The Survivors Club [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Lisa Gardner (Author), Becky Ann Baker (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 21, 2002

5 cassettes, 5 hrs. 15 min.

One of today’s most electrifying suspense novelists, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner returns with a shattering thriller that dares to play on our deepest vulnerabilities. In this masterful new novel, the killer may very well be the one you sympathize with the most....

THE FIRST RULE IS NEVER BLAME THE VICTIM.

They survived what no woman should ever have to endure. Now these three women have the means, the opportunity, and the perfect motive. Are they trying to get away with murder--or is someone trying to make sure that this time they don’t get away at all? The Survivors Club. . .that’s what Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen, and Meg Pesaturo call it. They won’t consider themselves victims. They are survivors. They faced the blazing headlines and helped lead the investigation that caught the man who changed their lives forever.

And now that Eddie Como, the College Hill rapist, has been murdered, shot down outside a packed courthouse moments before his trial was about to begin, all three women are openly ecstatic that he’s dead. They are also the prime suspects in his murder. Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin knows all too well what can drive even the best people to cross the line. But he has never seen a case quite like this one. No one doubts that the murder of Eddie Como was a professional job, especially when the gunman is killed only blocks away from the shooting.

But questions taunt Griffin: Who ordered the deaths of Eddie Como and his killer? Could three ordinary women have been driven to do he unthinkable? Had someone in the Survivors Club become a killer? Griffin seeks the truth--and finds himself confronted with the leader of the Survivors Club. Jillian Hayes is beautiful, successful, cool as ice, and she harbors a pain that mirrors Griffin’s own. Did the horror of what happened to her push her over the thin and desperate line that separates survival and revenge? And if it did, could he blame her--or anyone in the Survivors Club? Then another woman is brutally attacked.

Suddenly, with the city on the ragged edge of panic, gripped in a media and political firestorm of controversy, cover-up, and conspiracy, the hunt is on for a ruthless and cunning killer. For Griffin, this may well be the case that shatters his career. For Jillian, the harrowing nightmare is beginning all over again. Someone is out there. Someone who wants to finish what was started. Someone who wants to make sure that no one survives the Survivors Club.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One cannot read this excellent new novel by bestselling author Gardner (The Next Accident) without wondering what actors might play these characters, especially the detectives. (Russell Crowe in his Bud White mode should star as Roan Griffin, and Dennis Franz seems a natural for the rumpled and sarcastic Fitz.) A sensitive but tough Rhode Island state police detective just returned from a bereavement leave (his beloved wife has died of cancer), Griffin encounters a hell of a case: a serial rapist, Eddie Como, is professionally hit in the courthouse parking lot, but whoever set up the kill doesn't want any loose ends: a car bomb results in an extra-crispy assassin. The prime suspects for this crime are Eddie's surviving victims: Jillian Hayes, who was beaten when she nearly caught the man after he raped her young sister, Trisha, who died; Carol Rosen, neglected wife of a successful attorney with a secret, who was raped in her own home; and the first victim, young Meg Pesaturo, who has mob ties but remembers nothing about the attack. But this is only the beginning of the case, for the rapist seems to rise from the dead to strike again and an old nemesis of Griffin's may have everything to do with it. The three-dimensional characterizations are compelling, and the plot barrels along with surprising new twists that feel inevitable once they occur. Though the plot doesn't jell until our hero meets his match in city cop Fitz, the book then rocks and rolls right up to a nail-biter ending coming perhaps a tad too quickly. Roan Griffin is a triumph: hurt, tightly wound, but holding it together and regaining his compassion and ability to reach out. And the grace-note minor characters, the wily nurse Toppi and Jillian's silent former singer mother, Libby, are gems. Gardner should hit the charts again with this one.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

These survivors overcame the consequences of rape, but one of them seems to have taken things too far by murdering the accused rapist. A follow-up to The Accident, the best-selling Gardner's hardcover debut.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio; Abridged edition (May 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553713124
• ISBN-13: 978-0553713121
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,714,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times #1 bestselling crime novelist Lisa Gardner began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has parlayed her interest in police procedure, cutting edge forensics and twisted plots into a streak of thirteen bestselling suspense novels, including her most recent release, Catch Me.

