Most Likely to Die (Zebra Fiction) (Paperback)

by Lisa Jackson (Author), Wendy Corsi Staub (Author), Beverly Barton (Author)
Key Phrases: cold case homicide unit, reunion committee, reunion meeting, Jake Marcott, Beverly Barton, Lisa Jackson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Despite individual success in the field of suspense, the first collaboration of Jackson (Fatal Burn), Staub (The Final Victim) and Barton (Dangerous Deception) is likely to disappoint their fans. The plot line will ring familiar to slasher movie buffs: a 20-year high school reunion triggers a series of brutal murders committed to avenge an old grievance. In this case, the original sin is the crossbow slaying of popular hunk Jake Marcott, the object of desire for much of the graduating class of Portland, Ore.'s St. Elizabeth's High School, on the night of the St. Valentine's Day Dance. The trauma has become a distant wound for the women who loved him until the 2006 reunion plans spark new killings, and three classmates, Rachel, Kristen and Lindsay, must race to unmask the murderer before they themselves fall victim. Unfortunately, the authors don't do very much to keep the identity of the murderer hidden from the reader, seriously hindering their efforts to wring suspense from the cookie-cutter scenario. (Feb.)
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Product Description
It's been twenty years since the night Jake Marcott was brutally murdered at St. Elizabeth High School. It's a night that shattered the lives of Lindsay Farrell, Kirsten Daniels, and Rachel Alsace. It's a night they'll never forget. A killer will make sure of that...A 20-year reunion has been scheduled for St. Elizabeth's. For some alumni, very special invitations have been sent: their smiling senior pictures slashed by an angry red line...Three women have been marked for death. Tonight, as the music plays, and the doors of St. Elizabeth are sealed, a killer will finish what was started long ago, and the sins of the past will be paid for in blood...

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Zebra; First edition (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821775766
• ISBN-13: 978-0821775769
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #186,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting mystery..........., February 21, 2007

By	Debra English "reading queen" (Ohio,USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I must admit that I guessed who the killer was within the first 100 pages and I come to the end of the book and I am exactly right. It didn't change the fact that I enjoyed this book and the storylines. I wish it really were that easy to find love years later but the way these romances were portrayed was done very well. I am going to pass this along to my friends who love mysteries as much as I do.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Class Reunions Can be Murder!, February 7, 2007

By	Deborah Verlen "dmverlen" (Park Ridge, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This wasn't the best nor was it the worst book of its genre. Jackson, Staub and Barton interweave a tale of intrigue surrounding several women and an up and coming 20th class reunion. The three main characters were all in love with the bad boy Jake who gets murdered. Twenty years later the murderer is after them.
My biggest issue with the three interwoven stories was how late the relationship aspect was introduced and the gratuitous use of the murders. It was hard to feel a lot of emotion towards Rachel, Kristen and Lindsay and their pairings. I realize this was suppose to be more of a fiction/mystery rather than a mystery/romance, but the mystery wasn't very tough to figure out in terms of 'whodunit.' Which left the romantic angle to focus upon. There were enough clues right at the beginning of the book to make an educated guess and although the authors added a little twist, there was no tension building up in terms of "who did it?" You knew simply through a process of elimination--and it certainly wasn't going to be a stranger. And after all, it wasn't going to be any of the main characters! The other problem I saw with it was each separate story killed off a subcharacter and I had to ask my self "WHY?" It didn't really advance the plot. It was like the publisher gave the three writers a directive--here is the main plot and each of you need to write a love story, murder and small twist to support it. These are three talented writers and it is a shame they wasted their talents and wrote this mess. The premise was good, the writing good--the development of the story just didn't do it for me!
If you want a winter beach read, this book is a great time waster! If you want anything more like a passionate romance, thrilling mystery or a solid fiction read--this isn't it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning Read, March 5, 2007

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Three friends from high school are forced to confront a ghost from their past when they come together for their twenty-year class reunion. For Kristen Daniels Delmonico, what happened that night in 1986 at the St. Valentine's Day dance, has haunted her life ever since. Her lost love colors her separation with her soon-to-be ex-husband, even extending to her relationship with her angst-ridden, headstrong teenage daughter. So the last thing she wants is to be put in charge of the reunion committee.

Lindsay Farrell and Rachel Alsace also remember that night filled with fear and horror. They dread revisiting the ghosts of their past. But one person is excited that there will be a twentieth-anniversary celebration. This person has been planning this day for a long time, and is eager to relive the night is all its gory glory. As alumni are murdered one by one, it's up to the three former best friends to stop the killer. First though, they have to figure out who it is.

Told in three sections by each of the three main characters, the story is beautifully and smoothly integrated. The book starts from Kristen's point of view, as written by Lisa Jackson. Lindsay's perspective is up next, written by Wendi Corsi Staub. To finish the spine-tingling tale, comes Rachel's part of the story is written by Beverly Barton. Each author has a distinctive style, and yet together they blend into a wonderfully taut, unique, and chilling voice. Beverly Barton did an outstanding job tying all the threads together, using the other two authors' sneaky placement of red herrings to optimum effect.

A frightening roller coaster of a story guaranteed to keep readers hanging on every page, Most Likely To Die tops my list of this year's "Most Likely to Be A Number One Bestseller," with just cause.