Have You Seen Dawn?

by Steven Saylor

Menace stalks the sleepy streets of Amethyst, Texas, in acclaimed mystery writer Steven Saylor's chilling novel of a young woman who goes home for a visit and becomes enmeshed in the search for a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743213661
• ISBN13: 9780743213660
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Alright. It's probably a girl book

and I'm not either a girl or even a gay american but I liked it anyway. Just shows how versatile Saylor really is I guess. I got hooked on the Roman books before I learned that the author was a gay american and by then I had found out he wasn't going to bury me knee deep in homoerotica.The story moves along very well and unlike some more prescient readers, I really didn't know who the killer was until pretty close to the end. Good Book. Read it... but be careful if you drive through Goldwaite, Texas. The grocery store is on the east side of hwy 36 and there is or was an elderly lady there who launched her car across the highway every morning without a glance either toward Hamilton or Temple. She may be gone but the skid marks are still there-right in front of the store where she picked up breakfast.

Well written and engaging mystery in small-town Texas

Rue Dunwitty expects a simple vacation when she travels from San Francisco to her childhood home in Amethyst, Texas. Instead, she is intrigued and mystified by grocery store posters asking about a missing teen. Rue can't help digging around and is shocked to find the girl's body--only to have it disappear before the police arrive. Everyone is urging Rue to leave town, but she can't make herself leave her aging grandmother. Except, will Rue herself become the next victim of a serial killer? Author Steven Saylor draws a vivid picture of small-town Texas life. From its aging Bush for Governor bumper stickers to the whole-town turnout for the high school football team, to the volunteer efforts to search for the missing girl, Amethyst rings true. With plenty of red herrings around, Rue can find plenty of suspects. But is she letting her imagination run away from her? Saylor hints at important questions in Rue's reflections on sex and rape. Is every man a monster, simply waiting for the opportunity to free himself from the shackles of society? Mystery fans may find the identity of the killer easy to guess, but Saylor's high-quality writing makes getting there an enjoyable ride.

Loved it

I read this book in one day...it was very good writing and suspenseful. My only complaint is that it was too short!I felt the author set the surroundings and mood up very well and kept you guessing who the culprit was..

powerful gothic melodrama

Amethyst, Texas might no longer be home for Rue Dunwitty but going back to the small town makes her feel nostalgic. It is a peaceful place unlike San Francisco where she now lives. When she spots a poster asking if anyone has seen Dawn who has gone missing on the way to the Amethyst supermarket, she's shocked because things like that don't happen in her hometown.Rue is staying at her grandmother's home. One night when she has trouble sleeping, she sees a light across the field on her father's property. The next day she explores the run down area and finds Dawn's naked body in an empty cistern, burn marks on her arms and legs. Rue calls the sheriff to come over but by the time he arrives, the body is missing. Rue starts asking questions and comes to the attention of a killer who would like to make her victim number four.HAVE YOU SEEN DAWN? is a gothic melodrama complete with an innocent maiden, a brooding hero and a surplus of likely suspects. This is a very atmospheric tale, one in which the tension slowly but steadily amplifies until the audience is ready to jump out of their skin. The killer of three innocent teens will come as a shock to the audience because he is the last person anyone would suspect. Steven Saylor is one author who consistently tells a mesmerizing story.Harriet Klausner

A change of pace for Saylor, and I loved it!

I found this novel terrific (was so engrossed that I stayed up till 3:30 a.m. to finish it). The mystery involves the disappearance of a teenage girl, and its effect on the life of a 29-year-old woman with problems of her own. Is the disappearance linked to others? How many others? Just how sinister are the secrets in heroine Rue Dunwitty's own family? What are the explanations for the strange behavior of her father, her brother, her sort-of boyfriend? Saylor manages to cast suspicion on six different suspects before giving us a satisfying explanation of the crimes.After finishing the book, I found myself wondering whether the identity of the villain should have been obvious to the discerning reader (as critics claimed was the case in "A Twist At the End"). But the fact is, in both instances, I didn't realize who it was until Saylor wanted me to.