Someone Is Watching

Starred review from January 26, 2015
This engrossing standalone from bestseller Fielding (Shadow Creek) makes you care about Bailey Carpenter, a Miami-based investigator who’s raped while on surveillance. Previously, the biggest problems in Bailey’s life had been her mother’s death, her affair with a married colleague, and her five half-siblings’ attempt to overturn their father’s will, which left millions to Bailey and her often-stoned brother, Heath. Now Claire, a nurse as well as the half-sister Bailey barely knows, becomes her guardian angel as she starts on her slow path to recovery. Not sleeping and afraid to leave her high-rise apartment, Bailey suspects every man of evil intent, and she has a number of encounters, both frightening and embarrassing, in her quest to re-establish some control over her life. The characters pulsate with life, and there are a few shocks in store—for Bailey and the reader—before the denouement. And the presence of Jade, Claire’s outspoken teen daughter, blows everyone else off the page. Agent: Tracy Fisher, WME Entertainment.

January 15, 2015
A detective searches for her rapist in Fielding's latest thriller.Heiress to her father's Wall Street fortune, Bailey Carpenter lives a life of privilege in a luxury Miami high-rise and works as an investigator for a law firm. However, Bailey and her actor-brother Heath are being sued by their five half siblings, who were left out of the will. Bailey is still traumatized by her father's fatal heart attack and by her mother's long ordeal and death from cancer. Her romantic life is also complex-she's in love with her married boss. Hiding in some bushes after midnight, staking out a deadbeat dad, Bailey is viciously raped by a masked assailant. She can recall only the feel of his gloves, a fleeting glance at his black Nike sneakers and his voice, asking her to "tell me you love me." Another ordeal begins as Bailey, on leave from work, suffers panic attacks, severe weight loss and recurring dreams of her attacker and circling sharks. Her half sister Claire, a nurse, comes to the rescue, accompanied by teen daughter Jade, who has done a stint in juvie and expertly picks Bailey's locks. Despite the lawsuit, Claire's care for Bailey is devoid of any greedy ulterior motives. She recommends a therapist and tries to discourage Bailey from another self-destructive habit she has picked up: observing a man in a neighboring high-rise who has nightly sexual assignations fully visible through his open window. As his acts become violent, Bailey can't interest law enforcement in focusing on the window exhibitionist since she's the only one to ever observe him doing anything suspicious and her credibility is suspect due to mental instability. The conclusion to all this involves improbable coincidences, a giant MacGuffin and surprising lapses of intuition on the part of supposedly seasoned gumshoe Bailey; her hypersensitivity is very selectively triggered, usually by red herrings. Still, the mystery is not the point in Fielding's work: A page-turning ride with a likable protagonist is, and here, she succeeds admirably.

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Starred review from March 1, 2015
Bailey Carpenter's life isn't perfect, but it's hers. She works as a private investigator, lives in one of Miami's nicest high rises, and has a close relationship with her brother. The cons? Her job's long hours, a pending lawsuit with her extended family, and an ill-advised affair with her married boss. Utterly eclipsing these annoyances, Bailey is brutally raped one evening while staking out a client. On leave from work and terrified to leave her apartment, Bailey hurtles between paranoia, anxiety, and depression. Forced to rebuild her identity, career, and mental health from the ground up, Bailey must face the biggest challenge of her life. Bailey wants to take charge of her pending police investigation and regain control, but her undercover experience proves to be a huge liability. Someone Is Watching is a gripping, fast-paced psychological thriller reminiscent of Rear Window and the works of Lisa Gardner. Fielding has crafted a flawed yet likable heroine in Bailey by allowing her to experience the varied emotions of recovery instead of pigeonholing her as a helpless victim or bloodthirsty vigilante. Not geared to the faint of heart, Fielding's story of one woman's search for justice, understanding, and internal peace is nothing short of arresting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

October 15, 2014

Devastated by a brutal attack, private investigator Bailey Carpenter withdraws to spend her time staring out her apartment window with her binoculars, noting especially the hunky guy across the way. One day, she finds him staring back mockingly and becomes convinced that he's her attacker. More suspense from the New York Times best seller after Shadow Creek.

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