Suspicion (Private) [Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Kate Brian (Author), Cassandra Campbell (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2, 2009 | Series: Private

Forbidden fruit...Reed, Noelle, and former Billings Girls Kiran and Taylor have been living it up on St. Barths over winter break. The tropical sun has melted away all the tensions of last semester, and for the first time in months, Reed is happy. She's got her best friends by her side, she has a palatial suite with an ocean view, and she's landed Upton, the most sought-after guy on the island. Reed is falling in love.But dating Upton makes Reed St. Barths' highest-profile guest-and not in a good way. Upton has a dark past, and he has broken a lot of hearts. One of his exes still wants him. And she'll do whatever it takes to get Reed out of the picture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kieran Scott writes under the pen name Kate Brian, whose best-known books are The Princess and the Pauper, Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys, The Virginity Club, Sweet 16, Fake Boyfriend, and the prolific Private series. Several books in the Private series have been on the New York Times children's bestseller list as well as the USA Today bestseller list. Cassandra Campbell has recorded nearly two hundred audio books and directed many more. She has been nominated for and won multiple Audie Awards, as well as the prestigious Odyssey Award. She has received numerous starred audio reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Library Journal as well as thirteen AudioFile Earphones Awards. Cassandra was also named a Best Voice by AudioFile for 2009 and 2010.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

SURVIVAL

The important thing is not to panic.

Like that was even possible. My heart pounded erratically in my chest, radiating terror through my veins. I had been treading water in the dark of night for maybe ten minutes, but it might as well have been ten hours. The floaty chiffon gown that had seemed so light and airy when I had selected it for the Ryans' Casino Night now clung to my skin and tangled around my legs, threatening to pull me down. Down into the deep, dark depths of the ocean where who-knew-what disgusting, slimy, razor-toothed things were waiting to nibble on my toes and fingers and --

No.

No. No. No. It was going to be okay. It was, it was, it was. If I could just keep my eye on the Ryans' boat, everything would be fine. I could still hear the piano music drifting across the Caribbean Sea, could still make out the cheers as a guest won big at the card tables. As long as I could see the boat there was the possibility it might come back for me. I stared at the merrily twinkling lights on the deck as the vessel sailed back toward St. Barths and willed it to turn. Sent a silent panic signal to anyone who might care. Noelle. Upton. Kiran. Dash. Taylor. Tiffany. Someone please just realize I'm not there. Someone go looking for me. Someone, anyone, hear me.

I caught a stray shout and my heart leapt with hope. But the shout was followed by a peal of laughter. They were just obliviously going about their partying. Everyone I knew on the island was on that boat. And it was quickly floating out of reach.

The important thing is not to panic.

But the mantra wasn't working. Someone on that boat had tried to kill me. Someone had torn off the ridiculously expensive diamond necklace I'd been wearing -- Noelle's necklace -- and shoved me overboard into the frigid water. A slim, hooded figure. Average height. That was all I had seen after plunging into the sea and struggling to the surface. A hooded figure slinking away, the white trim on the black hood practically glowing in the moonlight. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, old or young, but I had my suspicions. Poppy Simon, Paige Ryan, or Sienna Marquez. They were all jealous of me. They all wanted Upton Giles, my new sort-of boyfriend. One of them clearly wanted him enough to murder me and get me out of the way.

And it looked like she was going to succeed.

No.

I was not going to let her win. Whichever one of those psychos had done this was going to be sorely disappointed. I couldn't wait until she saw me alive. I was going to walk up to her and spit in her face. And right after I did that, I was getting the hell off of St. Barths. This place was pure evil. I would have been better off vacationing on the time-hopping torture island from Lost.

The skirt of my dress wrapped around my right ankle and held fast, restricting my movement. Without a second thought I reached for the zipper at the side of the gown and, my cold fingers trembling and slipping, managed to yank it down. After a brief struggle I was free of the thing. It floated off on the waves like a lazy sapphire-blue cloud bobbing in the wind. Instantly, I felt twenty pounds lighter, and proud of myself for having made such a wise decision. I took a deep breath and realized that I was moving my arms much faster than I needed to, so I forced myself to slow down. Soon my heart rate calmed and my breathing stabilized. This was much better. I was strong. I was an athlete. I could tread water like this for hours.

Maybe. How long could a person tread water, technically? I had no idea. It wasn't a fact I'd ever thought I would need to know, hailing as I did from a landlocked state. But here I was, little Reed Brennan of Croton, Pennsylvania, treading for her life, half naked in the Caribbean Sea.

How the hell had I gotten here?

"I picked the wrong guy," I answered aloud. "Again."