Readers are invited to get in on the fun by entering the annual "Kill a Friend, Maim a Mate" Sweepstakes, where they can nominate the person of their choice to die in Lisa's latest novel. Every year, one Lucky Stiff is selected for Literary Immortality. It's cheaper than therapy, and you get a great book besides. For more details, simply visit Lisa's website.

Lisa lives in New England with her family, as well as two highly spoiled dogs and one extremely neurotic three-legged cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Scary, Engaging Thriller!, August 25, 2002

By 

Christine "loves to read" (Setauket, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Survivors Club (Hardcover)

Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen, and Meg Pesaturo are three women, all from different walks of life, who survived brutal attacks by serial rapist Eddie Como. They form their own version of a support group and call themselves The Survivors Club, under Jillian`s leadership. Ironically they become the prime suspects when Eddie is murdered right before his court appearance and his assassin is blown up as he attempts to leave the scene.

Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin wonders if the three women have collectively conspired to carry out their revenge on Eddie, or if someone one wants to make it look as if they did. Roan must deal with the growing complexities of this case, as well as his own personal demons as he confronts the women. After another woman is attacked, there is more controversy and confusion, especially since the killer is now determined to eliminate each member of the Survivors Club. Roan must now pullout all the stops, even if it costs him his career, and possibly his life.

Lisa Gardner is an extraordinary writer. She serves up witty and upbeat dialogue, eclectic characters and complete pandemonium in this book. The Survivors Club is chock full of enough excitement, chills and thrills to exhaust even the most die-hard suspense fans. Don't miss this one.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So thrilling, I almost did not survive!, July 19, 2002

By 

Joymarie "Lover of the Written Word" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Survivors Club (Hardcover)

Ms. Gardner only gets better with each novel. This is surely her best work so far. She handles the difficult subject of rape in a delicate yet heart-throbbing manner.

The victims of these rapes: Jillian, Carol and Meg, under Jillian's persuasion form 'The Survivors Club'. They are of one mind....push the police to find the rapist/murderer and learn to cope with the violence that has been inflicted upon them. And there is not one of them who doesn't already have several personal problems with which to deal.

These three characters are great. However, Griffin and Fitz head the list in the "my favorite characters" category.

Detective Sargeant Roan Griffin had been on leave from the Rhode Isand State police. On the day he returns he is put in charge of the rape/murder case and must interface with Detective Joseph Fitzpatrick of Sex Crimes for the Providence Police.Fitz is a gruff old bear with a heart of gold, but tough to get to know and appreciate. This in itself, because of the competition between city and state, adds tremendous tension to the scene already unfolding.

Griffin is a strong character and comes across very powerfully. Yet the story behind his leave of absence slowly unfolds and will hold you in its grip for a long, long time after the last chapter is read and the book is on the shelf.

Ms. Gardner is a gifted teller of tales and her constant delving into the procedurals involved show just how diligently she does her homework.

She is to be lauded for her plot, her characters, her knowledge and most of all for her expertise in putting it all together to form one of the best thrillers yet.

Read it, you will enjoy every minute!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular Thriller!, June 19, 2005

By 

Kelly Houser (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Survivors Club (Mass Market Paperback)

Lisa Gardner's "The Survivors Club" is the engrossing tale of 3 rape victims whose attacker is murdered on the first day of the trial for his crime against them. The murder looks like a professional hit and soon the 3 victims are suspects. But just when the women think they may be able to move passed the tragedy that has surrounded them, a young woman is raped and murdered in exactly the same manor that the original 3 women had been attacked and there's a DNA match to the deceased rapist, who always maintained his innocence. The police and the 3 women race against a psychopathic killer's clock to stop him from murdering again and to discover the truth about what really happened to them.

I have never read anything else of Lisa Gardner's, but I will definitely check out her other works now. This novel was just fantastic. I adore a good mystery and that is exactly what "The Survivors Club" is. Excellent character development and plot movement. I couldn't put this book down. I highly recomend it.