Branded a black widow after the suspicious death of her millionaire husband, Sarah Phalmer flees Seattle for Anchorage. But the peace and quiet she hoped to enjoy in her hometown is soon shattered. The killer is murdering Sarah look-alikes on the 14th of each month, taunting Sarah with a valentine of evidence. After her experiences in Seattle, Sarah is slow to go to the police. When she finally … finally does, she finds Detective Steven Quaid, who is called on to protect the beautiful widow from a stalker intent on her destruction. Steven is not entirely sure she is not behind the scheme herself, and before long Sarah has him wound up tighter than barbed wire. Is Sarah a victim or a very skilled manipulator?
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Actual rating 4.5.
Before I explain why I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, I must explain why it’s not a true 5-star read for me. It has everything to do with the Lord of the Rings cinematic trilogy. While the finale of that story was satisfying, getting there, seemed to take FOR-E-VER! There was one almost ending scene after another until we finally got the final end scene. This book kind of had that feeling to me. The difference between this book and that last film- all the almost endings to this book served a purpose I now appreciate, but it drove me crazy while I was reading it.
So, why I really enjoyed this book- it’s all about the twists and turns. I made a guess about who I thought the killer was early on without really expecting to be right. Turns out I was, but it didn’t make any sense to me when I found out, but of course, this talented author explains it all. Plus, there were so many times, I was convinced my joke of a guess was so wrong and way off- I like when an author has me second and third guessing myself.
There is a love story several subplots down that didn’t do much for me, but I can see it causing other readers to be really invested in the outcome of it. For me, it didn’t matter so much as finding the killer and seeing how the main female character would cope with it all at the end.
On the note of the main female character, I didn’t love her right away. I grew to like her, but I liked the main male character more throughout. Not sure what that says about me. In any case, I felt like the main female character had some sort of neurological disorder where she kept saying and doing things and then forgot that she said or did them and it drove me crazy. Once the book was finished, I realized it could have been her reaction to trauma, but I wish the author has said something about it. Despite that, I did feel for everything that character went through and respected her a lot, even if I didn’t love her.
Despite some of her damsel faults, faults I’m sure I’d have in her situation, she was a strong woman and it’s always good to see that in a story like this.
This is definitely an adult read, teens with parent approval, for its violence and language, but nothing felt gratuitous. It all served a purpose.
Highly recommended to fans of thrillers, crime dramas, and hard-to-solve mysteries.
Great book!! I thought I had the “who done it” figured three different times as three different people and I was wrong each time!!! Written very well, kept me turning pages long after I should have stopped reading; definitely didnt want to put it down! Again, great book!!!
Sarah Palmer has been branded a black widow after the mysterious death of her millionaire husband. She decides to move to her hometown of Anchorage for some peace. However, the killer starts murdering women who look like her on the 14th of each month, and leaving a valentine. She teams up with a detective in Anchorage to find the real killer and clear her name. Great book! Kept me ion suspense until the end!