Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton, Wendy Corsi Staub, Most Likely To Die

Most Likely To Die

Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton, Wendy Corsi Staub

Zebra, Feb 2007, $7.99, 477 pp.

ISBN: 0821775766

In 1986, in Portland Oregon, the St. Valentine's Day dance at St. Elizabeth's High School is in full swing. When Jake Marcott disappeared from the dance he went to the maze to meet a girl but instead he is killed by an arrow straight through his heart, impaling him to a tree. No suspect is ever found and after two decades, the case is considered cold.

On the twentieth year after the events of the St. Valentine's dance, Kirsten, Jake's girlfriend at the time, is selected to coordinate the school's reunion since it will be torn down next year. Separated from her husband Ross, she finds someone begins stalking her, getting into her house and marking up certain women's invitations to the reunion. Ross takes her and their daughter to his home for their safety. Lindsey, Jake's ex-girlfriend is also in danger with the killer almost killing her in her own home. Two of the women on the committee are killed and the police think it is an accident but others think it was murder. Rachel, a southern police officer who is going to the reunion, traces everything to one killer. She goes through the old records with Dean McMichael, an old friend and now something more. They work together because they know the killer has targeted at least three other women and must be stopped before someone else dies.

When Lisa Jackson, Beverly Barton, and Wendy Corsi team up, they produce one of the most frightening thrillers of the year. Although each writer has their own style, MOST LIKELY TO DIE is written so smoothly it is impossible to figure who wrote what. The characters in their traumatic circumstances are totally realistic making this feel like a real crime drama and one work readers will definitely remember.

Harriet Klausner