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Alvarez & Pescoli #4
Afraid To Die
Afraid To Scream
Others may dread the chill of winter, but he relishes it. The way the frigid water preserves his victims, the feel of their icy skin beneath his fingers. . . And soon the world will see their beauty--and his vengeance.
Afraid To Run
The town of Grizzly Falls is on edge in the wake of a serial killer, and Detective Selena Alvarez is no exception. That case was solved, but a new nightmare is about to unfold. There are two victims so far--their bodies found frozen solid and deliberately displayed. Both are women she knew. And each wears a piece of Selena's jewelry. . .
Afraid To Die
Selena's partner, Detective Regan Pescoli, and the entire department are on the case, as is P.I. Dylan O'Keefe--a man Selena got too close to once before. But this killer already knows too much about Selena's secret terror, her flaws, and the past she's tried to outrun. And soon he'll show her that she has every reason to be afraid. . .
Others may dread the chill of winter, but he relishes it. The way the frigid water preserves his victims, the feel of their icy skin beneath his fingers. . . And soon the world will see their beauty--and his vengeance.
Afraid To Run
The town of Grizzly Falls is on edge in the wake of a serial killer, and Detective Selena Alvarez is no exception. That case was solved, but a new nightmare is about to unfold. There are two victims so far--their bodies found frozen solid and deliberately displayed. Both are women she knew. And each wears a piece of Selena's jewelry. . .
Afraid To Die
Selena's partner, Detective Regan Pescoli, and the entire department are on the case, as is P.I. Dylan O'Keefe--a man Selena got too close to once before. But this killer already knows too much about Selena's secret terror, her flaws, and the past she's tried to outrun. And soon he'll show her that she has every reason to be afraid. . .
484 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
1421 people are currently reading
3909 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Jackson
271 books9,491 followersLisa Jackson is the number-one New York Times bestselling author of over ninety-five novels, including the Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya Series, the Pescoli and Alvarez Series, the Savannah series, and numerous stand alone novels. She also is the co-author of One Last Breath, Last Girl Standing, and the Colony Series, written with her sister and bestselling author Nancy Bush, as well as the collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous, written with Nancy Bush and Rosalind Noonan. There are over thirty million copies of her novels in print and her writing has been translated into twenty languages.
Before she became a nationally bestselling author, she was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.
With dozens of bestsellers to her name, Lisa Jackson is a master of taking readers to the edge of sanity—and back—in novels that buzz with dangerous secrets and deadly passions. She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional, and the downright twisted. As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies, and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families.
Visit http://www.LisaJackson.com where you can find a Media Kit with photos and more information.
Before she became a nationally bestselling author, she was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.
With dozens of bestsellers to her name, Lisa Jackson is a master of taking readers to the edge of sanity—and back—in novels that buzz with dangerous secrets and deadly passions. She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional, and the downright twisted. As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies, and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families.
Visit http://www.LisaJackson.com where you can find a Media Kit with photos and more information.
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September 4, 2020DNF'd at about 19 percent.
I’m nearly 60 books behind in my reading challenge and so really tried to stick with this one.
I gave the slow pacing, awkward dialogue and editing gaffs a pass, all because the blurb promised an intense, chilling, fast-paced police procedural set in a frost-bitten Montana town.
I’m about two plus hours into the audible edition and I just. Cant. Do. It.
The narrator is a favorite of mine, but even she can’t make entertainment happen, not with this material.
The book opens with a flashback to a chase scene featuring Selena Alvarez and an acquaintance of hers. Cut to present day, and our killer is marveling at his latest… creation. Imagine every killer’s pov you’ve ever read in a police procedural or romantic suspense and you’ve read Jackson’s.
Beautiful woman + detailed description of her corpse + horrific mention of screams and struggles= boring, unimaginative characterization.
Cut again to Selena’s home and some quick exposition.
Cut again to the station, secret Santa and some vague references to cases.
Cut again to Selena’s quick trip home for lunch and pet care.
This is an hour plus worth of plot, folks. I am not joking.
The final nail was the endless string of editing gaffs at around the 18to 19 percent mark.
Pescoli rephrases the exact same question about four times within the space of two paragraphs.
There is nothing to indicate a significant passage of time, so she’s either an inexperienced questioner or suffers from short-term memory loss.
But the icing was the "stay here" trope, something I detest in general but cannot abide when the "protected" one is an armed and equally trained cop.
The sole reason for this is to set up a romance, one in which the female half will be expected to fall back and be cared for. I'm not here for it.
I really wanted to like this one and had planned on tearing through the entire series.
I may come back to it when I’m extremely bored and at the bottom of my daunting TBR list.
Right now, though, I’m moving onto something that doesn’t put me to sleep.