My voice sounded odd and unbearably lonely. I resolved not to talk anymore. But now that I'd started thinking of Upton, I couldn't stop. If only I had stuck to my original instinct and steered clear of him, none of this would be happening. But how could I have resisted a gorgeous, incredible, worldly British guy coming at me full force with all his talk of how different and amazing I was? I was only human. And yeah, maybe he had been with a lot of girls, but how was I supposed to know that one of them was going to turn out to be homicidal?

Come on, Reed. Try learning from experience.

I looked at the boat and my entire body jolted with terror. The lights were winking in and out on the horizon. Winking. Winking. Winking. And then they were gone.

I whirled around with a splash, searching the endless waterscape. There had to be another boat. A light. A buoy. Anything. But all I could see for miles was the deep blue of the ocean, lit by the thousands of stars overhead. No land, no vessels, nothing. Nothing but water. I was alone. Alone and adrift in the middle of nowhere.

No one was coming for me. I was going to drown out here. By myself. In the dark. They would never even find my body. I was going to drift out here forever at the bottom of the ocean.

No. Stop. Just stop.

I couldn't let myself go there. Couldn't think that way. No matter how true it felt in that moment, I could not start thinking the worst. I had survived so much. I could survive this. I just had to give my tired limbs a break. I took a deep breath and forced myself to lie back and float, even though it meant taking my eyes off the horizon. I would float for a few minutes, regain my strength, and then start treading again. It was going to be okay. It was all going to be okay.

The stars formed a close-knit blanket across the sky. I had never seen so many in my life. It was beautiful. If it was the last thing I saw, it wouldn't be so bad. I wondered what it would be like to drown. Whether it would hurt. I thought of Thomas Pearson and the awful manner in which he had died, murdered by a girl who claimed to love him. A crazy girl with a baseball bat. I wished he were here with me now. If I only had the chance, I would tell him how sorry I was. I would tell him that I hoped Ariana Osgood had done the deed quickly. That he didn't have too much time to be scared. Like me. I was going to have a lot of time to be scared...terrified...desperate...before I finally went.

My heart seized in panic as the reality of the situation slammed into my chest, and for a brief moment, I went under. Salty water filled my mouth and nostrils, and my lungs exploded with pain. I fought my way to the surface again, flailing and gasping for air. There was still nothing. Nothing but the ocean and the sky. Midnight blue as far as the eye could see. Stars everywhere, but nothing else. Nothing but the ripples atop the water. I was never going to be able to survive this. Never, never, never.

But somehow, I kept treading. Minutes passed. Hours. I had no idea how long I had been out there when my limbs started to feel impossibly heavy. When my mind started to grow so very tired. I tried to float again, and as I lay back my eyes fluttered closed. Instantly I saw a flash of Sabine DuLac, her face twisted with ire, and I felt her hands grab my shoulders and shove me down. I struggled against her, but the more I squirmed and writhed, the further I sank. She was pushing, pushing, pushing me down. I opened my eyes under the water and they stung from the salt. I could see nothing. Nothing but...a shadow. Something moving. Something dark. And it wasn't very far away.

My heart burst with fear. I clawed my way to the surface and heaved in a breath, flailing around in the ocean, trying to find whatever it was I had seen under the water. Was it a shark, or a harmless fish? A turtle? A dolphin? A whale? I had no idea how big or small it was. How far away or how near.

Suddenly I felt something slither around my ankle. I screamed and kicked and started to cry. My God, please don't let anything be down there. Please just let it be my paranoia taking over.

But there it was again. Something sliding across my toes. I screamed again and swam a few feet away, my tired muscles barely functioning. As if a few strokes were going to free me from a water dweller. If something out here wanted me as its midnight snack, it was pretty much going to have me.

I was sobbing now. Gulping for air. Afraid that at any second I would feel it again. Or worse, that I would feel jaws close around my foot. See a fin sailing ominously by. I gasped in a breath and started to choke. Water filled my mouth and throat and I spit it out, coughing, choking, struggling for air.

I had to get a grip. If I didn't, my panic attack was going to drown me.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe I was just imagining things. Or maybe it was seaweed. Or even my dress. Maybe it was still nearby but had sunk below the surface.

I took a breath. Yes. That was it. I told myself it was just the dress. And even though I didn't completely believe it, my breathing started to return to normal.

But still, the tears came. And suddenly, I was thinking about Josh Hollis. Josh, who was back in the States, probably out to dinner or cuddling on the couch somewhere with his girlfriend, Ivy Slade. I imagined what he would do when he heard of my death. Would he cry? Scream? Throw a fit of despair? He'd already lost his best friend. Would losing me push him over the edge? Or was he falling in love with Ivy? Had he already forgotten me? Would the news of my death be just one more tragedy, a story they could tell their kids as they grew older, how daddy's old girlfriend drowned tragically off the coast of St. Barths?

