Review: Heartstopper by Joy Fielding
Joy Fielding has written another tense thriller about a serial killer who is targeting the pretty and popular girls in a small town in Florida. The first to be abducted, Liana Martin, is a real “heartstopper.” Fear increases as the murderer strikes again—and again. Soon to catch the killer’s eye is the English teacher Sandy Crosbie’s beautiful and talented daughter, who is slated to be the next victim.
Heartstopper is interspersed with passages from the killer’s journal. Sheriff John Weber, who tries to solve the case, is not dealing with the average serial killer. This murderer leaves a series of red herrings and few clues which will keep the reader wondering, along with Sheriff Weber, who is guilty. Even Weber himself is not above suspicion.
A Tangled Web of Family Relationships
The book is filled with complicated relationships. Newcomer Sandy Crosbie’s husband Ian is having a blatant affair with Kerri Franklin, a silicone-enhanced beauty who he met on an Internet chat line. To complicate matters, the sheriff also had an affair with her. Sandy’s daughter Megan and son Tim must go to school with Kerri’s daughter, Delilah, a girl as unattractive and ungainly as her mother is perfect.
High School Angst
The cliques and social structure of the local high school play a strong role in the book. The overweight Delilah good-naturedly puts up with verbal abuse from the jocks and snubs from her fellow students. The sheriff’s own daughter is anorexic. Another boy is mocked and called gay by the jocks, who bully and pick fights with just about everyone. Megan’s tough but sensitive boyfriend, Greg, has trouble with his father when he auditions for a role in the school play.
A Host of Suspects
Many of the people in the book harbor hidden resentments and motives for murder. Cal Hamilton is a known wife-beater. And then there’s the creepy teacher who lives alone with lots of cats. There is high school student Brian, who hasn’t been the same since he discovered his father, a suicide, hanging by his neck in his own home. Greg and his jock pals are not above suspicion. And neither is Sandy’s cad of an ex-husband. Even though the killer plays a substantial role in the book, the reader is kept guessing to the very end.
About the Author
Joy Fielding’s first novel See Jane Run, was an instant success. Since then the New York Times bestselling author has gone on to pen many suspense and women in jeopardy novels, including Mad River Road, Puppet, and her newest book, Charley’s Web. She often writes about domestic violence, and social issues play a role in most of her novels.
Click here to read more about Joy Fielding and her thrillers about domestic violence
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