Dying Breath [Mass Market Paperback]

Wendy Corsi Staub (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2008

It's summer on the Jersey Shore. Children play on the beach. Husbands are off working in the city. And the surf echoes in the night. Here, in this perfect place, a serial killer has no worries in the world - except choosing the next victim...Cam Hastings has come to Long Beach Island with her teenage daughter and the hope that maybe she can save her failed marriage. Cam has never stopped loving her husband Mike nor has she been able to outrun her flaws and demons - a vanished mother, a lost sister, and the ugly visions she has of missing children...Now, Cam is about to step over the edge. For once, she will act on one of her visions - and then face the consequences. For a killer has just struck again. And for Cam, and the people she loves most, fear has come home for good...

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (May 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420101315
• ISBN-13: 978-1420101317
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #441,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm an award winning, New York Times bestselling suspense novelist of more than 70 novels. All of my adult thrillers and in print backlist are available on Amazon and many are e-books as well. Check out my author website at www.WendyCorsiStaub.com, my reader community site at www.WendyCorsiStaubCommunity.com, and my author page at www.facebook.com/pages/Wendy-Corsi-Staub/43054289209. I'm also a bestselling novelist with the chick lit and romantic comedy I write under the pseudonym "Wendy Markham."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dare To Breathe, April 29, 2008

By 

John B. Valeri (Portland, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dying Breath (Mass Market Paperback)

In Staub's newest novel of suspense, a serial killer stalks the Jersey shore, preying on the most vulnerable of victims-children. The protagonist, Cam Hastings, wife and mother, has visions-visions of children in peril. And for years, she has drowned those visions in the bottle, destroying her marriage in the process. But, as she struggles to put her family back together, the visions return with a vengeance. And, for the first time, Cam decides to act on them-unwittingly placing those she holds most dear in the path of an evil that is hiding in plain sight. Staub's story is tight, and she does a masterful job of bringing this domestic drama to life. The multiple points of view keep you guessing, and red herrings are abundant throughout. As the story rushes to an unforgettable climax, you will find yourself turning the pages at a feverish pace-and you can bet that you will be satisfied with the ending that you never saw coming.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Predictable. Surprising for a usually great author, September 5, 2008

By 

Marlene Rafferty "libran1003" (Brick, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dying Breath (Mass Market Paperback)

Based on the New Jersey Coast (where I live!), a very predictable book,however hard to believe that the serial killer is who it is...I won't give that part away here, but it seems impossible that the person is truly capable of doing such a thing. Her characters in the book are the usual assorted and expected variety: troubled teens, drunk parent, absent-estranged spouse, cop partners at odds, nosy neighbors, society people, wacky, trashy people, so-called "romance", etc., but the storyline is okay...UNTIL you get almost to the end and the killer is revealed, then the entire plot goes downhill and fizzles rather than sizzles.

I was disappointed in her book. I expected so much more from her, as she's usually so much better of an author than this.

I think some of the authors are getting lazier and lazier as time goes on. Either they're running out of ideas or just cranking out books to make money and don't care about the art of writing and storytelling anymore because this is the fourth book I've reviewed this month and three out of the four are lousy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read!, June 21, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dying Breath (Mass Market Paperback)

Cam Hastings's life is falling apart. Her husband has moved out, leaving her to deal with the angst of their teenage daughter pretty much on her own. She's trying to quit drinking, which isn't an easy thing to do. And, oh yeah, she has a couple of secrets:. She has visions and she's pregnant.

Cam's childhood prepared her for none of this. Her older sister seemed to have trouble dealing with visions of her own and is now dead; a mother who walked out on her when she was young; and a free-spirit of a musician father whose drug and alcohol use often makes Cam more the parent to her father than the other way around.

Wendy Corsi Staub has been compared to Mary Higgins Clark for good reason. Even though you may begin to figure some things out fairly early in Dying Breath, you will be so drawn into the story, intrigued with the plot, the characters, and the fine details the author feathers in, your intrigue will keep you bolted to the book to its very satisfying conclusion.

If a novel had volume, Dying Breath would be almost too loud to bear at the end as it builds in intensity and conflict. This is one of those books that will keep you reading way past your bedtime.

This was my first book by Wendy Corsi Staub, and it won't be my last.