I scoffed a laugh at the thought of Josh and Ivy as a married couple. Forget Josh. What would Upton do? Would he miss me? Or would he just move on to the next girl? Would he ever know that it was one of his deranged exes who had done this? Would he even care?

The guy had claimed he loved me. But if he was so in love with me, how could h... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,MP3 - Unabridged CD edition (November 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400162416
• ISBN-13: 978-1400162413
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,505,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a total Jersey girl. I grew up in Bergen County, went to Rutgers University, lived in Hoboken for a year (requisite post-college party time) and then moved back to Bergen, got married, and bought a house ten minutes from where I grew up. I graduated from Rutgers with a double major in English and Journalism, worked as an Editor for four years, then decided I liked writing better and struck out on my own. You've been reading my books ever since!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You mean someone's after Reed again?? Shocking!!, November 4, 2009

By 

Gen of North Coast Gardening (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Suspicion (Private, Book 10) (Paperback)

I've read this story before. Reed gets the hot dude, someone's jealous, and that someone tries to kill Reed. The wrong person's suspected, then the right person's found just as they almost succeed in killing Reed again.

Seriously, I get it. All the hot guys like Reed for some unimaginable reason and everyone else wants to kill her, except for Noelle who SHOULD actually want to kill her.

I'm really bored. I've read all the books in the series till now and enjoyed them all, but this one was too much. I feel like I have read it before.

That said - still entertaining enough! There was just no suspense, because at this point I was like - cool! Maybe they'll finally kill Reed now that I know that all her character does is attract hot guys and murder plots! But the actual writing was engaging enough, they just needed a better plot. A WAY better plot.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, September 3, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suspicion (Private, Book 10) (Paperback)

Believe it or not, SUSPICION is the tenth novel in Kate Brian's PRIVATE series. And SUSPICION picks up where PARADISE LOST ended. The girls are still holidaying on St. Barths.

The story begins with Reed stranded in the water. She's positive someone purposely pushed her off the Ryans' boat with the hopes that Reed would drown. Reed rips off her dress as it was dragging her down. She tries to remain calm in the water, but freaks out when something floats over her feet. Just when she's about to go under the final time, she is rescued. With such a heart-pounding start to the novel, the tension never lets up until the end of the book.

Poor Reed can't seem to catch a break. How many people are going to try to kill her? After her rescue, she's visited by island cops at the hospital, but neither wants to believe that she was intentionally pushed. Even her friends are doubtful that someone they know on the boat would want Reed dead. All Reed wants to do is go home to Croton. But Noelle convinces Reed to stay one more day so she doesn't have to fly commercial. Mrs. Lange is currently using their private jet, but will be back on the island in a day. Reed agrees, but she may soon regret that decision.

Reed spends her remaining time quietly with Noelle and Upton. She doesn't want to do much else, but then Kiran decides that a New Year's Eve party is in order, and that Sawyer should be celebrated as the hero he was for rescuing Reed out of the water. Reed agrees Sawyer should be the center of attention and the party is held on a private island.

Upton and Reed have their own private plans for after the party. Upton leaves early and charters a private boat to bring Reed back to the main island once he's ready. But as is now typical with Reed, the employees on the boat aren't what they seem and have kidnapping plans in mind.

The reader will definitely feel sorry for all the misfortunes that befall Reed Brennan. Her friends don't want to really believe that someone they've grown up with could be behind all the "accidents" that Reed has experienced on her winter break on St. Barths. But there are far too many of them occurring.

Pick up SUSPICION to find out how Reed manages to survive even more hardships. The book ends with another bang as is expected from Ms. Brian. It will leave you anxious for SCANDAL, which isn't due out until March 2010!

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Compensation for Paradise Lost, September 7, 2009

By 

Sarah - See all my reviews

This review is from: Suspicion (Private, Book 10) (Paperback)

After Paradise Lost, which was, in my opinion, one of the most boring and useless books in the series, Suspicion is a refreshing change. There is humor, there is enjoyable romance, not useless Reed/Upton crap, and there is one of those shocking revelations which we have come to expect from Ms. Brian. I had had a few theories after Paradise Lost as to whom was bothering Reed, and as it turned out, one of my theories was correct, but I had thought I was thinking in a very far-fetched manner at the time so I was still pleasantly surprised. The book is very dramatic and unrealistic compared to the other ones, but at least it keeps you wondering what happens next, and the ending is great. I can't wait for Scandal, even if it does come out in March, because it's sure to take the story to the next level. Overall, a solid book in the series.