I’m nearly 60 books behind in my reading challenge and so really tried to stick with this one.
I gave the slow pacing, awkward dialogue and editing gaffs a pass, all because the blurb promised an intense, chilling, fast-paced police procedural set in a frost-bitten Montana town.
I’m about two plus hours into the audible edition and I just. Cant. Do. It.
The narrator is a favorite of mine, but even she can’t make entertainment happen, not with this material.
The book opens with a flashback to a chase scene featuring Selena Alvarez and an acquaintance of hers. Cut to present day, and our killer is marveling at his latest… creation. Imagine every killer’s pov you’ve ever read in a police procedural or romantic suspense and you’ve read Jackson’s.
Beautiful woman + detailed description of her corpse + horrific mention of screams and struggles= boring, unimaginative characterization.
Cut again to Selena’s home and some quick exposition.
Cut again to the station, secret Santa and some vague references to cases.
Cut again to Selena’s quick trip home for lunch and pet care.
This is an hour plus worth of plot, folks. I am not joking.
The final nail was the endless string of editing gaffs at around the 18to 19 percent mark.
Pescoli rephrases the exact same question about four times within the space of two paragraphs.
There is nothing to indicate a significant passage of time, so she’s either an inexperienced questioner or suffers from short-term memory loss.
But the icing was the "stay here" trope, something I detest in general but cannot abide when the "protected" one is an armed and equally trained cop.
The sole reason for this is to set up a romance, one in which the female half will be expected to fall back and be cared for. I'm not here for it.
I really wanted to like this one and had planned on tearing through the entire series.
I may come back to it when I’m extremely bored and at the bottom of my daunting TBR list.
Right now, though, I’m moving onto something that doesn’t put me to sleep.
May 23, 2019
It's Christmastime in Grizzly Falls, which means it's time for someone to start killing women in cold and creative ways! This time it's Selena Alvarez in the crosshairs, which is a surprise to some given her quiet and controlled personality and life style. But Jackson has hinted all along that there was more to Selena's story than we were being told, and in this novel we learn it all. There were some surprising twists to this book, a big one being that Alvarez is no longer crushing over Captain Grayson. That's a new development that seems to have happened off-screen, but it's also sort of refreshing, and I found her old/new love, Dylan O'Keefe, way more interesting. My only complaint has to do with the series' recurring issues that Jackson continues to leave unresolved, most notably Regan Pescoli's (Alvarez's partner) seeming reluctance to commit to a relationship with Nate Santana. She continues to use her kids as an excuse, but that really doesn't wash anymore. And then there's the fact that Grizzly Falls still has anyone living there, given the rather high murder rate and the horrible winters! One would think people might start moving away (after the roads clear, of course.) LOL
I enjoy Jackson's storytelling, and I've grown attached to the citizens of Grizzly Falls. And if Pescoli wants my advice, she'll move in with the patient and ever-so-hunky Nate Santana, who, let's not forget, saved her life a while back!
I enjoy Jackson's storytelling, and I've grown attached to the citizens of Grizzly Falls. And if Pescoli wants my advice, she'll move in with the patient and ever-so-hunky Nate Santana, who, let's not forget, saved her life a while back!
January 12, 2019
This was interesting story. I was entertained. I think I’m more invested in the messy characters than the killings. I find it odd that every killer in this small town series and all her other books I’ve read are sexually obsessed but never violate the victims other than keeping them naked in life and death. I find it impossible to believe. I wish the author would stray away from this. She’s obsessed with it. Still, she creates compelling heroes (men and women) who suck you in. Also, the inconsistencies continue within the same story. It’s as if this books aren’t edited. But it’s. It enough to stop me from continuing to read these, except I’m only reading those in the romance package. I’m not sold enough to use my credits. The narrator was good.
June 8, 2017
ich bekomme einfach nicht genug von ihren Büchern :-)
April 1, 2025
Another serial murder has come to Grizzly Falls, Montana and our intrepid detectives, Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli are on it…Grizzly Falls is quite the place, like Walt Longmire’s Absaroka County, Wyoming, its body count skews all statistical models…Someone is leaving women entombed in blocks of ice, all of whom have some connection to Alvarez…We have so more developments in both detectives as we tumble through the pages of this thriller…Decent!
November 25, 2012
3 stars simply because I like the town and characters.
It seems as if this author is now pumping books out just to get them out with no thoughts of editing or proofreading. I used to like this author, and I still kind of do, but the last few books I've read have been riddled with grammar errors and things that just plumb don't make sense, this title included.
