Kill for Me

November 17, 2008
Bestseller Rose concludes her thriller trilogy that began with Scream for Me
and Die for Me
with a bang. In Dutton, Ga., where 13 years earlier a secret rape club flourished among the bratty sons of the town’s elite, an elderly monster known only as Charles and his depraved minions steal teenage girls to sell to perverts in a lucrative human trafficking scheme. Hot on their trail are the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s special agent Daniel Vartanian; his partner, special agent Luke Papadopoulos; and his long-suffering sister, Susannah Vartanian, a New York City ADA. A botched raid spurs the murders of five girls and the removal of abused “assets” to another hiding place. Two courageous teen survivors provide the GBI with help, but a mole in the GBI working for Charles complicates the takedown. Rose juggles a large cast, a huge body count and a complex plot with terrifying ease. The sweet romance between Luke and Susannah provides welcome relief from the many scenes of brutality.

December 15, 2008
In the final book of Rose's Vartanian thriller trilogy (after "Die for Me" and "Scream for Me"), Susannah returns to Dutton, GA, to testify against her rapists. Over the next three tense days, she and FBI agent Luke Papadopoulos race to identify the leaders of a human-trafficking ring dealing exclusively in teen girls. Meanwhile, five teenage girls have been brutally murdered, and the bodies continue to pile up. Rose skillfully uses multiple points of view, including those of the perpetrators, victims, and police, while still only revealing enough information to leave the reader anxiously puzzling out the clues alongside Luke and Susannah. Although the previous books in this trilogy added depth to the backstory, it's not necessary to read them to enjoy this book. Librarians should note the adult sexual themes and violence depicted in this well-crafted, exciting novel. Recommended for popular adult fiction collections.Crystal Renfro, Georgia Inst. of Technology Lib. & Information Ctr., Atlanta

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2009
Susannah Vartanian, the troubled heroine of Die for Me (2007) and Scream for Me (2008), returns in another gripping thriller. Again teaming up with Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent Luke Papadopoulos, her best friend, Susannah puts her own life in danger to catch the people who are kidnapping teenage girls and selling them to the highest bidder. Readers familiar with the first two Vartanian novels are well aware of Susannahs deeply troubled past, and here the author explores in even greater detail Susannahs family history and the incidents that scarred her for life. This is a gritty, unsettling novel in which Susannah confronts not only some especially nasty villains but also her own inner demons. The novel appears to bring the Vartanian trilogy to a close, but there are many nooks and crannies of Susannahs life left to be explored. High reader demand could easily lead to more volumes in the series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)