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If I Should Die
One morning on a routine jog, Kallene’s running partner, Linda, confides that she’s filing for divorce. The next morning, she’s gone without a trace, leaving behind her frightened young daughter. Since Linda’s enraged husband refuses to notify the police, Kallene steps in to initiate a missing person search, not knowing it would soon become a murder investigation—or that she’d soon fall for the charming lead detective. With Linda’s handsome brother also on her mind, Kallene must navigate the rapids of a double romance as well as the deepening suspicion in her upscale Utah neighborhood. Intrigue turns to danger as Kallene faces the consequences of hasty judgments. And when startling new evidence casts Linda’s murder as the work of a determined killer, Kallene needs the intervention of unlikely heroes to avoid being the next victim.
235 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 2011
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370 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews
July 10, 2011
As I started reading this book, I found some eerie similarities to a real-life case of a local woman who disappeared not too long ago. Kallene and her good friend, Linda, were running partners. One day, Linda announced that she was planning on filing for divorce and the next day, she disappeared.
I really liked Kallene and the relationships she had with others. She was a hard worker, a good friend, and a good person. The romantic triangle was fun--I had no idea who she would ultimately choose. The mystery was fabulous!! I was guessing right to the end and it had some great unexpected twists. I really felt a part of the story, probably because of the closeness to the real-life case and because I could actually picture the area where things happened (it's described as a place not too far from home). The minor characters were great too--very vivid.
I really liked Kallene and the relationships she had with others. She was a hard worker, a good friend, and a good person. The romantic triangle was fun--I had no idea who she would ultimately choose. The mystery was fabulous!! I was guessing right to the end and it had some great unexpected twists. I really felt a part of the story, probably because of the closeness to the real-life case and because I could actually picture the area where things happened (it's described as a place not too far from home). The minor characters were great too--very vivid.
June 7, 2011
This book was intriguing to me from the start. The backliner suggests a story somewhat similar to another woman’s real-life disappearance a while back and I was interested to see how Jennie would handle the delicate subject matter.
I was instantly drawn to the main character and how she handles the people in her life. When her best friend and running partner goes missing, leaving a young daughter behind, Kallene takes matters into her own hands and calls the police and her friend’s family. During the course of the ensuing search Kallene finds herself with feelings for both her missing friend’s brother and the lead detective on the case. Which is emotional enough, but there is also the fact that through it all they are still searching for her friend and wondering if she is alive or dead.
Read the rest of my very long review on my blog http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com
I was instantly drawn to the main character and how she handles the people in her life. When her best friend and running partner goes missing, leaving a young daughter behind, Kallene takes matters into her own hands and calls the police and her friend’s family. During the course of the ensuing search Kallene finds herself with feelings for both her missing friend’s brother and the lead detective on the case. Which is emotional enough, but there is also the fact that through it all they are still searching for her friend and wondering if she is alive or dead.
Read the rest of my very long review on my blog http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com
June 22, 2011
One of the better LDS based mysteries. I read it in one day. One thing that bothered my though, what was the point of Ben & Kalleen's job? It seemed as though it was just fluff that was added to to the story.
May 11, 2018
Okay I added the cover.
July 3, 2011
I really liked this book. It kept you in suspense and you didn't know who did the crime until the last bit of the book. I really like Jennie Hansen's books.
September 16, 2011
This was one of the most poorly written books I've read in quite some time. The story was ok, but she really could have used a good editor.
October 9, 2019
Scary!
November 1, 2017
I couldn't get into this book. It was so slow and there wasn't much dialogue.
July 9, 2024
I really enjoyed reading this! The ending definitely got me, I kept trying to figure out who did it and boy I didn't see that coming. I loved the pace of the book as it built romance while keeping the suspense. I honestly felt the ending was very well done, something to keep you til the last page. I would put this in my October reads for something to fit the Mysterious vibes, while not crossing into the spooky can't sleep line.
