Lisa Jackson Almost Dead

Almost Dead

Lisa Jackson

Zebra , August 2007, $7.99, 44

ISBN 978821775796

Although Jack admits spending the night at Larissa's house he denies sleeping with her but his wife Cissy Cahill refuses to believe him. She tossed him out and filed for divorce; he tries to believe she doesn't love him any more. When she takes her son to visit his grandmother Eugenia she discovers the woman lying at the top of the steps in her own blood. Both Cissy and the police believe the killer was her mother Marla who was in prison for murder, but escaped.

Cissy falls under siege when someone, assumed to be Marla, killed her uncle who lived in a home for the mentally challenged. The next victim is Cherisse, Cissy's second cousin. At this point, Jack moves back home, fearing for the life of his wife and son but when the killer strikes again, she forces the pair to act because she is keeping alive someone they cherish dearly.

Lisa Jackson has written another fantastic crime thriller with enough romance to appeal to fans of both genres. Nothing is as it seems in the plot as the author takes the reader constantly down the wrong paths until she is ready to reveal who the killer is. The key characters seem real especially Detective Paterno and the lead couple while several plausible solid twists add tension to a terrific thriller.

Harriet Klausner