First off, I like the characters and the setting in the Pescoli/Alvarez/Grizzly Falls series. I don't mind the fact that the town seems full of crazies, so much so that this fictional town has been plagued by serial killers for the last four years, and yet there are still fictional residents in this fictional town. I guess fictional people don't have the common sense to flee once they notice the trend of killers that keep on a' comin. Don't mind it at all, keeps me reading and involved with characters I've grown to like.
What I don't like - there are so many grammatical errors and run-on sentences that it's super confusing. There are also a whole host of words that are constantly repeated, mainly the word "damned". It's ridiculously overused, appears AT LEAST once a page. That's annoying. An author has every tool at their fingertips to expand their writing language and these tools should be implemented. And it wasn't just this book, it was all of them in the series. The whole "damned" series, I kid you not. Not to mention, everyone is constantly "muttering under their breath" or "saying under their breath" and "whispering under their breath ". I'm OK with parts not having dialogue. These random mutterings to the characters selves aren't needed just to add dialogue. It's perfectly fine to add it as a thought instead of dialogue. It's only something that adds to the readers frustration as something that is (again) constantly repeated. And the new, stupid sounding phrases that kept popping up. "Funny that." "Weird that." "Weird all that." They sound stupid and I've never heard anyone say that in my life.
Another thing - sloppy errors keep popping up. Here is an example from the book - The killer is talking to his wife in the morning, she heads to the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast. The "smell of fresh coffee wafts through the house" (quote taken from book), yet read further down the page and they are continuing the conversation while she makes said coffee. Come on, really? Think it out, let it fester, rearrange it so it makes sense. Not to mention the dog, whose name is Cisco according to all the books in this series, is alternately being called Cisco and Chico in this book, and Kayan Rule gets called Rule Kayan several times.. Sloppy mistakes! Errors in one book I can understand. Maybe an editor got fired and they are shorthanded. But when stupid errors keep popping up in every book, it makes me think that books are published just to get out there.
I have a hard time taking authors seriously when editing and proofreading seem to take a backseat to just getting the book on the shelves, and this author is no exception. Hopefully things change, because I really like(d) this author and would like to see the quality improve to what it once was.
It seems as if this author is now pumping books out just to get them out with no thoughts of editing or proofreading. I used to like this author, and I still kind of do, but the last few books I've read have been riddled with grammar errors and things that just plumb don't make sense, this title included.
First off, I like the characters and the setting in the Pescoli/Alvarez/Grizzly Falls series. I don't mind the fact that the town seems full of crazies, so much so that this fictional town has been plagued by serial killers for the last four years, and yet there are still fictional residents in this fictional town. I guess fictional people don't have the common sense to flee once they notice the trend of killers that keep on a' comin. Don't mind it at all, keeps me reading and involved with characters I've grown to like.
What I don't like - there are so many grammatical errors and run-on sentences that it's super confusing. There are also a whole host of words that are constantly repeated, mainly the word "damned". It's ridiculously overused, appears AT LEAST once a page. That's annoying. An author has every tool at their fingertips to expand their writing language and these tools should be implemented. And it wasn't just this book, it was all of them in the series. The whole "damned" series, I kid you not. Not to mention, everyone is constantly "muttering under their breath" or "saying under their breath" and "whispering under their breath ". I'm OK with parts not having dialogue. These random mutterings to the characters selves aren't needed just to add dialogue. It's perfectly fine to add it as a thought instead of dialogue. It's only something that adds to the readers frustration as something that is (again) constantly repeated. And the new, stupid sounding phrases that kept popping up. "Funny that." "Weird that." "Weird all that." They sound stupid and I've never heard anyone say that in my life.
Another thing - sloppy errors keep popping up. Here is an example from the book - The killer is talking to his wife in the morning, she heads to the kitchen to make coffee and breakfast. The "smell of fresh coffee wafts through the house" (quote taken from book), yet read further down the page and they are continuing the conversation while she makes said coffee. Come on, really? Think it out, let it fester, rearrange it so it makes sense. Not to mention the dog, whose name is Cisco according to all the books in this series, is alternately being called Cisco and Chico in this book, and Kayan Rule gets called Rule Kayan several times.. Sloppy mistakes! Errors in one book I can understand. Maybe an editor got fired and they are shorthanded. But when stupid errors keep popping up in every book, it makes me think that books are published just to get out there.
I have a hard time taking authors seriously when editing and proofreading seem to take a backseat to just getting the book on the shelves, and this author is no exception. Hopefully things change, because I really like(d) this author and would like to see the quality improve to what it once was.
August 28, 2019
Pescoli ve Alvarez. Bu iki kadına bayılacaksınız.
Grizzly Falls son zamanlarda manyakların yeni adresi gibi görünmektedir. Kadınları buzdan tabutlarda sergileyen katilin durmaya niyeti yoktur. Vaka ilerledikçe Alvarez ile katilin arasındaki bağ dikkat çeker. Alvarez’in yıllardır sakladığı sır ortaya çıkacaktır.
