Shiver [Mass Market Paperback]

Set in pre-Katrina New Orleans, the new romantic thriller by bestseller Jackson, her first to be published in hardcover, fits all the usual pieces into all the usual holes. A psycho sexual serial killer stalks victims connected to an insane asylum, shut down 20 years earlier but still standing in all its creepy abandonment. Abby Chastain, a portrait photographer on the rebound from a bad divorce, is trying to wean herself off men. Det. Reuben Montoya, the virile, not-by-the-book cop (last seen in 2002's Cold Blooded), is assigned to track down the serial killer. Along the way, Montoya develops—against his better judgment—a soft spot for the libido-tingling Chastain, now in peril because her mother was either murdered or committed suicide at the old asylum just before it closed. Fans of the prolific Jackson (Fatal Burn) should be pleased, but those unfamiliar with the conventions of romance fiction should be prepared for characters who "growl" rather than simply "say" and descriptions of physical beauty along the lines of a "body that wouldn't quit." Author tour. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Jackson, with many best-selling mass-market paperbacks under her belt, nimbly makes the switch to hardcover. Abby Chastain is ready for a change. Again. She had come back to New Orleans, her hometown, during a rocky marriage in search of a fresh start. (Jackson acknowledges that this New Orleans is pre-Katrina, the city as "it once was and will be again.") But her husband, local shock-jock Luke Gierman, fell right back into his old womanizing ways, which lead to a bitter divorce. When Detective Reuben Montoya darkens her door with the news that Luke has been killed alongside a young woman, Abby's emotions run the gamut from apathy to despair. Terror becomes the emotion du jour, however, as Montoya begins to find connections between the two victims, many of them stemming from Our Lady of Virtues, a hospital for the mentally impaired that is set for demolition but that had once been the home of Abby's mother and the place where she fell to her self-inflicted death. Can Montoya do his job as his fondness for Abby grows and as the bodies begin to stack up? Can Abby reconcile the repressed details of her mother's time at the asylum with the facts being uncovered during the investigation? Readers will know the answers soon enough because they won't be able to put this one down. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'A fast moving murder mystery with twists and turns right to the epilogue ... good holiday reading' -- Launceston Examiner Praise for DEEP FREEZE -- : 'As a beach read, this is a cracker. Read it at night and it certainly will keep you up. For after the prologue, Jackson slips into her real agenda, and out of your comfort zone.' -- Courier Mail, Brisbane - DEEP FREEZE 20070115 'A fast-paced and surprisingly complex story ... The depiction of the protagonist ... reaches an unusual depth, and the crisp, skillful language infuses every sentence with suspense ... will keep readers riveted.' -- Publishers Weekly - DEEP FREEZE 20070115 'A spine-tingler.' -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer - DEEP FREEZE 20070115 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

A serial killer is turning New Orleans into his personal playground. The victims are killed in pairs - no connection, no apparent motive, no real clues. It's a very sick game, and it's only just begun. Abby Chastain left New Orleans long ago and for good reason. Now she's back where she feels watched, as if the devil himself is scraping a fingernail along her spine. It doesn't help that Detective Reuben Montoya is convinced she's somehow the key to unlocking the murders -- a mystery that has something to do with Our Lady of Virtues Mental Hospital, a decaying old asylum where unspeakable crimes were once committed and a human predator may still wait. As more bodies are found in gruesome, staged scenarios, Montoya and Abby are in a desperate race to stop a killer whose terrifying crimes are bringing them ever nearer to a shocking revelation. For the past is never completely gone. Its sins must be avenged ... --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Lisa Jackson's books are number one bestsellers in America and she tours across the country. She lives with her family, two cats and an eighty-pound dog in the Pacific Northwest. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

A serial killer is on the loose in New Orleans. Carefully selected yin and yang victims are killed in pairs, each crime made to look like a murder/suicide. Abby Chastain's ex-husband is the first victim, and the only lead seems to have something to do with her mother's death at a mental hospital twenty years earlier. Streetwise Detective Reuben Montoya continues to dig for clues while the bodies stack up. Joyce Bean is at her best, narrating the story with flair and conviction. Never reaching too far for a male voice nor overdramatizing the building tension, Bean provides just the right balance for this exciting thriller. T.J.M. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.