Received through FrugalReader.com.

An impressive debut novel from new author Rebecca Drake.

Book Description
BE AFRAID...
It's a beautiful house—a perfect place to live. To dream. To start a life together. It's the perfect place for so many things, he thinks as he puts on the gloves and reaches for her, enjoying her screams. But today, it's a perfect place to die.

BE VERY AFRAID...
Steerforth, Connecticut, was once an idyllic, sleepy New England town. But now, the leafy streets and picture-perfect houses have turned shadowy and menacing, every small detail suddenly becoming suspect: lost toys placed carefully on back porches, lights blazing in a house that should be empty, closet doors standing slightly ajar, mysterious flowers wrapped in black tissue paper. And the bodies...

OR ELSE YOU'RE AS GOOD AS DEAD...
A serial killer has come to Connecticut. He is watching, honing his skills, waiting, for the perfect time to make them pay for what they've done. And when he's through, home will never be sweet again...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reminded me of many a past mystery where clues were dropped throughout the story, and I found myself keeping track of the page numbers on which various characters were first introduced and comparing aspects of their looks or personality to that of the killer, whose mind we got to see into in various chapters.

Of course, I knew it would end up being one of the characters previously introduced, but the author did real well keeping me on my toes with the red herrings, and though it came down to two characters that I considered the most likely suspect, I was thrown off when it turned out to be over the other. :P (Okay, I hope that didn't give too much away.) Suffice to say, I thought the author did a good job on the mystery part... not making it too easy right from the start, and also allowing us to look into the killer's mind, despite the story being written in third person.


This is reserved for AlterEgoZoe, who won it back in April's No Foolin' It's a Mystery Swap on BookObsessed. Will be mailed along with a book for catsalive's m-bag shortly.

RELEASE NOTES:

AlterEgoZoe won this in the No Foolin' It's A Mystery Swap at BookObsessed on 4/1/07. Mailed on 11/21/07 via Media Mail, along with a book for catsalive's m-bag.

thanks!!

RELEASE NOTES:

Released next to one of the columns at Everybody's cafe.