, easy read! I am anxiously awaiting the next book!
Rating: 5 / 5
Heart. Stopping.
(Yeah. It’s that good.)
Sixteen-year-old Shaley O’Connor is on tour with her rock star mother. Again. And tired of it. If it weren’t for Tom, her mother’s hip hair stylist, she’d be totally bummed.
Then Tom is murdered, and Shaley’s world is shoved into a tailspin. From that moment on, she is hounded by the paparazzi, questioned by the police, and tormented by haunting messages from a mysterious stalker who is “always watching.”
Now for my feeble attempt to list all the things I LOVED about this story:
Story Structure:
This book is a classic example of how to do the three-act story structure. In fact, the book is cleverly divided into three parts, one for each of the three days of the story. In my writerly studies, I’ve also learned that a “ticking clock” is a good technique for suspense stories. The three-part story structure is the “ticking clock” in this book.
Great Characterization:
From teenager to rock-star mom to band members to body guards to paparazzi to detectives, EVERY character in this book is well done. IMHO when you have a character at the beginning of the book that is the soon-to-be dead body, the author has a brief amount of time to make us care about that character.
The two Collins ladies do that with pizazz. Tom Hutchens’ is portrayed as a vivid hip-hopping-style twenty-something with a crazy personality, from his wild blue, white, and red-checkered sneakers to his attempt to entertain Shaley with his bad rap rhymes.
Fast Pacing:
From the minute you get on this roller coaster, it’s a non-stop thrill ride that leaves your heart torn between needing to catch a breath and needing to turn the page! Short, punchy chapters help pull off this feat.
Character Emotion:
These authors know how to write character emotion better than just about anyone I’ve read. The story literally grabs you by the jugular and won’t let go! You experience with pounding heart and gasps of air what Shaley O’Connor is experiencing.
Book Design:
I thought it was so cool that the book design matched the two point of view characters. All of Shaley’s chapters have a curly-cue design; a thick black stripe is used for the the antagonist’s chapters.
Setting:
Brandilyn and Amberly Collins did a fantastic job with the setting of the rock concert. I could hear the raucous crowd, feel the energy. Well done!
Rating: 5 / 5