Most Likely to Die [Paperback]

Lisa Jackson (Author), Wendy Corsi Staub (Author), Beverly Barton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007

It's been twenty years since the night Jake Marcott was brutally murdered at St. Elizabeth High School. It's a night that shattered the lives of Lindsay Farrell, Kirsten Daniels, and Rachel Alsace. It's a night they'll never forget. A killer will make sure of that...A 20-year reunion has been scheduled for St. Elizabeth's. For some alumni, very special invitations have been sent: their smiling senior pictures slashed by an angry red line...Three women have been marked for death. Tonight, as the music plays, and the doors of St. Elizabeth are sealed, a killer will finish what was started long ago, and the sins of the past will be paid for in blood...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite individual success in the field of suspense, the first collaboration of Jackson (Fatal Burn), Staub (The Final Victim) and Barton (Dangerous Deception) is likely to disappoint their fans. The plot line will ring familiar to slasher movie buffs: a 20-year high school reunion triggers a series of brutal murders committed to avenge an old grievance. In this case, the original sin is the crossbow slaying of popular hunk Jake Marcott, the object of desire for much of the graduating class of Portland, Ore.'s St. Elizabeth's High School, on the night of the St. Valentine's Day Dance. The trauma has become a distant wound for the women who loved him until the 2006 reunion plans spark new killings, and three classmates, Rachel, Kristen and Lindsay, must race to unmask the murderer before they themselves fall victim. Unfortunately, the authors don't do very much to keep the identity of the murderer hidden from the reader, seriously hindering their efforts to wring suspense from the cookie-cutter scenario. (Feb.)
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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Zebra; First Printing Stated edition (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821775766
• ISBN-13: 978-0821775769
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( J ) > Jackson, Lisa
  • #68 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Anthologies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Read, March 5, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Most Likely to Die (Paperback)

Three friends from high school are forced to confront a ghost from their past when they come together for their twenty-year class reunion. For Kristen Daniels Delmonico, what happened that night in 1986 at the St. Valentine's Day dance, has haunted her life ever since. Her lost love colors her separation with her soon-to-be ex-husband, even extending to her relationship with her angst-ridden, headstrong teenage daughter. So the last thing she wants is to be put in charge of the reunion committee.

Lindsay Farrell and Rachel Alsace also remember that night filled with fear and horror. They dread revisiting the ghosts of their past. But one person is excited that there will be a twentieth-anniversary celebration. This person has been planning this day for a long time, and is eager to relive the night is all its gory glory. As alumni are murdered one by one, it's up to the three former best friends to stop the killer. First though, they have to figure out who it is.

Told in three sections by each of the three main characters, the story is beautifully and smoothly integrated. The book starts from Kristen's point of view, as written by Lisa Jackson. Lindsay's perspective is up next, written by Wendi Corsi Staub. To finish the spine-tingling tale, comes Rachel's part of the story is written by Beverly Barton. Each author has a distinctive style, and yet together they blend into a wonderfully taut, unique, and chilling voice. Beverly Barton did an outstanding job tying all the threads together, using the other two authors' sneaky placement of red herrings to optimum effect.

A frightening roller coaster of a story guaranteed to keep readers hanging on every page, Most Likely To Die tops my list of this year's "Most Likely to Be A Number One Bestseller," with just cause.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book, kept me guessing, February 19, 2007

By 

Love to read (The Berkshires, U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Most Likely to Die (Paperback)

I agree with Harriet Klausner (see her review). I totally enjoyed this book. Thought it was suspenseful and I couldn't guess who the killer was until nearly the end. The authors did a wonderful job of writing this story togehter, they each have their own style but you couldn't tell that there was more than one author writing this. I hope that they decide to do another! I thought this was an enjoyable read, kept me glued to the pages. Enjoy!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Reviews by Nan Kilar - 2 1/2 stars at most, April 16, 2008

By 

Bobby W. Miller "KILL ME IF YOU CAN" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Most Likely to Die (Paperback)

Yes, these three authors got together and wrote an overly long story. Each wrote about one of the main characters, and it all blended pretty well. The wrap-up ending was from a soapy soap opera. The current, very predictable love match-ups were as much a part of the story as the mystery.

One of the teen boys was killed at the 1986 Valentines Day dance at St. Elizabeth's Catholic HS. Twenty years later, the alumni are planning a reunion and the women on the committee are dieing. It was assumed Jake's killer had resurfaced and was killing again after twenty years. The murderer's secret hideout was too far-fetched; the disguises too obvious; cleverness way too much. Overall, don't waste full price money on this one.