Elbette katil o olmalıydı. Tabi ya. Ben bunu nasıl da düşündüm şak diye. Yazarın karşısına çıkıp şöyle demek istiyorum: Ya sen ciddi misin? Bu kadar klişe yazmak zorunda mıydın? Polisiye kitapların ne kadar birbirine benzediğinin farkında mısın? Bunu tahmin etmek çok kolaydı hafi ama. vs vs.
Kesinlikle yazar daha iyisini yazabilirdi. Lisa Jackson çok kaliteli ve yetenekli bir yazar. Ana karakterlerden ve olay örgüsünden bu belli zaten. Ama bu son nedir ya? Nedir?
Pof. Tabi ki çok sevdim. Tabi ki bayıldım. bu serinin (To Die) yeri bende ayrı. Aşığım 💞
Grizzly Falls son zamanlarda manyakların yeni adresi gibi görünmektedir. Kadınları buzdan tabutlarda sergileyen katilin durmaya niyeti yoktur. Vaka ilerledikçe Alvarez ile katilin arasındaki bağ dikkat çeker. Alvarez’in yıllardır sakladığı sır ortaya çıkacaktır.
Elbette katil o olmalıydı. Tabi ya. Ben bunu nasıl da düşündüm şak diye. Yazarın karşısına çıkıp şöyle demek istiyorum: Ya sen ciddi misin? Bu kadar klişe yazmak zorunda mıydın? Polisiye kitapların ne kadar birbirine benzediğinin farkında mısın? Bunu tahmin etmek çok kolaydı hafi ama. vs vs.
Kesinlikle yazar daha iyisini yazabilirdi. Lisa Jackson çok kaliteli ve yetenekli bir yazar. Ana karakterlerden ve olay örgüsünden bu belli zaten. Ama bu son nedir ya? Nedir?
Pof. Tabi ki çok sevdim. Tabi ki bayıldım. bu serinin (To Die) yeri bende ayrı. Aşığım 💞
July 18, 2012
Alvarez and Pescoli are back and the bodies are stacking up...
“Afraid to Die” is the fourth book in Lisa Jackson’s Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli thrillers and she does not disappoint her fans of this series. She picks up the lives of Selena and Regan about a year after “Born to Die” ends. We learn more about who Selena is and how she developed into the character we know and love. Regan is still battling her children and as a parent you can totally relate to all of the little problems that come up. We get to see Regan and Selena’s romantic lives develop with the men in their lives as well as the now expected Christmas rituals that happen around the station that add to the richness of the characters that allow you to feel as if you are a part of the story. Along with all of this is the very unsettling story of a serial killer who is drawing in Selena and her past by introducing items of hers to each crime scene. Lisa Jackson does not disappoint with the creepiness of the serial killer and the unique way the victims are killed and discovered.
There is some predictability to the series, there is the setting, the cases all seem to crop up at the holidays year after year. There are the issues with Regan’s children who as teens whose behavior is similar to so many teens we all know. There are the holiday preparations that occur down at the police station and the odd residents of the town. Some may not enjoy the repetition but then again this is what makes the characters seem so real and like someone from your own neighborhood. I look forward to the next chapter in the Alvarez/Pescoli to Die for series.
“Afraid to Die” is the fourth book in Lisa Jackson’s Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli thrillers and she does not disappoint her fans of this series. She picks up the lives of Selena and Regan about a year after “Born to Die” ends. We learn more about who Selena is and how she developed into the character we know and love. Regan is still battling her children and as a parent you can totally relate to all of the little problems that come up. We get to see Regan and Selena’s romantic lives develop with the men in their lives as well as the now expected Christmas rituals that happen around the station that add to the richness of the characters that allow you to feel as if you are a part of the story. Along with all of this is the very unsettling story of a serial killer who is drawing in Selena and her past by introducing items of hers to each crime scene. Lisa Jackson does not disappoint with the creepiness of the serial killer and the unique way the victims are killed and discovered.
There is some predictability to the series, there is the setting, the cases all seem to crop up at the holidays year after year. There are the issues with Regan’s children who as teens whose behavior is similar to so many teens we all know. There are the holiday preparations that occur down at the police station and the odd residents of the town. Some may not enjoy the repetition but then again this is what makes the characters seem so real and like someone from your own neighborhood. I look forward to the next chapter in the Alvarez/Pescoli to Die for series.
August 22, 2012
I'm a big Lisa Jackson fan, but I ended up feeling like I'd read this book before. It's winter. Again. There's a serial killer (again). Pescoli's kids act up. Again. Nutty Christmas lady at the police station bedecks the halls. Again. The only new thing was Alvarez' boyfriend. If Ms. Jackson wants to write more Grizzly Falls stories, let's have a change of season, a change of story type, and have some of the characters mature.
