Description

Colleagues, friends, and lovers know Dodge Hanley as a private investigator who doesn’t let rules get in his way—in his private life as well as his professional one. If he breaks a heart, or bends the law in order to catch a criminal, he does so without hesitation or apology.That’s why he’s the first person Caroline King—who after a thirty-year separation continues to haunt his dreams—asks for help when a deranged stalker attempts to murder their daughter . . . the daughter Dodge has never met. He has a whole bagful of grudging excuses for wishing to ignore Caroline’s call, and one compelling reason to drop everything and fly down to Texas: guilt.Dodge’s mind may be a haze of disturbing memories and bad decisions, but he arrives in Houston knowing with perfect clarity that his daughter, Berry, is in danger. She has become the object of desire of a co-worker, a madman and genius with a penchant for puzzles and games who has spent the past year making Berry’s life hell, and who now has vowed to kill her.Dodge joins forces with local deputy sheriff Ski Nyland, but the alarming situation goes from bad to worse when the stalker begins to claim other victims and leaves an ominous trail of clues as he lethally works his way toward Berry. Sensing the killer drawing nearer, Dodge, who’s survived vicious criminals and his own self-destructive impulses, realizes that this time he’s in for the fight of his life.

From acclaimed best-selling author Sandra Brown, Tough Customer is a heart-pounding tale about obsession and murder, the fragile nature of relationships, and, possibly, second chances.

Details

• Published on: 2010-07-30
• Released on: 2010-08-10
• Format: Kindle Book

Reviews

Sandra Brown is still awesome!
Tough talking, chain smoking Atlanta Investigator Dodge Hanley (from Smash Cut: A Novel) receives a late night phone call from the love of his life Caroline King who lives in Texas. Dodge has not seen Caroline in 30 years and now their daughter, Berry, is being stalked by a former co-worker who wants her dead. He immediately returns to Texas. Sheriff Deputy and Afghanistan war veteran Ski Nyland, who is the local investigator on the case, is immediately attracted to Berry. Ski will do anything to keep her safe, but is suspicious of her story. Does she hold secrets that may have provoked her stalker turned killer? I really didn't care. The search for Berry's stalker isn't that exciting and didn't contain any mystery or suspense for me.

Thankfully Brown intermittently flashes back to 1978 to tell the love story of young police officer Dodge Hanley and aspiring realtor Caroline King. The flashbacks were the best part of Tough Customer -- how dramatically they met, how passionately they fell in love, how tragically they split apart, how remarkably differently their lives turned out, and most importantly of all, how enduring their love was.

For me, this was not a story about a murderous stalker, but a story about setting bad decisions right and having hope for second chances.

Loved it!
Could not believe the reviews were not great on this book! I loved it. I was disappointed in Sandra Brown's last novel. This one made me remember why she is one of my favorite authors and glad I got it on the day it was released!!
It was a little different writing style with the flashbacks but all of it worked. Loved the characters and loved the pace. I could not put it down! I truly feel you will not be disappointed, give Tough Customer a try.

Was this actually written by my once favorite author?
I hate to say it, but this book was terrible. I almost couldn't get through it, and for me that's rare, especially for a Sandra Brown book. It was so difficult to read, that it took me weeks rather than days to work my way through to the last page.

The characters were flat and uninteresting. I felt like I didn't know who they were at all. You barely even got a feel for what they looked like, so it was hard to get lost in the story. I felt like I was being forced to study for a test rather than reading a novel for enjoyment.

The only saving grace for this story were the few glimpses of Dodge and Caroline's relationship from the 70's. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of their story to actually make this a good book.

Her books haven't been the same since changing publishers, but they still felt like Sandra Brown books. Not so with this one. It felt like a young Literature student wrote this book, not my once favorite author. Save your money, borrow this from the library if you feel like giving it a try.