Seven Minutes to Noon [Paperback]

Kate Pepper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2005

In a comfortable Brooklyn neighborhood, Alice Halpern waits for her best friend, Lauren, at the local playground. But when Lauren doesn't show up, and then fails to pick her son up from school, Alice watches her own life turn into a nightmare. As the police desperately search for Lauren, who is nearly nine months pregnant, Alice, herself pregnant with twins, realizes she's being followed and has the creeping fear that she'll be next. As the investigation intensifies, Alice is shocked to see her familiar world turned upside down by the list of suspects. And as two new lives grow within her, she must fight to save them, her family-and herself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A gripping story that pulls you in and doesn't let go until the end." --Book Review Café

"From its brief but memorably creepy prologue to its haunting conclusion, [Lief]'s novel is a chilling look at how just a few minutes can turn very ordinary lives upside down..." --Toxic Universe

"In Seven Minutes to Noon...[Lief] takes the fears every mother has for her children and exploits it to a terrifying degree." --Reviewers Choice

"You'll startle at every strange sound.... Best not to be alone when turning the pages of Seven Minutes to Noon." --Bookloons --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Author

All of my international bestselling novels--Five Days in Summer, Seven Minutes to Noon, One Cold Night, and Here She Lies--are now available as ebooks as well as in beautiful new trade paperback editions.

If you like series, take a look at my most recent thrillers, You Are Next and its sequel Next Time You See Me...which Suspense Magazine called "diabolically brilliant."  A third installment is on the way.

I have also written literary, humorous, and young adult novels.

To learn more about my work, please visit my website:  katialief.com

Find me on Facebook:  facebook.com/readkatialief?sk=app_7146470109

Join me on Twitter:  twitter.com/KatiaLief --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Signet; First edition (May 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451215796
• ISBN-13: 978-0451215796
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,636,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Real Page Turner, August 3, 2005

By 

Gale Zasada "www.brownbookloft.com" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seven Minutes to Noon (Paperback)

This mass market paperback looks no more remarkable than the hundreds of others on the shelves at your local bookstore. But in this case, looks can be deceiving. Go ahead and pick it up. You won't be able to put it down.

In the prologue, a young girl sees a fairy floating in the murky canal that runs through the town. But of course, the reader knows that it's a really a dead body. This gives the reader a sense of omniscience about the outcome of the missing woman. Sometimes this ruins the fun in a mystery, but Kate Pepper creates such believable, interesting characters that you just keep hoping that you're wrong.

The story is told primarily through the eyes of Alice Halpern, a happily married woman with two children who is now expecting twins. It is her pregnant friend, Lauren, who is missing. Alice and Lauren are just part of a very close circle of friends who enjoy backyard barbecues and play dates with the kids. When Lauren disappears, the suspicion eventually falls on a very powerful person who may have a reason to want to make Alice and her unborn children disappear, too.

The police take a very keen interest in this case and a female detective is available to Alice at all times of the day and night. Since this story takes place in Brooklyn, New York, I found this to be a rather questionable phenomenon. But this book has such engrossing plotlines that I was willing to forgive a little uncharacteristic behavior.

This would be a fantastic book to take someplace where you have a long, boring wait. The time will just fly by.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a frightening mystery, well written...., June 22, 2005

By 

Laurel Johnson (Kansas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seven Minutes to Noon (Paperback)

This mystery suspense thriller is one of the best I've ever read. I could not and did not set this book aside until I'd finished it! Through Pepper's skill, reality becomes far scarier than supernatural hauntings could ever be.

Alice Halpern, Lauren Barnet, and Maggie Blue are close friends, closer than sisters. They live in a cozy Brooklyn neighborhood of tidy brownstones, shade trees, flower gardens and well kept parks. Folks can walk from place to place, visiting small businesses and eateries without fear. Alice and

Lauren are both pregnant and excited about the prospect, moreso because the experience is shared by friends. Alice and Maggie co-own an upscale shoe store. Life is good, until a horror none of them could possibly imagine wrecks their comfortable world.

When Lauren fails to meet Alice in the park or pick up her son from school, Maggie and Alice are excited. They just know Lauren has gone into labor. Excitement soon gives way to dread when Lauren can't be found in area hospitals. One day passes, then two and three with no word from their friend. Where could an almost nine month pregnant woman be? Maggie and

Alice are on hand when Lauren's decomposing body is pulled from a nearby canal. Her baby has been surgically removed through an amateurish incision in Lauren's abdomen. The sight of her friend's dead body and the missing baby haunts Alice. Who would kill a mother in plain sight and take her baby? And why?

Alice imagines a seedy stranger is following her. She fears for her unborn twins. That fear is shared by detectives with the Brooklyn Police Department because Lauren is not the first pregnant woman to die in such a way. Clues are few and far between. Soon no one is safe from harm, not even Alice's realtor, as a vicious killer stalks them all. The truth, once

fully revealed, gave me chills and made my hair stand on end.

The truest horrors are those that invade our secure worlds. Kate Pepper did an amazing job of invading mine with Seven Minutes to Noon. This story is one I won't forget. For lovers of the genre, or readers who crave exemplary writing, it's highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't read this fast enough!, May 5, 2005

By 

Tina Myers "book worm" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Seven Minutes to Noon (Paperback)

This book is like a car accident that you pass on the road. You want to hurry yourself along to be able to see what happened, and even though you know it's going to be bad, you can't stop your curiosity. The story is about three women friends in NYC who live and work together, intermingling their husbands and kids in a cozy tableau of life. Two of the women, the narrator Alice, and her friend Lauren, are pregnant. When Lauren goes missing on her way to a Pilates class in the 9th month of her pregnancy, you know she didn't just hit her head and suffer amnesia. The harrowing journey into the unknown, the fear of losing a friend who is more like a sister, and the grief that comes when her body is found, resonates strongly in this story. Even though the plot is one that is fairly transparent, what surprised me about this story was the beautiful way with words this author has. She has the ability to deftly draw parallels with lovely word choices, so much so that I almost find myself holding my breath until the next great image comes into focus. A solid book that I enjoyed very much. I'll go back and read this author's first book, and eagerly await her third book!