The Crush

Written by Sandra Brown

Narrated by Tom Wopat

When Dr. Rennie Newton is summoned to jury duty, she brings to the courtroom the same level of competence that she displays in the operating room. Her commitment to precision compels her to deliver a not guilty verdict in the murder case against notorious contract killer Ricky Lozada.
It will be the most regrettable decision in her life...because Rennie's trial with Lozada doesn't end with his acquittal.
Her carefully structured life begins to crumble when a rival colleague is brutally slain. Lozada's menacing shadow looms over the murder, but it's Rennie the investigators focus on as a prime suspect. The privacy she has cultivated and protected at all costs is violated by the police as well as Lozada. And when he begins an earnest courtship, it becomes terrifyingly clear that he is obsessed with having her.
Wick Threadgill is a detective on indefinite leave from the Fort Worth PD, who has his own, personal agenda for the contract killer. Temperamental, bitter, and driven by loyalty and love, Wick is determined to destroy Lozada.
In order to defeat Lozada -- and save their lives -- Rennie and Wick form an uneasy alliance. Mistrustful of each other, they know only one thing with absolute certainty, when this killer strikes, they won't see it coming.
The Crush will take you on a tortuous path through a twisted sociopath's eerie obsession, a haunted man fragile hopes for redemption, and a woman's heart as she struggles to face the greatest fear -- to open herself to love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Oct 1, 2002
• ISBN: 9780743567749

Sandra Brown

In 2000, former teacher Sandra Brown set up the Moira Anderson Foundation, a charity supporting those affected by child sexual abuse. Voted Scotswoman of the Year in 2005, she received the OBE for services to Child Protection in 2006. The charity is named for a childhood neighbour who vanished in 1957. Where There Is Evil, Sandra's account of Moira Anderson's story, was a bestseller, and she also narrated Coatbridge, the true crime podcast that topped the UK Audible charts in 2024.

Reviews for The Crush

[bhabeck-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read this book based on a recommendation (Blind Date with a Book) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't read a book by Sandra Brown in....over a decade, I think, and forgot how much I liked her books.This story includes a brilliant but emotionally damaged surgeon who is being stalked by a delusional, cunning psychopath that has "a crush" on her. Enter the charming -but haunted- cop who comes to her rescue. (my current book crush ?)Rating: 4

[Sandra Brown · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not one of S.B. best book and narrator didn't help! Weak plot, I couldn't feel the romance and narrator just read without emotions.

[evbishop · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting, fast-paced plots with fairly believable characters. I liked the book enough to pick up another one of Sandra Brown's books right away.

[retlibrary · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not up to standard that Brown usually sets. Too many plot elements were contrived and character flaws unconvincing. Satisfying ending, but sometimes tedious and irritating getting there. Her later novels are much better.

[lindahallmann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dr. Rennie Newton served as the forman of the jury that delivers a verdit of not quilty for notorious contract killer Ricky Lozada. During the trial he develops an attraction for the doctor.He stalks her while she becomes the prime suspect in the death of a rival doctor.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not the best of her books, despite the rating. I found the characters were far more stronger that eclipsed everything else. What I liked was the strong bond between Wick and Oren, the humourous banter that they shared, and the differences between them. What did hit a raw nerve was the senseless slaying of the animals. The twist at the end was a total cop (!!!) out.?

[backyardhorse · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not one of Sandra's best, but still worth a read on a stormy night.

[cindyloumn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sort of predictable but also not. You weren't quite sure what else she would throw in. A surgeon with a sordid past, and an ex-cop brought in to help get a killer who killed her brother.11/16/03

[msbeautiful · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Did not keep my interest, not her best effort

[robert.zimmermann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a good short story. I don't mind short stories, even very short ones like this, but I felt that it was lacking just a little bit to bump up my response to it.

Still a good piece to introduce you to the author, I'm sure. Just wasn't the story for me, I think.