July 26, 2016
I thought this one was okay. It started out good, got slow in the middle, had a bit of excitement towards the end and then it was over. I guess I was surprised that so much of the focus was on Kallene's normal life and not on any real investigation. I think I'm used to the heroines in these type stories to get more involved with the investigation and stuff. She just seemed like a normal girl living her life and was kind of looking into things. Anytime she would ask Scott (the investigator) about what was going on he'd always just say he couldn't talk about the case, which kind of made me feel out of the loop. I had a lot of questions about Linda's disappearance that were never really answered.
The romance was kind of boring for me. I felt about as much emotion when Kallen would talk about work as she did when thinking about either guy (Jon and Scott) and frankly I was surprised when he proposed. I didn't feel that much chemistry between them. Maybe since their kissy kissy scenes were kind of boring (went something like this..."and then he kissed her" and that's it. I like a little more emotion and descriptions I guess with my kissing scenes). I thought the romance angle could have been amped up a bit. I know that would have made me enjoy the book a little more.
The mystery was okay. I had my suspicions early on, but I never really felt any real suspense until maybe the end. Like I said before, I felt the beginning was pretty good with Linda going missing and all that. But the middle started to drag with not a lot happening and I felt some things were a little repetitive and or not that relevant. There is some excitement at the end, but I admit I thought Kallene was extremely stupid.
As for the killer, I still had some questions about him.
Overall, I did like it and would recommend it to those who like light mysteries.
Content
Romance: Squeaky clean (*yawn*)
Violence: Mild-Moderate
Religion: None-mild. Characters are LDS, but other than mentioning going to church there is NO preaching. I don't even think the LDS church is mentioned specifically.
*I just have to say, I think this book was a little over priced ($10.50), but it seems like most/all of this publishers books are on the pricey side. I guess I am used to getting a lot better deals on Kindle books.
The romance was kind of boring for me. I felt about as much emotion when Kallen would talk about work as she did when thinking about either guy (Jon and Scott) and frankly I was surprised when he proposed. I didn't feel that much chemistry between them. Maybe since their kissy kissy scenes were kind of boring (went something like this..."and then he kissed her" and that's it. I like a little more emotion and descriptions I guess with my kissing scenes). I thought the romance angle could have been amped up a bit. I know that would have made me enjoy the book a little more.
The mystery was okay. I had my suspicions early on, but I never really felt any real suspense until maybe the end. Like I said before, I felt the beginning was pretty good with Linda going missing and all that. But the middle started to drag with not a lot happening and I felt some things were a little repetitive and or not that relevant. There is some excitement at the end, but I admit I thought Kallene was extremely stupid.
As for the killer, I still had some questions about him.
Overall, I did like it and would recommend it to those who like light mysteries.
Content
Romance: Squeaky clean (*yawn*)
Violence: Mild-Moderate
Religion: None-mild. Characters are LDS, but other than mentioning going to church there is NO preaching. I don't even think the LDS church is mentioned specifically.
*I just have to say, I think this book was a little over priced ($10.50), but it seems like most/all of this publishers books are on the pricey side. I guess I am used to getting a lot better deals on Kindle books.
June 13, 2011
Fabulous book filled with mystery,murder and the toss in of a possible romance with the tragedy. This book kept me riveted to the end and wasn't as predictable as most.
Linda and Kallene are running partners and friends in the salt Lake area. Linda is unhappy with her marriage and finally tells Kallene that she is going to ask for a divorce...then she disappears leaving her baby daughter alone with her husband who thinks that she will be back. Kallene, who is single, successful graphic artist takes over the care of Macie until her worried call to the police sets a missing person's case into motion.
Linda finds herself in the middle of it all. She all of a sudden has two men that want to date her. The way too hot lead detective, Scott and Linda's divorced, successful architect brother, Jon. She also has her calling as a wolf cub scout leader which was her only connection to children in her care. One boy, Parker especially catches her interest as he is a loner and doesn't have much care from his busy parents.