February 12, 2021
begins very slowly ... too many characters too quickly introduced ... and the crimes are heinous and disgusting ... I stopped reading ... not for me
July 2, 2017
Det. Serena Alvarez and Det. Regan Pascoli have a new serial killer to deal with. This guy is encasing women in ice sculptures. When the bodies are discovered, Serena realises that they bear jewellery that belongs to her! Complicating things is the arrival of both ex-lover Dylan O'Keefe in her life, plus Gabriel Reeve, who may just be the son she gave up for adoption sixteen years previously. It's apparent the killer is fixated on Serena, threatening both her and those she loves.
Left To Die and Chosen To Die were both dreadful books. Pure trash! So why would I pick up another book in the series? Well, I got it from the library, of course! This one was much better than those two, although that is kind of like saying a mild rash is better than an STD. In any case, it worked well as a standalone story, and if Jackson's editors had been a bit more prudent with their editing and shaved off about 50 pages, it could have been a really good thriller!
Working against it is the fact that it's too repetitive. Characters ruminate about the same things over and over again. There is too much focus on the characters' personal lives. I pretty much skimmed anything to do with Regan and her two kids! It never really felt pertinent to the unfolding events. Plus, there were too many uses of one of my personal crime novel pet peeves - the entire backstory of a character who is only there to discover a dead body and is never heard from again! There are also a couple of dream sequences, another pet peeve!
But what did work? The relationship between Serena Alvarez and Dylan O'Keefe was surprisingly well handled. They acted like adults. Too often in this genre, the female and male leads act like such juveniles you marvel at how they could ever be put in charge of a police investigation! Not so here. The identity of the killer was cleverly done, and made sense. His motive - not so much! The climax of the novel was definitely a highlight. If you can end a book on an adrenaline high, that always gets an extra star from me! Do a bit of trimming, and this could make a decent movie/TV movie - another endorsement!
Certainly not a shining example of the best the genre has to offer, due to far too much padding and repetition, but I ended up enjoying it!
Left To Die and Chosen To Die were both dreadful books. Pure trash! So why would I pick up another book in the series? Well, I got it from the library, of course! This one was much better than those two, although that is kind of like saying a mild rash is better than an STD. In any case, it worked well as a standalone story, and if Jackson's editors had been a bit more prudent with their editing and shaved off about 50 pages, it could have been a really good thriller!
Working against it is the fact that it's too repetitive. Characters ruminate about the same things over and over again. There is too much focus on the characters' personal lives. I pretty much skimmed anything to do with Regan and her two kids! It never really felt pertinent to the unfolding events. Plus, there were too many uses of one of my personal crime novel pet peeves - the entire backstory of a character who is only there to discover a dead body and is never heard from again! There are also a couple of dream sequences, another pet peeve!
But what did work? The relationship between Serena Alvarez and Dylan O'Keefe was surprisingly well handled. They acted like adults. Too often in this genre, the female and male leads act like such juveniles you marvel at how they could ever be put in charge of a police investigation! Not so here. The identity of the killer was cleverly done, and made sense. His motive - not so much! The climax of the novel was definitely a highlight. If you can end a book on an adrenaline high, that always gets an extra star from me! Do a bit of trimming, and this could make a decent movie/TV movie - another endorsement!
Certainly not a shining example of the best the genre has to offer, due to far too much padding and repetition, but I ended up enjoying it!
June 12, 2012
It’s Christmas time in Grizzly Falls Montana and after the past few terrifying winters the residents are ready for a break, but unfortunately they’re not going to get one. It seems that all the crazies come out in winter and this December is no different, there’s a madman killing women and posing them in ice sculptures and it’s once again up to Detectives Alvarez and Pescoli to solve the crimes. But this time there’s more going on and it seems that Selena Alvarez is about to get a visit from her past, a past that she’s tried to keep buried, but when Dylan O’Keefe shows up in town all bets are off.
Dylan O’Keefe is on the trail of his runaway cousin, Gabe, and the trail leads him right to Selena Alvarez a woman from his past, a woman he once thought he loved, a woman that cost him his job and almost his life. He and Selena join forces to find the boy and when he learns of the reason Gabe’s trying to find her, her past and his will once again be brought to the present. Selena and Dylan are pulled not only into finding the missing boy but also into the current killings that are terrorizing the town when it seems that Selena is somehow a focus of this brazen monster. But there is also their very complicated and it seems unfinished feelings for each other, will they survive to see where they lead or will this nightmare before Christmas be the end of the line.
