I'll admit that after hearing an excerpt of Damaged read by its author, I was intrigued by the writing style, but turned off by the subject matter. Still, I bought the book, based solely on the authors engaging personality. It sat on my shelf for months until I grabbed it to take on a train ride. All I can say is, "Oh my!" While the subject of child abuse is a difficult one for me to stomach, Damaged! is so much MORE. It's a thriller, it's a love story, it's a wonderful way to pass the time. The dialogue is so rich and engaging and Bernadette is a witty, humorous writer.I truly enjoyed this novel and look forward to many more by this very special author.

This book touched every single emotion.... I could not put it down!!! The story surrounded the life struggles of Adrena Reynolds, a child abuse victim haunted by the demons of her past.

I found myself laughing, crying, getting angry and expriencing a roller coaster of emotions as I turned each page. Every character had relevance and a purpose in the story. The book was extremely well organized and the plot came full circle in the end.

This read made for a lively discussion in my book club. I think we all agreed that when we got to the end of the book, we were as emotional and intrigued as when we started. I voted for Damaged as our #1 read in 2000.

I can't believe this is the first book for Bernadette... Outstanding!! I look forward to future works from this author.

Damaged by Bernadette Connor was required reading for a book club; due to the subject matter, Damaged was not a book I would have picked up on my own...Afterall I thought how could someone take such a sensitive, depressing social issue and write it in a fictional manner and still keep the reader interested? To my chagrin, Damaged was far from predictable or mundane. I became so engrossed in this spellbinding, psychological thriller that I couldn't do anything else until I finished the book; I read this book in one setting because of the suspenseful subplots and the plot twisters. The writing was so vivid and lurid that you actually felt as thought you were right there with the characters.

Bernadette Connor's debut novel, Damaged, a page turner from Chapter One, does not allow the reader to retreat or escape from the disturbing topic of child abuse. With its backdrop of drug abuse, surrogate families, prescribed medications, unexpected happenings, Connor's dives head first into the heinous social issues involving the well-being of our children.

Connor's novel pulls the reader into the fragile and scarred existence of Adrena, who was horrifically abused at the age of 10. Per the review from the back cover "Adrena Reynolds is the teen-age survivor of years of child abuse, culminating in a brutal rape that leaves her filled ................."

Damaged was well-written, with a solid storyline and subplots/plot twisters that test a gamut of emotions and leaves remarkable memories. Connor leaves the reader to ponder if Adrena's demons will ultimately destroy her.

"Damaged was a riveting tale of love and hate, tragedy and hope".

Bernadette Y. Connor's The Parcel Express Murders is cleverly woven into a context where romance, mystery, and intrigue is allowed to play under the backdrop of murder. The author is showing in this sophomoric effort her penchant for writing genre-crossing thrillers where the female is a heroine and the masculine are supporting catalysts to tell a good story without compromising nothing in between.

This is a story about Samoa Tate a psychiatrist who helps patients come to grips with their maladies, but within her own framework there's the need to cope with an absentee father that has a bearing on her personal life. Enter the Dynamic Duo, Detectives Hall Hawkins and Edward Clark assigned the task of solving a double murder case, and a subsequent string of unsolved murders. An interesting sidelight is the fact that Samoa and Detective Clark as love interests are both involved unknowingly in finding the killers, which bodes well in the author introducing subplots that fit well into the result of marrying romance with the mystique of 'who done it', how, and why.

This book could as well been depicted as a romance novel with its steamy love scenes and the charm and wit that both characters, Somoa and Eddie exhibit. So much so, that the secondary characters are truly an adjunct to how the main entities play into interludes that make you wonder whether the mystery should center around the murders, or perhaps what's the mystery behind why Samoa is reluctant to engage Eddie in a more willing fashion as a love interest.

As I read this novel, I couldn't help but to compare it with other deep-seated mysteries I've read in allowing me to truly define them as such. To the author's credit though, she told a good story..., but knowing how I love to unravel and be part of suspenseful intrigue, I was hoping for more twists and turns, and unexpected drama to unfold with the details that were presented here. If the plot would've included the aforementioned it conceivably would have garnered a higher rating from me.

Nevertheless, this indeed is a good read and doesn't suffer at the expense of the prior statement by me. It indeed should pique your interest in this author, and demand more of same. I enjoyed this yarn albeit with wishful yearnings, and would hope that you'd hink of this author as being of mind to write in a challenged mode to bring depth to this genre. There's certainly the potential to do so based on what I've read here, and hope that you read it for yourself!

Parcel Express Murders has it all - murder, mystery, & romance all cleverly written in this novel. From the details in the book, you can tell that the author has done her homework in doing research in criminal investigations as well as the profession of psychology. This is a colorful story with interesting characters. Anxiously awaiting Bernadette Y. Connor's next mystery novel. Mystery lovers will enjoy this entertaining book.

I loved this story! "The Parcel Express Murders" by gifted storyteller Bernadette Y Connor, offers the reader a thrilling whodunit with an added bonus of a romance novel as a subplot. The characters are wonderful, the dialogue easy to follow and well-written, and, the plot a real page turner to be sure! Take "10" Ms. Connor, you've earned it!