When Linda disappears, Kallene starts looking at all her neighbors differently...as suspects; especially with the warning from Scott that one of them is recently released from prison on a murder/rape charge and who didn't register.
When Kallene lets down her guard and goes running back up the canyon alone, she might have made a mistake that could take her life...but an unlikely hero, Rupert (the released convict and his dog) come to her rescue. Ted, Parker's father, is the serial murderer. Kallene is badly hurt, but after recovering worries about parker's whereabouts. She uses a key she finds and saves Parker from his prison in the basement. She then plans to adopt him with Jon her fiance.
Linda and Kallene are running partners and friends in the salt Lake area. Linda is unhappy with her marriage and finally tells Kallene that she is going to ask for a divorce...then she disappears leaving her baby daughter alone with her husband who thinks that she will be back. Kallene, who is single, successful graphic artist takes over the care of Macie until her worried call to the police sets a missing person's case into motion.
Linda finds herself in the middle of it all. She all of a sudden has two men that want to date her. The way too hot lead detective, Scott and Linda's divorced, successful architect brother, Jon. She also has her calling as a wolf cub scout leader which was her only connection to children in her care. One boy, Parker especially catches her interest as he is a loner and doesn't have much care from his busy parents.
When Linda disappears, Kallene starts looking at all her neighbors differently...as suspects; especially with the warning from Scott that one of them is recently released from prison on a murder/rape charge and who didn't register.
When Kallene lets down her guard and goes running back up the canyon alone, she might have made a mistake that could take her life...but an unlikely hero, Rupert (the released convict and his dog) come to her rescue. Ted, Parker's father, is the serial murderer. Kallene is badly hurt, but after recovering worries about parker's whereabouts. She uses a key she finds and saves Parker from his prison in the basement. She then plans to adopt him with Jon her fiance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2011
"If I Should Die", the newest book by longtime author Jennie Hansen, is a book that must be saved for when you have a long block of reading time. I promise you, once you start reading this book you will not want to put it down.
To start off with, the title and front cover picture are both very ominous. A woman is looking out the blinds at someone or something.What is out there? It is so intriguing that you can't wait to dive into the book. Without unnecessarily repeating the back liner of the book, the novel is centered around main character Kallene's search for her missing friend Linda. This storyline is very similar to a true story that has been in the headlines here in Utah. A woman goes missing and the husband is the main suspect. Jennie does a great job of introducing many possible murder suspects. Is it truly the husband, or the creepy neighborhood handyman, or the ex-con who committed rape and murder years ago?
To read more of my review of this book please go to my blog:
http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot....
To start off with, the title and front cover picture are both very ominous. A woman is looking out the blinds at someone or something.What is out there? It is so intriguing that you can't wait to dive into the book. Without unnecessarily repeating the back liner of the book, the novel is centered around main character Kallene's search for her missing friend Linda. This storyline is very similar to a true story that has been in the headlines here in Utah. A woman goes missing and the husband is the main suspect. Jennie does a great job of introducing many possible murder suspects. Is it truly the husband, or the creepy neighborhood handyman, or the ex-con who committed rape and murder years ago?
To read more of my review of this book please go to my blog:
http://whynotbecauseisaidso.blogspot....
February 10, 2012
In light of the recent events in the Susan Powell case, this book became even creepier than it might have been had I read it when it was released earlier this year. In a situation much like Susan's disappearance when main character Kallene's running partner, Linda, mysteriously disappears everyone blames her husband, Carson, and suspects Linda has been murdered. I'll let you read the book to see where the parallels go from there. Overall, I enjoyed the book, although there were a few places I felt the story was a little contrived and implausible. One of these was how the relationship between Kallene and Scott, the investigating police officer, developed quickly into dating and romance; another was the way the children were given over to a new guardian with changes in legal custody almost on a whim. I noticed a couple of typographical errors, but they did not detract from the story, and I know they are not the fault of the author. I'd recommend the book to someone interested in a compelling mystery.