Once again Lisa Jackson proves to me why she’s a #1 NY Times bestselling author as she leads me through her complex and terrifying plot, a storyline that is a macabre as any I’ve ever had the nail biting pleasure to read. She reunites me with her characters from her previous three novels starring detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez and introduces me to new ones, some which I will learn to love and one in particular that will keep me up at night and all the others that round out this terror filled and edge of my seat novel. In this particular installment in her series she brings Selena Alvarez to the forefront a woman who was always a mystery to me because she was always veiled to us by this amazing author who now fills in all the empty blanks of her life. Her usual no nonsense dialogue and her nightmare filled narrative led me on a merry chase and did not let me in on the identity of the killer until the very end while she also kept my rapt attention to the goings on of life in Grizzly Falls and it’s residents. The romance in this novel is ripe with complications and obstacles and yet she filled my heart with their story as she filled her pages.
If you’re looking for a comforting Christmas story you’ll not find it here, but if you want a Christmas in June that will keep you up at night, one that you’ll not be able to read while alone and shivering in your warm June homes, then this is your next Must Read.
To Ms. Jackson I say Brava, as you once again thrilled and terrified me and I can’t wait to see what horrible crime filled road you take me down next.
Want to know more, check out my exclusive Q&A with Lisa here - http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t...
Dylan O’Keefe is on the trail of his runaway cousin, Gabe, and the trail leads him right to Selena Alvarez a woman from his past, a woman he once thought he loved, a woman that cost him his job and almost his life. He and Selena join forces to find the boy and when he learns of the reason Gabe’s trying to find her, her past and his will once again be brought to the present. Selena and Dylan are pulled not only into finding the missing boy but also into the current killings that are terrorizing the town when it seems that Selena is somehow a focus of this brazen monster. But there is also their very complicated and it seems unfinished feelings for each other, will they survive to see where they lead or will this nightmare before Christmas be the end of the line.
Once again Lisa Jackson proves to me why she’s a #1 NY Times bestselling author as she leads me through her complex and terrifying plot, a storyline that is a macabre as any I’ve ever had the nail biting pleasure to read. She reunites me with her characters from her previous three novels starring detectives Regan Pescoli and Selena Alvarez and introduces me to new ones, some which I will learn to love and one in particular that will keep me up at night and all the others that round out this terror filled and edge of my seat novel. In this particular installment in her series she brings Selena Alvarez to the forefront a woman who was always a mystery to me because she was always veiled to us by this amazing author who now fills in all the empty blanks of her life. Her usual no nonsense dialogue and her nightmare filled narrative led me on a merry chase and did not let me in on the identity of the killer until the very end while she also kept my rapt attention to the goings on of life in Grizzly Falls and it’s residents. The romance in this novel is ripe with complications and obstacles and yet she filled my heart with their story as she filled her pages.
If you’re looking for a comforting Christmas story you’ll not find it here, but if you want a Christmas in June that will keep you up at night, one that you’ll not be able to read while alone and shivering in your warm June homes, then this is your next Must Read.
To Ms. Jackson I say Brava, as you once again thrilled and terrified me and I can’t wait to see what horrible crime filled road you take me down next.
Want to know more, check out my exclusive Q&A with Lisa here - http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t...
September 11, 2012
This fourth book in the Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli series is my first experience with a book written by this author. I was hooked very early into the story that is more mystery/suspense than romance.
The story is mainly told through Detectives Alvarez and Pescoli, but we also get into the minds of some of the victims, the serial killer, those that find the bodies and Dylan O’Keefe, now a PI who had once worked with Alvarez in the San Bernadino PD until she’d messed up and a set-up went horribly wrong.
Grizzly Falls, MT has a new serial killer who is having a problem with the fact that the police and media aren’t considering each ice sculpture containing a dead naked woman in them the work of art he’d put so much effort into creating and displaying. Alvarez starts to realize with the second body found that the only thing the women are wearing is a piece of her jewelry which had disappeared. The killings have become personal.
Alvarez had last seen O’Keefe years ago in San Bernadino so he’s the last person she expects to see chasing after a teenager who’d run into her house. All of her closely guarded secrets become unveiled when realizing there is a good chance the boy, adopted son of O’Keefe’s cousin, is the baby she’d given up for adoption. The boy is in trouble and O’Keefe had been hired by his cousin to find him. They've both still got feelings for the other, but her feelings and history scare her and she'd run away from him once already.
The characters were alive for me. I felt for each of them; frustration, fear, anger, relief, determination and hope. The emotions ran the gamut. Now add in tension, suspense, a personal breakthrough and action, and you’ve got a well-rounded story. A good chunk of the book moved at a fairly fast clip, although there were a few areas that could have been tightened up a little more.
Reviewed for Library Thing.
