With a TBR Challenge theme like “Back in My Day,” I’m certainly going to go back to my roots. I read romance, almost entirely historical and romantic suspense, back in high school. I got away from it in college, but came back as an avid and curious reader in law school. Given the number of lawyers in Romancelandia, I’d say law school and lawyering drove many of us to romance reading.

I’ve enjoyed several of Karen Rose’s books over the years, so this year I went back to the beginning and started reading everything in order. I hadn’t read any of her Chicago books, so her third novel, I’m Watching You, was a new-to-me read. Since it was published in 2004, it’s also a book that came out back when my romance reading really took off.  Like many of the big romantic suspense books back then, this one is a serial killer thriller.

Karen Rose’s books tend to be on the grittier side, but this one is intense even by her standards. It’s well-written and the plot reeled me in, but I know some readers may find the material difficult. The body count is high and since much of the plot centers on how the justice system treats sexual offenders and their victims, it could be triggering.

The heroine, Kristen Mayhew, is known to be an excellent prosecutor in Chicago. However, even the best prosecutors don’t win all their cases. (Frankly, I think the best prosecutors shouldn’t be winning all their cases, but that’s a topic for another day.) At any rate, this story opens with her facing a hung jury and mistrial in a high profile case. At the same time, we also meet the hero, Abe Reagan, an undercover detective who has left deep cover and is now getting ready to work with a new partner.

So, what brings them together?  It quickly becomes obvious that a killer is on the loose. Someone has killed various gang members and sex offenders who were accused of but not convicted for their crimes, and who appear to have been guilty of the offenses with which they were charged. The killer has directed letters to Kristen and makes it clear that not only does he admire and feel protective her in some way, but that he has also been watching her at home. This triggers immediate police involvement and Abe Reagan is on the case.

The author does a great job with these opening scenes. We see attorneys and police doing what they should be doing – setting up a team to investigate very disturbing cases without regard for who the victim is. It’s clear from the story that more than a few members of the public might be cheering on the killer, or at least aren’t entirely sorry about what he’s done. However, the leads and their close colleagues don’t fall into that camp.

There are some things that the author does quite well. First of all, the writing is clear, crisp and propels the action. We get chapters focusing on various characters – from the leads, to an unscrupulous reporter tracking the story to the killer himself – and these tend to be well-balanced. I also liked that, with a sometimes grim story, the author engages with issues such as how police relate to their communities or how victims of rape are treated in the justice system. Sadly, twenty years on, not nearly enough has changed. And then there’s the villain. He’s not entirely evil, but he is certainly no hero either. Having a more complex primary villain as opposed to a cardboard cutout eeeevillll serial killer makes I’m Watching You stand out.

While the suspense in this book is intense and dominates the plot action, the romance does develop nicely. Kristen and Abe get off on the wrong foot with each other at first, but they actually talk to each other like the adults they are. The tension in the story comes from their pasts. Kristen has been through some real trauma, and as she enters into a relationship, she has to deal with it in new ways. Abe, on the other hand, was once married to a woman he loved. Having gone through her injury and eventual death after years in a nursing facility, he has some issues to deal with also. Seeing these two learn how to communicate and support each other was lovely. Sometimes, adreniline-fueled relationships in romantic suspense feel transitory but in this book, the leads lay the foundation for a happily ever after.

There is much in this book to like, but it does go on for almost 500 pages, and while I enjoyed the story, it does drag a tad in the middle and probably could have been cut down by a few dozen pages. In addition, while I do enjoy some of the grittier romantic suspense books, the body count and the antics of the villains in this book got to be a bit much.

However, even with these caveats, I have to say that I did enjoy I’m Watching You and I’ll definitely continue reading my way through Ms. Rose’s books. This earlier novel isn’t quite as polished as some of her later ones that I’ve read but I could see her strengths developing throughout.