Sight Unseen

by Samantha Graves

Maggie Shayne calls Samantha Graves an "astonishing new talent". Sight Unseen is a paranormal tale of a heist gone bad, a stolen painting, and a sizzling attraction between two people forced together... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446618381
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Forever
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.9" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

From J. Kaye's Book Blog

Two of my most favorite genres are thrillers and romance. Romantic suspense is a combo of the two. The downside to some I've read is there isn't enough of the suspense. This sub-genre, in my opinion, should be a thriller with hot sex scenes and at the end, the guy gets the girl. SIGHT UNSEEN was just that. This book started with danger from the very beginning and didn't end until the next to the last chapter. Raven Callahan is an honest thief with a rare psychic ability. She's able to read the emotions people left behind from objects. She works for the Antiquities Preservation Institute to recover stolen objects. This ability comes in handy as she is able to authenticate her findings. Twice she has met Dax Maddox. The first time was as a cop and he suspected she was a thief. The second time is where this story blossoms. He's quit the force and now on the trail of his partner's killer. When the killer kidnaps Raven's partner, they must team up in order to catch him. Both have a dark past and with a strong attraction towards the other. SIGHT UNSEEN has the right combo of suspense and romance. What an outstandingly balanced book! Her next book, OUT OF TIME, has Raven's sister, Jillian, as the main character. I look forward to continue on with this series.

fast-paced and exciting

Raven Callahan is blessed (or cursed) with the gift of psychometry--that is, she can read the history of an object by touching it. It comes in handy in her job: recovering and authenticating stolen artwork. Dax Maddox was a cop, until a burglary left his partner dead and himself no longer able to see color. Now he's searching for the thief responsible. He knows it wasn't Raven, but he'd caught her casing the same place the unknown thief hit, and now they're after the same painting. Then Raven's colleague is kidnapped, and Raven has to steal a priceless painting as ransom, and she and Dax are forced to work together. Sight Unseen is fast-paced and exciting, and I don't normally pay much attention to settings, but they go to Cuba in their pursuit, and that was pretty darn fascinating. The suspense plot is nicely convoluted, with some twists I didn't expect, and the romance develops along with the suspense plot. There's also personal growth and change--it hits the mark on all three things I look for in a romantic suspense. I enjoyed both Raven and Dax, and it was a nice switch to have a bad-girl heroine (she's not the only bad-girl heroine I've ever read, but the bad boys vastly outnumber the bad girls in this genre). Raven's adventurous spirit was infectious, and her aloneness and discomfort with her gift made her sympathetic. Dax was damaged and guilty, but he was also honorable and determined. It was wonderful watching both of them become more at ease with themselves and heal emotionally. The secondary characters, too, were interesting and three-dimensional. I loved Raven's young protégé Paulie, who I'm thrilled to hear will also make an appearance in the next book. The villains, too, were fleshed out, with believable actions, and more motive than "he's a bad guy." I'm not going to reveal the romantic climax (heh--not that kind of climax), but I will say that it was one of the loveliest I've ever read--entirely specific to these two characters, and with layers of meaning. I'd read the book again just for that scene, even if I didn't love the rest of the story.

Sight Unseen

Raven Callahan has a talent - she can touch an object and "see" its history and "feel" the emotions of the previous owners. This ability is really just a bonus for her because what Raven really likes to do is recover art, generally from dangerous places. So what if she's sometimes on the wrong side of the law? This doesn't matter to Raven when she knows she is doing it for the right reasons. However, when she is sent to recover a highly valuable painting through legal means, everything is complicated when she fails. Then her partner is abducted for a ransom that will require Raven to really break the law and put everyone she loves at risk. Dax Maddox has one mission in life - to catch the man who murdered his rookie partner during a robbery. A robbery that cost Dax more than his partner. It cost Dax his career, his self-respect and his color vision. At this moment, his best lead to catch this killer is the beautiful Raven Callahan. For Dax, Raven represents a connection to the murderer, a beautiful distraction and a threat to his heart. But as the action heats up and the stakes get higher, Dax needs to decide what is more important to him - revenge or love. Sight Unseen is an action-packed adventure that will take you on a rollercoaster ride full of anticipatory tension and lead to a surprising ending. Raven is a curious blend of strength, a great sense of adventure and vulnerability, which she tries to hide by avoiding attachments. Dax will steam you up, all the while tugging at your heart as he desperately searches for the killer. When fate, helped along by the bad guys, throws Dax and Raven together, explosions go off as they battle their enemies and race against time to save Raven's partner. At the same time, they try to resist the temptation they find in each other. In Sight Unseen there is plenty of action, steamy romance and surprising twists and turns to keep you glued to the pages well past your bed-time. There are also paranormal elements that bring together all the different characters and their story-lines to take this story and push it into a category of its own. Dax and Raven are a great pair that will satisfy your romantic heart while keeping the pace of this romance fast and furious! Buy yourself Sight Unseen and be pulled into a world full of danger, adventures and hot romance! Sabella reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Everything Present

Raven is running, but can't seem to get away from Dax, the ex-cop determined to keep up with her. When she stops running long enough for him to get closer....whooeee! 'Sight Unseen' has everything I love in a romance novel: plausibility, a slow build up to the hot romance, interesting places, full characters, page turning suspense and a good story to bring it all together. I'll be buying Samantha's next book.

An fabulous new direction for author Samantha Graves (aka CJ Barry)

Sight Unseen represents a new direction for author Samantha Graves who also writes futuristc romance under the name C.J. Barry. The book is listed as a romantic suspense but it has a paranormal twist! As her first foray into comtemporary romance this book was a home-run! The plot is excellent - and believable, which can be hard to do when the heroine has a psychic power. The suspense is gripping... and the romantic connection between the hero/heroine was very well done! The perfect balance of attraction and wary interest. Since there is no description on this listing here's the blurb from the back cover: CLUES ONLY THIS PSYCHIC CAN SEE Can an art theif earn an honest living? Raven Callahan does, with the help of a rare psychic power that lets her read the emotions locked inside ancient objects. But when her partner is kidnapped and Raven is forced to steal a priceless masterpiece to save heim, ESP takes a backseat to quick wits, steely nerves, and the lethal skills she needs to survive. A KILLER ONLY HTIS COP CAN CATCH Ex-cop Dax Maddox made just one mistake on th ejob, but it took a young rookie's life and cost Dax his ability to see color. Now stalking a killer brings Raven into his life - and floods his gray world with vivid and conflicting emotions: anger and lust, suspicion and awe. Are the criminals they seek one and the same? If so, Dax and Raven's growing need for each other could inspire a madman's terrifying scheme for the ultimate revenge...