The story is mainly told through Detectives Alvarez and Pescoli, but we also get into the minds of some of the victims, the serial killer, those that find the bodies and Dylan O’Keefe, now a PI who had once worked with Alvarez in the San Bernadino PD until she’d messed up and a set-up went horribly wrong.
Grizzly Falls, MT has a new serial killer who is having a problem with the fact that the police and media aren’t considering each ice sculpture containing a dead naked woman in them the work of art he’d put so much effort into creating and displaying. Alvarez starts to realize with the second body found that the only thing the women are wearing is a piece of her jewelry which had disappeared. The killings have become personal.
Alvarez had last seen O’Keefe years ago in San Bernadino so he’s the last person she expects to see chasing after a teenager who’d run into her house. All of her closely guarded secrets become unveiled when realizing there is a good chance the boy, adopted son of O’Keefe’s cousin, is the baby she’d given up for adoption. The boy is in trouble and O’Keefe had been hired by his cousin to find him. They've both still got feelings for the other, but her feelings and history scare her and she'd run away from him once already.
The characters were alive for me. I felt for each of them; frustration, fear, anger, relief, determination and hope. The emotions ran the gamut. Now add in tension, suspense, a personal breakthrough and action, and you’ve got a well-rounded story. A good chunk of the book moved at a fairly fast clip, although there were a few areas that could have been tightened up a little more.
Reviewed for Library Thing.
March 1, 2018
I really enjoy this series - Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli track a crazy serial killer in the town of Grizzly Falls. Winter brings out the crazies in Grizzly Town and this killer does not disappoint. Loved it!! 4 stars
Decided to do a re-read of this one as I jump back into this series! Love Alvarez & Pescoli!
Decided to do a re-read of this one as I jump back into this series! Love Alvarez & Pescoli!
March 6, 2016
Two-haiku review:
Bad guy freezes vics
Turns them into ice sculptures
Is Alvarez next?
My first Jackson book
Definitely won't be last
I liked it a lot
Bad guy freezes vics
Turns them into ice sculptures
Is Alvarez next?
My first Jackson book
Definitely won't be last
I liked it a lot
December 24, 2016
das Buch kann ja nichts für meinen Zeitmangel. fand es sehr gut.
November 23, 2019
Grizzley Falls is just a small rural town in te middle of no where! It’s winter and the cold and snow are too much for many to accept. Yet, it seems that this time of year brings out the maniacs, weirdo’s and serial killers. This killer is one of the strangest that Detectives Pescoli and Alverez have ever dealt with.
When Grizzley Falls women begin to disappear, it quickly becomes more than a missing persons case. Slowly the women are displayed throughout the town, dead, ice sculptures; nude with the exception of a piece of jewelry; a piece of Detective Alverez’s jewelry.
The jewelry displayed seems to have turned up missing after a young boy breaks into Alverez’s apartment; a young boy who may be the son she gave up for adoption at birth. Selena Alverez has kept this secret for sixteen years; now she must face her past to stop a killer!
Confronted by a maniac who knows everything about the past Alverez has tried to outrun for years, he knows the one thing that will lure her into his lair.
May 23, 2024
This was one of my favorites from the die Series.
I love that now Selena now has a love interest.
I look forward to reading the next in this series.
Thanks
PJV i
I love that now Selena now has a love interest.
I look forward to reading the next in this series.
Thanks
PJV i
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2025
Lisa Jackson is a great writer. this one didn't disappoint
April 3, 2017
More like 1.5 stars. Overly convoluted and implausible plot, with way too many easy assumptions and contrived coincidences. The motivation of the villain remains obscure, even though I admit that the way the serial killer disposes of the victims is unheard of.
A priest in love with workouts is fun. The elliptical training machine, paired with intense prayer and maybe fasting for good measure could, in these modern times, be considered a way to “sweat it out” for God, or something.
A priest in love with workouts is fun. The elliptical training machine, paired with intense prayer and maybe fasting for good measure could, in these modern times, be considered a way to “sweat it out” for God, or something.
October 10, 2023
Lisa Jackson is one of my favorite writers. I really like Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli they act like real people would. Neither of them is perfect but I like reading more about them and the scary town they live in. This is book four and one I really liked.
You want to read the books in order even if you don't read all the books.
You want to read the books in order even if you don't read all the books.
March 3, 2016
A diabolical killer is loose in Grizzly Falls. He encases his female victims in ice sculptures. The author concentrates on the personal lives and relationships of several female police officers without a lot of detail about the crime story.
