Last Known Victim [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Erica Spindler (Author), Susan Ericksen (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2007

August 2005. Amid death and destruction, hurricane-savaged New Orleans has a new dark force to fear. As the rescue efforts unfold, a grisly discovery is made at one of the massive refrigerator “graveyards.” One of these metal hulks contains six human hands - all female, all right hands. The press has dubbed the unknown perpetrator “The Handyman.” But with no way to trace the origin of this refrigerator, and with evidence lost to time and the elements, the case dead-ends. Captain Patti O’Shay is a straight-arrow, by-the-book cop who is assigned to the case. Her tough, unflinching character is fractured when her husband and fellow police captain is found murdered - surprised by looters taking advantage of the post-storm chaos. August 2007 Patti, still grieving and disillusioned, gets a call from homicide: skeletal remains have been unearthed in City Park. The unknown victim - a female - is missing her right hand. But for Patti, this grave holds something even more shocking. Found beside the victim’s bones is her husband’s police badge. Casting aside the very “rule book” by which she has lived her life, Patti is fearless - but so is the killer. As he stalks her she is forced to question all she believes in, to doubt the code she has lived by…because she knows that if she doesn’t find The Handyman first, she will become his last known victim.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters failed to wash away evil in bestseller Spindler's grim vision of New Orleans. In the storm's aftermath, police discover a refrigerator stocked with severed right hands, evidence in a string of bizarre murders attributed to The Handyman. A shallow grave containing a hand-less body and the badge of Sammy O'Shay, an NOPD captain shot and killed during the hurricane, convinces Capt. Patti O'Shay that the Handyman is responsible for her husband's death. Meanwhile, exotic dancer Yvette Borger claims to have received cryptic, obsessive love notes signed The Artist, but the NOPD questions her motives and credibility. When O'Shay picks up on similarities between her Handyman and Borger's Artist, the by-the-book captain finds herself bending the rules to get to the heart of the stripper's story. While strong female leads compete for space, overwritten backstory and subplot sometimes drag on the investigation's urgency. Spindler (Cause for Alarm) hints throughout at the killer's psychology, but nothing prepares for the ludicrous diagnosis offered at the end. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A classic confrontation between good and evil." -- Publishers Weekly on Dead Run

"Addictively suspenseful." -- New Mystery Reader on Copycat

"Another spine-tingling thriller . . . with a twisted ending. Copycat will keep you on the edge of your chair and up for hours turning page after page." -- Writers Unlimited

"Creepy and compelling, In Silence is a real page-turner." -- Times Picayune

"If you enjoy the suspense of the classic 'woman in jeopardy' mystery, See Jane Die makes perfect beach reading." -- Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Spindler's latest moves fast and takes no prisoners. An intriguing look into the twisted mind of someone for whom murder is simply a business." -- Publishers Weekly on Cause for Alarm

All Fall Down is "shocking, emotional, an engrossing read." -- Stella Cameron, author of Kiss Them Goodbye

Spindler "is able to effectively weave a web of suspicion over a great number of characters, gradually eliminating suspects -- by mortality or otherwise -- but making it almost impossible to predict the outcome." -- Bookreporter.com on Killer Takes All --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423338081
• ISBN-13: 978-1423338086
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)

More About the Author

A New York Times and International bestselling author, Erica Spindler's skill for crafting engrossing plots and compelling characters has earned both critical praise and legions of fans. Published in 25 countries, her stories have been lauded as "thrill-packed page turners, white- knuckle rides and edge-of-your-seat whodunits."

Raised in Rockford, Illinois, Erica had planned on being an artist, earning a BFA from Delta State University and an MFA from the University of New Orleans in the visual arts. In June of 1982, in bed with a cold, she picked up a romance novel for relief from daytime television. She was immediately hooked, and soon decided to try to write one herself. She leaped from romance to suspense in 1996 with her novel Forbidden Fruit, and found her true calling.

Her novel Bone Cold won the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence. A Romance Writers of America Honor Roll member, she received a Kiss of Death Award for her novels Forbidden Fruit and Dead Run and was a three-time RITA® Award finalist. Publishers Weekly awarded the audio version of her novel Shocking Pink a Listen Up Award, naming it one of the best audio mystery books of 1998.

Erica lives just outside New Orleans, Louisiana, with her husband and two sons and is busy at work on her next thriller.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Her Best, October 15, 2007

By 

Cecilia Sheppard (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Known Victim (STP - Mira) (Hardcover)

This book was decent, but it was not Erica Spindler's best. There was suspense, but the book was overloaded with characters who had confusing relationships and the end was simply ridiculous. I say give it a read, but get it from the library.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, Fast-Paced Read, January 1, 2008

By 

KLR "KLR" (Vicksburg, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Known Victim (STP - Mira) (Hardcover)

The book was a fast, engrossing read that held my attention throughout. I really liked the setting of post-Katrina in New Orleans and thought it made a great location for a murder mystery. However, it seemed as if all the characters were related to each other and I was confused by the family ties. I also questioned how realistic it was that the captain would be investigating her own husband's murder...wouldn't this be a conflict of interest? I didn't find that part believable but overall a very good read and one I recommend to fellow mystery/suspense readers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a home favorite, May 8, 2011

By 

pam_06 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Known Victim (Kindle Edition)

Our book club read two of Erica's novels (See Jane Die, and Killer Takes All). When we spoke with her on the phone at our book club meeting, and she filled us in on the plot of her new book, Last Known Victim, we just had to read it. I am from New Orleans, and it was like being at home when reading - I could visualize the places and felt like I was there while reading the events that took place. I can't wait to read her new book! I was planning on ordering it on Kindle, but I'll wait to see if I win the autographed copy!