You Kill Me (Signet Novel) [Paperback]

Alison Gaylin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet Novel | Publication Date: December 6, 2005

Samantha Leiffer is trying to get a grip on reality. Her live-in boyfriend, detective John Krull, isn't deeply troubled, he's just quiet. Her ex isn't a stalker, he's just trying to be friendly. And the nerdy stranger who gives Sam a note warning her of danger unless she calls him, is just hitting on her-until one by one, people vaguely connected to her start getting killed. Now Sam knows she's not imagining the murderer-and that he's closer than she thinks.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Post-9/11 Manhattan is the ominous setting for Gaylin's deliciously chilling second thriller (after Hide Your Eyes), in which preschool teacher Samantha Leiffer is still recovering from her brush with a murderer a year earlier. Her live-in cop boyfriend, John Krull, has suddenly gone emotionally (and sometimes physically) AWOL, so after a mysterious visitor leaves Samantha a series of warning notes about her safety, she's forced to grapple alone with what they could mean, if anything at all. As if on cue, people around Samantha start to die, beginning with the woman who lived in Samantha's old apartment, gorily murdered. If the signs point where Samantha thinks they're pointing, maybe she'd rather be in the dark. Though the novel has some trappings of generic chick lit—a loudmouth mother, a gay best friend and kooky secondary characters—Gaylin casts them all in a fresh light. Sparing use of clever inner monologue paints Samantha as the hero we all hope we'd be. (Dec.)
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Review

Smart, snappy...A fresh new talent. -- New York Times bestselling author Perri O'Shaughnessy

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Signet (December 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451217225
• ISBN-13: 978-0451217226
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,242,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Solitary as a writer's life can be, I'm thrilled to be able to use amazon for something else besides spending all my money -- specifically, to connect with readers! I write suspense novels with a decent amount of humor in them. My first book, HIDE YOUR EYES, was nominated for an Edgar. YOU KILL ME is the sequel. My third (and first hardcover) TRASHED, comes out in September. Besides amazon connect, I also blog with three other great mystery writers at www.firstoffenders.typepad.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than its predecessor (Hide Your Eyes), June 12, 2006

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Kill Me (Signet Novel) (Paperback)

It has been a year since pre-school teacher Samantha Lieffer assisted in a murder investigation. She is now living with the detective in charge, John Krull, who is getting over the loss of so many friends and colleagues from 9/11. Krull is remote, and Samantha cannot reach him, and assumes his many absences mean he is having an affair.

When a stranger in a cafe approaches her and gives her a note warning of danger, Krull's overambitious partner calls in the bomb squad, only to find nothing. When she learns that the woman who took over her apartment lease has been brutally murdered, and she continues to receive the notes she gets nervous and feels like she is being followed. Her sex-addicted former lover tries to regain closure in a 12-step program by befriending an uninterested Sam, and when people around her suddenly turn up dead, and Krull becomes even more remote, Samantha questions whether the man she has given her heart to could be behind the crime spree.

"You Kill Me" is a gripping psychological thriller that will pull the reader in and question where the story is going all the way to the final page. Gaylin has managed to do what few authors can do - pen a sequel that is better than its predecessor.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dark thriller, December 6, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Kill Me (Signet Novel) (Paperback)

Samantha Leiffer works as a pre-school teacher and the theater Space selling tickets and answering the phoned. After killing a murderer and moving in with Detective John Krull who saved her life, she thought nothing bad would even happen to her again.. Time proves her wrong. Her nightmare begins when a stranger gives her a note in a public place saying "You are in Danger". A bit scared she turns to John for comfort but he seems to have withdrawn from her emotionally and disappears for long stretches of time without telling her where he is.

The woman who took over the apartment where Samantha was almost killed was murdered and her body left in the park neatly wrapped. The stranger sends her more notes telling her to watch out because someone is watching her. Her ex-boyfriend corners her in his twelve step- sexual addiction program to tell her he's sorry. She finds out that he slept with the woman who was in her old apartment. Later his body is found in the closet of her classroom. The note sender is also murdered and while trying to figure out who is after her, she goes to the wrong person for help. Only a miracle will save her life that is if John and the rest of the cavalry arrive in time.

YOU KILL ME is much darker in tone than Alison Gaylin's debut novel HIDE YOUR EYES. The author is a talented writer who builds up the suspense and since this tale, told in the first person from Samantha's perspective allows readers to feel her gradually growing feelings of tension and terror. The characters and the plot comes across as very realistic so that readers will finish the book in one sitting just to find out who the killer is.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I hope there's a third book with John & Sam!, September 14, 2006

By 

mahikahn (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Kill Me (Signet Novel) (Paperback)

Samatha Leiffer is a pre-school teacher and works part-time in an off, off Broadway ticket office, The Space. She's also the daughter of a famous self help guru. And she also seems to be a bit of a magnet for serial killers.

In "Hide Your Eyes", while out on a break from The Space she witnessed a couple dumping a large ice chest into the river. Although the police think she's overreacting at first, when an ice chest is found, with a little girl's body they begin to take her seriously.

So begins Sam's relationship with John Krull, NYPD detective, which continues in "You Kill Me". John and Sam have been living together for a year and a half. Suddenly, Sam begins receiving notes warning her that she is in danger. Then the woman who moved into Sam's old apartment is brutally murdered. At the same time, John starts disappearing for hours, sometimes overnight, during which time he can't be contacted and he has no explanation for where he's been.

I really enjoyed this book, even more than "Hide Your Eyes". The only problem I had was the resolution of John's absences. He had to know Sam thought he was having an affair and he should have never kept the secret he kept from her for two years. But he is still a good guy who loves her very much and as someone else pointed out they are a committed couple.

The end of the book set up for another sequel and I can't wait!