Mouth to Mouth [Hardcover]

Michael Kimball (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2000

On a beautiful summer day, Ellen Chambers watches helplessly as her beloved teenage daughter marries the worst possible man. Ellen knows her new son-in-law has violent tendencies and is certain to make Moreen's life hell. As she wonders wistfully if it's possible to get away with murder, a handsome young stranger leans in to her and whispers, "It is."

The uninvited wedding guest is Neal Chambers, whom Ellen last saw twelve years earlier. The boy who left town in the wake of a family tragedy has grown into a disarmingly attractive man. And Ellen, whose own marriage is crumbling, is desperately in need of a friend. Neal's offer of friendship -- not to mention his offer to help out around the farm--seems to come at a perfect time.

But by accepting Neal's gifts of comfort, Ellen is inadvertently setting in motion events that will rock her world to its foundations, events that are pulling Ellen and Neal together into an inescapable web of lies, secrets, betrayals, and death...

From its first unsettling pages to its electrifying end, Mouth to Mouth is a novel of unparalleled power and suspense.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Many good suspense novels feature an imperiled heroine vaguely unaware of what's obvious to the reader, in this case, that the new man in her life is bad news. But Ellen Chambers, the protagonist of Kimball's second thriller (after Undone), remains in the dark about dangerous Neal Chambers for far too long; her excessive naivete is the one weak point in this otherwise solid psychological thriller. The mysterious young man is the nephew of Ellen's husband, Scott, whom they haven't seen for 12 years, since the day a family tragedy occurred. Neal appears suddenly at the wedding of Ellen's pregnant teenage daughter, Moreen, and stays on to help out Ellen and Scott rebuild the barn on their sheep farm in Destin, Maine. Alarm bells ring along with wedding bells in the opening chapter, when Ellen is worried sick about her rude, crude and violent new son-in-law. When Neal hints that he's going to somehow protect Ellen's family, the distressed mother trusts her nephew-by-marriage and overlooks how bizarre Neal really is. But Ellen should know better, as she's kept the terrible secret of the family's bloody, adulterous past for more than a decade. Jonathan, Neal's father and Scott's brother, hung himself when Ellen relayed her discovery that his wife was having an affair with Scott. The disturbed Neal has come back into the lives of his relatives with a sinister agenda, and Ellen's increasingly foolhardy intimacy with Neal provides an aggravating pothole in an otherwise clear descent into terror. Thankfully, once Ellen catches on, the tone of the book sharpens dramatically. Intelligently crafted plot twists come at top speed, revealing interlocking family secrets, deaths to be avenged, hidden patterns to be discovered. The denouement is one gripping cliffhanger after another, a chilling melange of vengeance and obsession that will keep readers glued to the page. Agent, Howard Morhaim. (Feb.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Ellen Chambers is unable to stop her teenage daughter from marrying an abusive man ten years her senior, and her husband, Scott, refuses to see any problem. So when an attractive man appears at the wedding and tells Ellen it would be easy enough to get rid of her new son-in-law, a small part of her is ready to listen. The would-be helper is her husband's nephew, Neal. He soon demonstrates his ability to accomplish anything he wants, whether it is remodeling Ellen's barn in 12 days or convincing her that he has the perfect way to kill her daughter's new husband. In his second thriller, Kimball (Undone) seduces the reader just as successfully. He has created characters on which we want Neal to wreak his brand of justice, then makes us painfully aware of the finality and horror of that justice. Though he draws the climax out a bit, the story and characters are compelling and believable. Recommended for all public libraries.AJane Jorgenson, Madison P.L.
Pinney Branch, WI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company; 1st edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380978202
• ISBN-13: 978-0380978205
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,073,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A review of Mouth to Mouth from MY mouth, March 2, 2000

By 

Jocelyn Frechette - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mouth to Mouth (Hardcover)

I loved Michael Kimball's UNDONE, his second book, because it was a real page-turner. So I was excited to pick up MOUTH TO MOUTH! My only complaint is that I am so tired because I stayed up most of the night wanting to finish it. But it was worth getting exhausted! (Funny how I didn't notice how tired I was when I was reading it!) Kimball is the master of the plot twist. I can guarantee you will not know what is going to happen until the very end. And his characters! I think Kimball plays on the reader's willingness to believe in the inate goodness of people. Well, don't! (I can't say more without ruining the story for you!) My advice? Get the book! But don't open it until you've got a few days' worth of meals ready to put on the table and you are all caught up with the laundry so you won't have your reading interrupted by such mundane chores such as meal preparation, folding clothes, etc.!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Erotic Imagery, May 6, 2000

By 

Eustacia Vye "Eusatcia Vye" (Encino, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mouth to Mouth (Hardcover)

Mouth to Mouth is an intelligent, erotic and suspenseful ride into the secrets that tear families apart. However, it's very revolting images are not for the faint of heart. You will appreciate your nice quiet families after this one!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars looking for unknowns? THIS IS WHERE TO START!, March 14, 2000

By 

"maryiball" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mouth to Mouth (Hardcover)

This book, Mouth to Mouth, is absolutely riveting. At first it moves a little slowly, then it picks you up so you do not want to put it down. If you like suspense and you've run out of talented authors, this is where you need to go. I initially read the book for odd reasons, but with the realistic setting (being from the region it takes place in), to the undeniably complex, yet completely believable and real characters, I am looking forward to reading other novels by Michael Kimball.