Customer Reviews

The Survivors Club

5 star:		(57)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

Amazing! A very good book from the beginning to the very end. You'll not find a way to put it down. You'll not loose the interest until the last page.
I strongly recommend this book for those who like a good reading and a very good suspense.

Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen and Meg Pesaturo belong to "The Survivors Club," a group of three women living in Providence, Rhode Island, who meet regularly after having been victimized by the same rapist. Jillian, the de facto leader of the group, lost her beloved younger sister, Trisha, at the hands of the rapist. The criminal then savagely beat Jillian when she unwittingly walked into her sister's apartment after the rapist had attacked and killed Trisha. Jillian, Carol and Meg still bear the emotional scars of their encounters with the man who robbed them of their security and their peace of mind.

After putting a great deal of pressure on the police and airing their case in the media, the members of the Survivors Club are gratified when a suspect, Eddie Como, is arrested for the rapes. DNA evidence found at all the crime scenes appears to prove conclusively that Como is the rapist, although he insists that he is innocent. The case is blown wide open, however, when Como is gunned down by a hired killer on the day that his trial is about to begin.

Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin of the Providence State Police is brought into the case after having been off the force for a year. He had suffered a meltdown after the death of his beloved young wife, and after he discovered that his next door neighbor and friend was both a pedophile and a serial killer. Griffin joins forces with the local police to reopen the investigation of the rapes and to find out who paid to have Como killed. Could one or all of the members of the Survivors Club have paid a killer to murder Eddie Como? As Griffin's investigation continues, he discovers that this case is far more complicated than anyone has previously realized. Griffin is also drawn to Jillian Hayes, a beautiful and vulnerable woman who has built a shell around herself since Trisha's death.

Lisa Gardner has written a satisfying thriller with wonderfully drawn characters and plenty of twists and turns. The author effectively describes the terrible psychological effects of rape on both the victims and their families. Gardner sympathetically portrays the difficulty of carrying on with one's life after suffering a severe trauma. The mystery is well handled, and Gardner, for the most part, avoids the melodramatic touches that have marred her books in the past. I recommend "The Survivors Club" highly. It is a fascinating look into the lives of criminals and their victims, and it is a riveting novel of suspense.

"The Survivors Club", first published in 2002, is the fifth novel Lisa Gardner has published under her own name. She has also published thirteen other novels under the name "Alicia Scott".

It's a big day in Providence : Eddie Como, more widely known as the College Hill Rapist, is about to face trial. Nobody seems to be expecting anything other than a guilty verdict - details of the evidence are fairly sketchy in the early part of the book, though it appears his DNA was found at the scenes of the attacks. When Como is killed on his way to the courthouse, it's hard to see too many people being upset. When the assassin is killed immediately afterwards, however, it leaves two murders needing investigated.

The immediate assumption in certain quarters is that the Survivors Club - Jillian Hayes (a hardworking, polished, educated businesswoman who looks after her mother), Carol Rosen (a blue-eyed blonde socialite who lives in a mansion and does a lot of good work for charity) and Meg Pesaturo (the sweet, beautiful nineteen year old, whose big brown eyes send men weak at the knees) - had something to do with it. All three had survived attacks by the College Hill Rapist, although Jillian's sister wasn't so lucky. The three had held regular press conferences together, in an attempt to pressurise the police into pushing forward with the case. Nevertheless, it was always clear that Jillian was very much in control.

Meanwhile, Detective Sergeant Roan Griffen is facing his first day back on duty with Rhode Island's Statement Police Department in eighteen months. Griffen, a widower, wasn't a vacation but rather on an enforced period of medical leave - the investigation into the Candy Man Case had left him a little `twitchy'. He's a little nervous about his first day back, and still raw about his wife's death. Naturally, before he's even made it to the police station, he's assigned to a certain very high-profile double murder.

"The Survivors Club" was something of a disappointment to me : even though this is only the second book by Gardner I've read, I already know she's capable of much better. There was an odour of laziness about the story - the more I read, the more it became a very ordinary thriller-by-numbers. There was absolutely nothing original about Griffen (the tragic cop who has seen "the true nature of the abyss") or Jillian Hayes (the hard-nosed control freak you just KNOW is hiding a heart of gold) - together, they form a pair of clichés you could find in any lazy thriller anywhere. The identity of the villain came as no surprise whatsoever, and when the final confrontation came I was half-expecting a shout of "If it wasn't for those pesky kids...". Very ordinary overall.

