THE PREY

Author: Allison Brennan ISBN: 0345480236 1/2006 SUSPENSE Publisher: BALLANTINE

Rowan Smith is living in a borrowed Malibu beach house while her bestselling novel is made into a Hollywood movie. A former FBI agent with a haunted past, Rowan thinks she has outrun her demons. But fiction and reality collide when a dismembered body is found in Colorado: the real-life victim had the same name, occupation, and looks as a character in Rowan’s novel. By the time the FBI, the LAPD, and her own private bodyguard gather around her, another person is killed–again, the murder ripped from the pages of Rowan’s book. In the company of a former Delta Force officer with secrets of his own, Rowan faces an excruciating dilemma: the only way to chase down the tormenting killer is by revisiting the darkness of her past–and by praying for some way out again. After the prey is chosen, the hunt is on and the kill is certain.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

WARNING...

Do not read THE PREY under the following conditions:

1) If you are home alone at night.
2) Especially if the night is particularly dark, rainy and the howling wind mimics moaning.
3) If you are a natural-born chicken (scaredy cat).

Yes, I admit I read THE PREY alone, at night, during some nasty weather. I also admit to being scared, jumping at phantom shadows and listening to every groan of the house. But I could not force myself to put THE PREY aside. I would probably have been spooked if I had read this thriller on a sunny day. I have only had this kind of response to a novel a handful of times since I read Truman Capote's true-crime masterpiece, IN COLD BLOOD, when I was 12. That last statement is a grand recommendation because I tend to like to be spooked by novels and by movies.

Allison Brennan's debut is spectacular.

With a creepy plot, some finely drawn characters and a really scary murderer, THE PREY is a chilling, moody suspense. A suspense a reader will find hard to put down.

THE PREY lures you in quickly and keeps you hooked with a fast-moving storyline while skillfully unfolding Rowan Smith's past slowly throughout this harrowing tale. Add some sneaky surprises along with a terrific romance, and THE PREY is really, really top notch entertainment...

And just about brilliant.

Ms. Brennan is a truly gifted suspense writer. THE PREY is outstanding.

Thank you, Ms. Brennan.

Debbie Jett