September 26, 2024
Answers
Selena Alvarez and Dylan O’Keefe. A second chance, but first. Their history is convoluted, but O’Keefe gets all the answers this time and now there is a real shot. Along with answers, we the readers find out Selena’s reason for being so hard working and set on everything. Her relationship with O’Keefe, animals, and her partner Pescoli all have evolved throughout the series, but especially in this book. The runaway, maybe criminal, was a fascinating twist to this story and I loved the scenes he had with Alvarez. The harm that Alvarez, the kid, and Roscoe the dog encountered was vivid and scary, but also helped create the perfect emotions and setting for the end of this book. The villain was well constructed and I had not guessed the entire time. Along with Alvarez and O’Keefe we saw some series favorites or regulars with Grace (she is fascinating), Sandi, and of course Pescoli and Nate (I want them to move past the will they won’t they future). Good series and ready for the next book!
Selena Alvarez and Dylan O’Keefe. A second chance, but first. Their history is convoluted, but O’Keefe gets all the answers this time and now there is a real shot. Along with answers, we the readers find out Selena’s reason for being so hard working and set on everything. Her relationship with O’Keefe, animals, and her partner Pescoli all have evolved throughout the series, but especially in this book. The runaway, maybe criminal, was a fascinating twist to this story and I loved the scenes he had with Alvarez. The harm that Alvarez, the kid, and Roscoe the dog encountered was vivid and scary, but also helped create the perfect emotions and setting for the end of this book. The villain was well constructed and I had not guessed the entire time. Along with Alvarez and O’Keefe we saw some series favorites or regulars with Grace (she is fascinating), Sandi, and of course Pescoli and Nate (I want them to move past the will they won’t they future). Good series and ready for the next book!
April 2, 2018
Setting: Grizzly Falls Montana
The antagonists loves the chill of winter, too much. A sick and deranged serial killer. Greep factor ten. He freezes women, making a sculpture out of them, then puts them on display with a piece of jewelry-Selena Alvarez's.
Detective Regan Pescoli, Detective Selena Alvarez and PI Dylan O'Keeve investigates. One problem: Alvarez has a secret past.
This would be a great story if the explicit sexual content were left out. With that said, the plot moved the story at gut-wrenching speed.
"Don't mess with a pregnant woman." I loved this scene.
Great ending. Likable characters. (Except of course for the twisted killer.)
The antagonists loves the chill of winter, too much. A sick and deranged serial killer. Greep factor ten. He freezes women, making a sculpture out of them, then puts them on display with a piece of jewelry-Selena Alvarez's.
Detective Regan Pescoli, Detective Selena Alvarez and PI Dylan O'Keeve investigates. One problem: Alvarez has a secret past.
This would be a great story if the explicit sexual content were left out. With that said, the plot moved the story at gut-wrenching speed.
"Don't mess with a pregnant woman." I loved this scene.
Great ending. Likable characters. (Except of course for the twisted killer.)
Read
April 1, 2017Afraid To Die (To Die #4)
by Lisa Jackson (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.0 · Rating Details · 3,776 Ratings · 278 Reviews
Afraid To Die (Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli)
Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages
Published June 12th 2012 by Zebra (first published January 1st 2012)
ISBN 1420118501 (ISBN13: 9781420118506)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesTo Die #4
CharactersRegan Pescoli, Selena Alvarez, P.I. Dylan O'Keefe settingMontana (United States)
Didn't finish
by Lisa Jackson (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.0 · Rating Details · 3,776 Ratings · 278 Reviews
Afraid To Die (Selena Alvarez/Regan Pescoli)
Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages
Published June 12th 2012 by Zebra (first published January 1st 2012)
ISBN 1420118501 (ISBN13: 9781420118506)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesTo Die #4
CharactersRegan Pescoli, Selena Alvarez, P.I. Dylan O'Keefe settingMontana (United States)
Didn't finish
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2018
To much to write about, so much going on in this story about a MAD MAN in Snowy Montana... Ready to read a book without SNOW and a Sick Psycho!!! A book that was long drawn out because of a trip to VEGAS, so glad it's done...
May 5, 2022
This series by Lisa Jackson is amazing. I love how easy it is to get into her books and love when they are apart if a series. I highly recommend this author to anyone who is looking for a good thriller. Just know it will be hard for you to want to put the books down.
September 19, 2019
Religion is the excuse many people use to explain excess, but the killer seemed to feel he had the right to punish people for stepping out of their vows.
April 24, 2024
Personal read. I love all of Lisa Jackson's books. Always well written, thorough and lots of imagination. She's the only who dunnit author that I can't figure out who the killer is before hand. Which I love about her writing. The ability to throw you all around so much you don't know who the killer is. Love it. If you haven't read any of Lisa Jackson's work, I highly press that you give it a try.
July 11, 2023
3.5 stars a decent read, entertaining enough.
I'll keep reading the series.
I'll keep reading the series.
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