June 9, 2012
Good LDS thriller with realistic characters and believable plot (although the multiple red herrings didn't fool me a bit. I knew who the murderer was). The story, set in Salt Lake City, reminded me of the Susan Powell case at first. The wife disappears, the husband is suspected, there is concern for the child left in his care, he moves out immediately and goes to stay with his weird father, and the police can't find the body and make a case. However, the story soon diverges from that scenario. The story is told from the viewpoint of Kallene, the woman's friend and jogger buddy, who tries to help the family and her friend's child. Kallene has lost her good friend but two attractive men have suddenly come into her life with the case--the detective in charge and her friend's brother. Another body is found near a jogging path by the Legacy Freeway and the police wonder if the two deaths are related. Kallene is concerned to find that one of her neighbors is on the sex offenders list and the tension escalates--as does the romance.
November 30, 2011
The characters lived normal lives with normal problems that they overcome, which has its appeal, but being placed in a suspense novel I found it distracting to always be wondering if this plot line had anything to do with the main plot. I was constantly wondering who the bad guy was, only to discover that the character in question was not only unimportant, but faded from the book entirely.
On the flip side, the danger scenes were intensely violent and the whole setting felt like everyone was evil. Not an uplifting read. It left me feeling that all neighbors are suspect and criminals are everywhere.
I also think the guy she fell for showed tendencies toward the behavior problems she most abhors in her friend's husband. Instead of providing relief from the tension with romance, I was left feeling that her boyfriend might be the murderer.
Not my favorite read, but if the objective was to keep the reader guessing it is very effective.
On the flip side, the danger scenes were intensely violent and the whole setting felt like everyone was evil. Not an uplifting read. It left me feeling that all neighbors are suspect and criminals are everywhere.
I also think the guy she fell for showed tendencies toward the behavior problems she most abhors in her friend's husband. Instead of providing relief from the tension with romance, I was left feeling that her boyfriend might be the murderer.
Not my favorite read, but if the objective was to keep the reader guessing it is very effective.
November 7, 2011
I really liked the relationships and the way things kept moving in this book. I would have liked it a whole lot except for the plot. (I can tell you this because it is in the book's description.) First a lady dies who is a mom, which is never good. Then they talk about the husband maybe doing it or maybe a serial killer. It goes into the serial killer possibility a little bit , which is just not a pleasant topic either. And the whole scene around discovering the body is a little too descriptive. If all these things were mentioned briefly as part of the story I would have liked it more. These things are a major part of the story, though, and it was all just too dark for me. Notice I did still give the book three stars because it did keep my attention and would have been really good if the plot were a little softer.
August 30, 2011
The pace of this book was hard to follow as huge segments of time would just pass and then suddenly you find out it's April when you thought it was still Christmas. The main character was pretty well-rounded although there was a lot to do with her work that didn't really tie in to the plot. It was an interesting, quick read and had some good suspense although the ending would have been better if it had not had such an obvious and predictable twist. I was certain that the "suspects" would not be the killer (and actually called who it was fairly early on) and that the main character would end up in a tough situation. I enjoyed reading it but was also glad it was fairly short.
March 19, 2012
I liked this book. It was a murder mystery, with a romance included. It was well written. Not usually my usual type of book. Kallene's running partner, Linda confides she is filing fofr divorse, and the next day she is missing, without a trace, and leaves a small daughter behing.Kallene steps in to initiate a missing person report since Linda's husband refused to notify the police. This was a good book, and clean enough for a teen to read. I don't remember Jennie Hansens books being like this one, so I have to say I like her other books better. Although, this was worth the read, I prefer the others.
July 17, 2011
I'd give this one a 4-1/2 actually. I couldn't put this one down! Full of suspense, mystery and some good 'ol romance. The only thing that disappointed me was that the love between the main characters wasn't developed enough. It seemed like they had a few dinners and then...whamo! he's asking her to marry him after he said that he needed to really get to know someone before he jumped into marriage. The love showed more at the end. Too bad... but even with that, I definitely still enjoyed reading this one!