When I read, I read strictly for entertainment. I want to be drawn into the plot and entertained by the characters. Lisa Gardner didn't draw me into the plot of The Survivors Club-she yanked me into it head first! From page one to the end, the suspense never lets up. I didn't think Ms. Gardner could top her last book, boy was I wrong.

The story opens with two men trying to plot the perfect brutal assault crimes without getting caught. They discuss theories and discard methods that haven't worked. Let me tell you it's unnerving to read something discussed so casually. Cut to the courthouse where a man is set to go on trial for brutally assaulting and raping three women and one who didn't survive the nightmare. Up on the rooftop lies an assassin waiting for the perfect shot to take the man out. The moment arrives, he fires, escapes to his awaiting car only blocks away. He starts the engine, boom-his car explodes. Meanwhile back on the job for his first day after an eighteen-month medical leave is a state policeman. He had witnessed the agonizing death of his wife while taking down the man known as the "Candy Man", a pedophile who killed ten small children and just happened to be the his next door neighbor. Thrown into the mix is three women who form the Survivors Club to deal with the trauma they have each went through. Three women, who come from different walks in life, with nothing in common other than they have survived every woman's worst nightmare. This is pretty intense stuff especially when you consider it's just the first three chapters of the book. But hey, Ms. Gardner doesn't let up there, chapter after chapter throws new curves that keeps this story as fresh and compelling as the first three chapters.

This book was mesmerizing. I'm sure there will be those out there who will criticize the fact that there was no romance in the book, or those who will think Ms. Gardner strayed into the unbelievable area on DNA and police procedures. But for someone who reads strictly for entertainment, this book has it all. Grab a copy and settle down for a fascinating journey with The Survivors Club. You won't be sorry.

Carol Rosen and Meg Pesaturo were both raped by the College Hill Rapist. Jillian Hayes wasn't raped, but her younger sister Trsiha died while being raped by the College Hill Rapist. Three women drawn together by one man form the Survivors Club - a support group and activist group all in one. Together they are strong and united with Jillian as their leader and spokeswomen - but things are about to change.

Eddie Como was the man that was caught and charged with the crime and there was perfect DNA evidence to prove it. The first day of his trial a snipers bullet kills him - and hen the sniper dies too. Starting his first day back on the job after 18 months, Detective Roan Griffin was not expecting to find himself involved in one of the biggest cases of the year. But something is not right, there is a puppet master pulling the strings of this case and they have to figure out what is happeing - especially when the College Hill Rapist attacks another woman after his death.

This book was amazing, and the ending was one that was not expected. The characters are well written and the suspense is agonising, especially as you think you work out the story at least a half dozen times before the end of the story. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to get my hands on other books by this author. If you did like this book then try reading Tess Gerritsen who has the smae amazing ability to drag you into the story, churn you around in the story, and then spit you out at the end feeling as though you have been on a rollercoaster ride.

After reading The Next Accident, I was eagerly awaiting the newest release from Lisa Gardner. I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed in the least.

This is a fine book for many reasons. The plot races along and takes the reader through many mindbending twists and turns. Gardner has the ability to leave readers shaking their heads and times while keeping the story plausible and believable. The ending has all the marks of a great thriller and will please both her fans and new readers of her work.

While the plot of the novel is excellent, the aspect of this book that sets it above most run-of-the-mill novels of this genre is the strong characters that Gardner uses. Griffin is one of the best cop characters that I can remember reading about is some time, while Fitz plays his foil to perfection. The three women members of the Survivors Club are also well developed, especially the younger Meg. Surprisingly, Jillian's mother, a stroke victim who has lost her ability to speak and communicates by tapping, is one of the most gripping characters in the book.

This is a fine novel that readers will not forget. It is violent at times, sad at others, while remaining interesting always. Highly recommended.

This is the best Lisa Gardner book I have read yet. She is a great author and I could not put this book down. I adored Griffin, the cop in charge of the investigation. I hope she brings him back in another book one day!! The story itself was intricate and well written. Everything was explained neatly in the end and nothing was left hanging. I like that. The suspense was mighty and the romance kept to a minimum. I like that, too. But best of all this story was poignant and I was in tears much of the time. With the death of Griffin's wife, Carol's messed up marriage, Meg's messed up family, and the effect the rapes had on these victims, this was a very meaningful and sensitive book. I thought Ms. Gardner portrayed these emotions brilliantly. It is a deep, and sometimes raw read that leaves you feeling very sympathetic to a rape victim. This is one of the best books I have ever read and it ranks up there with a Joy Fielding novel. It has all the elements I enjoy in a story and I highly recommend it!