The Morning After (Paperback)

by Lisa Jackson (Author)
Key Phrases: colonial cemetery, deep throat, crime scene team, Lisa Jackson, Grave Robber, Nikki Gillette (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Slowly waking from a drugged sleep, a woman realizes she's not in her own bed but in a closed coffin, lying on top of a cold, reeking dead body. Thuds resonate on the lidâ€"dirt and stones being shoveled on topâ€"bringing the sure knowledge she's being buried alive. From this bone-chilling, if melodramatic, opening image, Jackson skillfully crafts a horrific thriller about an elusive serial killer dubbed The Grave Robber. Seeing the high-profile murders as her ticket out of small-town Savannah, ambitious reporter Nikki Gillette latches onto the case and onto lead investigator Pierce Reed. Tough-guy police detective Pierce initially sees Nikki's dogged investigations as a mere irritantâ€"until evidence turns up indicating that the killer may see Nikki as his prey. Meanwhile, tension and unease mount for Nikki as secret ties among the attractive Pierce, whom she may be falling for, the killer and the victims start coming to light. As in Jackson's previous offering, The Night Before, this psychological thriller has a beautifully conceived plot full of unexpected twists and provocative misleads, as well as sophisticated character development. Not even the sadistic murderer is one-dimensionally evil, and the protagonists display delicious depths.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
A woman is frantic as she awakens in a dark, closed space. From above her comes the muffled sound of cruel laughter, followed by the hard splatter of dirt. Pure terror takes over as she realizes she's being buried alive, and her last breath is a scream that no one but a sadistic killer will hear. To journalist Nikki Gillette, this disturbing story is a ticket out of small - town Savannah and on to the big time. She's already given the killer a nickname - The Grave Robber - and she's spending every minute dogging tough cop Pierce Reed's investigation, trailing him through Savannah's deep thickets and crumbling cemeteries...even though she's starting to wonder about the secrets he's keeping. Another body is found...and another. Each gruesome discovery unnerves Nikki a little more...there's something familiar about it, something she should know. Now, as a serial killer pulls her ever deeper into his sick game, she has no idea how close she's getting to the truth - or how deadly it will be.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Zebra; First edition (February 24, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821772953
• ISBN-13: 978-0821772959
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Suspense Novel!!!, April 5, 2004

By	Kristi Ahlers (Illinois) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This was truly a strong suspense novel. I realize that it's billed as a "romantic suspense" but trust me there is hardly any romance to be found in these pages so those of you that are scared off by the idea of romance will be safe in picking up this title.

There were a lot of character's but I don't think there were so many that one could not keep track of what was going on. Really I feel that each character did play it's part in the telling of the story.

Someone is going around killing people by burying them alive with a dead corpse. Why? How are they connected? These are the questions that haunt Detective Pierce Reed. From the beginning the killer later dubbed "The Grave Robber" draws Reed into his horrid game. Reed knows the first victim. Now it's a race against the clock to catch this killer before he kills again.

Nikki Gillette is a hard core journalist. She is after the story that will break and at the same time make her career. She has a bad blemish on her record so she has to work twice as hard to prove that she can get the job done. While working on local interest stuff she also works at trying to scoop not only her co-worker but the competition by getting all the information regarding the Grave Robber. Of course she is also in communication with the killer. He has a bone to pick with her as well. Soon this hard core newspaper journalist, and the tough as nails detective find that they have more in common then they thought. A Killer to be exact.

Nikki was an obnoxious character at times and yes, this did get on my nerves after a time. Still the twists and turns that Ms. Jackson took us on was well worth one of her annoying characters. Ms. Jackson is well on her way to becoming a mainstream suspense novelist.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Jackson has written much better stories, April 18, 2006

By	Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Another serial killer is stalking Savannah. Detective Pierce Reed (The Night Before) is still a local celebrity, having solved the rash of killings of the Montgomery family. But this latest series of murders is baffling - a coffin missing from a graveyard turns up with two bodies in it - the deceased, and another victim buried alive with the body. But this is not just any victim - this is one of Reed's former lovers. And the killer starts to contact him in a series of letters and emails.

Ace reporter Nikki Gillette hunts down the notoriously quiet Reed to get to the heart of the story. But like all reporters, he shuns her. She nicknames him the Grave Robber, and soon becomes his pen pal. When Reed is taken off the case due to conflict of interest, he joins up with Nikki to share knowledge, promising her an exclusive once the crime is solved. Being a hungry reporter, she cannot resist this proposition. Then additional bodies start piling up. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out what the victims have in common, unless of course, you are a Savannah police detective. Then someone really close to Nikki is targeted by the killer, as well as Nikki herself.

I found the story interesting, and terrifying at the same time. But the ineptitude of the police and Reed's annoying oft married chain smoking partner just turned me off despite the numerous twists she tried to introduce to keep the reader guessing. I expect more from a Jackson novel.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chilling, Suspenseful and Brilliant!, March 21, 2004

By	Margaret Marr "Published Author" (NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Imagine waking in a dark, small space, a peculiar smell in what little air there is to breathe. Imagine something lumpy and soft pressing against the back of your naked body. Imagine clods of dirt raining down on your eternal resting place as cruel laughter floats in the air. Imagine being buried alive.

Nikki Gillette is looking for her breakout story--a story that will propel her out of the small time newspaper she's writing for now. When she gets wind of a serial killer who buries his victims alive, she goes after it like a buzzard on road-kill. Self-centered and self-righteous, she's determined to get the story with very little concern about who she might hurt in the process.

Pierce Reed has secrets he wants kept off the front-pages of the Savannah news, but the pretty journalist, Nikki, is being a royal pain in the rear, especially when she finds out he was involved with one of the victims. He has to deal with a leak in the police department, his foul-mouthed partner with ex-husband problems, and a serial killer who taunts him with letters containing clues to who he is and who the next victim will be.

Nikki and Pierce will have to put aside their contempt for each others choice of careers and work together in order to catch a killer with an agenda to bring about justice in his own twisted mind.

Ms. Jackson's vivid descriptions of places, things and emotions puts you right in the midst of the story. I found myself gasping and on the edge of panic along with the victims. THE MORNING AFTER is a chilling, suspenseful and brilliant tale.