July 11, 2011
I liked this book but I found a few odd things. Why all the info on her job??? I thought it would all tie in, in the end but it never really did. I'm glad she was able to stand up to her boss, but what was the point? Also, why is she going on all these dates if she was so worried about her BEST friend? I know you have to eventually move on with your life but I felt like the character was a little shallow in that area. Maybe I'm just nitpicking but the dating really bugged me throughout the book. The ending did surprise me, so that was nice.
September 4, 2013
This is the 5th or 6th Book on CD's by Jennie Hansen that my wife, Sally, and I have listened while traveling. We have enjoyed all of her books. They are generally shorter than other authors. This is an interesting case of a "missing person." Jennie's target audience is LDS readers,but her stories are for everyone. They are clean and uplifting in that you don't have to worry about bad language or sex scenes. Highly recommend for listening while traveling any and all of Jennie Hansen's books.
September 6, 2012
A year or so before this book came out, there was a news story that had a similar beginning, and was curious if this was the authors intention, since that story remains a tragic and horrific mystery. I liked the visual descriptions, and the mystery of the characters. However, with all the action and fast-paced detail, I was disappointed that the ending was so abrupt, and wish there had been a more descriptive ending - I felt a lack of closure due to the quick ending.
August 18, 2011
Disappointed. Jennie Hansen has been one of my favorite authors. I own all her early books. One of the things I liked about her writing was that her books, while not preachy, got me thinking about a point made in the story. I read this whole book and couldn't find a point until - maybe the last chapter or two. Did I just miss it?
Only one fleshed out character in the book, the heroine. I wanted more from the book. Sorry.
Only one fleshed out character in the book, the heroine. I wanted more from the book. Sorry.
September 15, 2011
My mother-in-law gave me this book and she said, "I couldn't put it down, but when I finished I thought about it and didn't think I really liked it." So true. I read it quickly and got caught up in the story, but looking back it was kind of a dumb, cheesy story, and not extremely well-written. If you want a fluffy LDS murder mystery (fluffy and murder don't often belong in the same sentence, but in this case they do- I promise!) read this.
March 6, 2012
When Kallene's friend and running partner disappears, her life is altered forever. Normally comfortable in her home, she's now suspicious of her neighbors. The disappearance brings unexpected romance into her life, and she's forced to decide who to let in.
This was a pretty creepy story that kept me guessing. Parts were intense and I wanted to keep reading, and other times I could walk away from it.
This was a pretty creepy story that kept me guessing. Parts were intense and I wanted to keep reading, and other times I could walk away from it.
November 1, 2013
A quick read. Linda and Kallene are neighbors and running partners. One morning Linda doesn’t show and is found dead a couple of months later, buried along their mountain running path. Kallene suspects a number of neighbors. The book started out with the story similar to Susan Barnes, our local mother who disappeared and the husband was subject, but, gratefully, the author took the story to another level.
November 27, 2011
I did enjoy this book, but as some readers have said, it did seem like chunks of time went by without you knowing. There were quite a few times when I was reading and I had to go back and reread because I felt like I had skipped over something since so much time had passed. Other than that, I thought it was an enjoyable book.
July 1, 2013
A thrilling murder mystery with lots of fluff thrown in as well. Slightly predictable and frustrating main character, but overall likable. Listened to it on cd with Logan during a drive down to St. George. We've listened to several by this author. While not superior, they've been enjoyable and a nice compromise of romance and action.
March 30, 2012
It was a good plot. It wasn't very intense or scary which i would have enjoyed a little more. I didn't realize it was an LDS book until I started reading it which always puts me off to the story a little. It's just weird to be in the middle of a murder mystery and suddenly a bishop or ward is referenced. It doesn't fit in my mind.
June 13, 2012
This book was pretty good, the reader was always trying to guess who the villain might be. The author could have expanded the story lines a bit instead of everyone always meeting and going for a meal instead of doing something else. I enjoyed the type of character of the main character, however, she had alot of courage and was willing to step in when others failed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 110 reviews