The Fourth Victim (The Chapman Files) [Mass Market Paperback]

Tara Taylor Quinn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The author of more than 50 original novels, in twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestseller with more than six million copies sold. Known for delivering deeply emotional and psychologically compelling novels, Ms. Quinn won the 2008 Reader’s Choice Award, is a four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, and has appeared often on local and national TV including CBS Sunday Morning.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mira; Original edition (November 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 077832835X
• ISBN-13: 978-0778328353
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #783,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The author of more than 50 original novels, in twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestseller with over six million copies sold. She is known for delivering deeply emotional and psychologically astute novels of suspense and romance. Tara has appeared on national and local TV across the country, including CBS Sunday Morning. When she's not writing or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They've been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling and dynamic; doesn't get better than this, November 19, 2010

By 

S. Barrett (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Fourth Victim (The Chapman Files) (Mass Market Paperback)

I didn't think the books in The Chapman Files series could get any better than Ms. Quinn's The Third Secret, but her current release, The Fourth Victin surpasses her previous work in masterful suspense. This story is about psychologist Kelly Chapman, and even when she's been kidnapped and is out of commission, the suspense and intrigue move up a notch.

Briefly, the story centers around Kelly Chapman, a thirty-one-year-old national expert witness and psychologist. Kelly in-line skates to relieve tension, a habit she does almost daily. When she ventures out on the skate track one cold December morning in the Rust Belt town of Chandler, Ohio, she is assaulted and awakens in a dark, cold place, hands and feet bound.

Because she is involved with a number of cases, past and present, the FBI is called in. Enter agent Clay Thatcher, whose dedication to finding missing persons becomes personal the more he learns about Kelly.

Determined to find her alive, he leaves no stone unturned, enlisting special agents and local law enforcement officers who include one of Kelly's close friends.

This is not only a thriller, it delves into a complicated plot as the reader learns about the Witness Protection Program, cops gone bad, upstanding citizens who are anything. The story is up-to-date and dynamic, and you learn about characters from previous books as well as the flawed protagonists. Kelly has issues, particularly with being on the victim end of a case, as does the damaged Clay Thatcher. However, these are likable characters who you will cheer all the way to the end.

As in The Third Secret, Ms. Quinn keeps you guessing right until the end. Her story is exciting, dynamic, and very, very well done.

Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Sure What to Think, December 12, 2011

By 

Kelly Moran "Author and Reviewer" (WISCONSIN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Fourth Victim (The Chapman Files) (Mass Market Paperback)

(What's this?)

BLURB: Kelly Chapman, psychologist and expert witness. She's unattached, but 100 percent committed to her clients, her foster child, her friends. Clay Thatcher, FBI special agent: Missing Persons. A loner and, like Kelly, he too is unattached but 100 percent committed to his job--and only his job. That's why he's in Chandler, Ohio. Kelly Chapman has disappeared. Is it because she testified against someone who now wants revenge? Or is she the fourth victim of a killer responsible for three recent deaths? Searching for her, Clay has to work against the clock. And Kelly soon becomes more than just another case to him....

As well known as Tara Taylor Quinn is, this is a first read for me. I really enjoyed her writing style. She inspires riveting characters, deep plots, and emotions. I loved the psychological parts of the book, and the way you walk away from reading knowing about the witness protection program, bad cops, the system. The book was fast-paced, plus it opened and closed with a bang. Kept me guessing. My only fault is I think I needed to read the other books, and in order. I was lost a few times and don't feel I got as much out of the read as I should.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars super Chapman Files thriller, December 4, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Fourth Victim (The Chapman Files) (Mass Market Paperback)

In Chandler, Ohio psychologist Kelly Chapman keeps her distance from everyone including her patients though she diligently tries to help them and the community, which is why she is called the "Fix-it lady". Still even she is surprised when she agrees to be a foster parent to fourteen year old troubled Maggie Winston. While musing about being a loner who cares, Kelly exercises by in-line skating when a car thumps her.

Because Dr. Chapman has been an expert witness on numerous trials, the FBI investigates her disappearance. A loner like Kelly, Missing Persons Special Agent Clay Thatcher leads the inquiry. The more he digs into the life of Dr. Chapman the more he sees the female version of himself. Diligently working the case, he fears the woman he never met but who he is attracted to has become the 4th Victim of a serial killer.

The key to the super fourth Chapman Files thriller (see The 1st Wife, the 2nd Lie and The 3rd Secret) is that the potential romance between the lead couple is treated throughout the suspenseful story line like the early part of the movie Laura. Different in tone from the previous files but action-packed from the moment that the in-line skating shrink is snatched. Fans will relish this entertaining entry as Kelly is the victim and the frantic Fed knows this case has turned personal as he likes what he knows of Dr. Chapman, but fears she is dead.

Harriet Klausner