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The Stalker
Jennifer escapes an attempt on her life in an empty shopping mall, but the terrified girl is stalked by the strangler, who is determined to silence her forever.
- GenresHorrorYoung Adult
170 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1992
35 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Davidson
17 books13 followersNicole Davidson is a pen name for Kathryn Jensen.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 30, 2024
It was great to get back to reading a book that actually held my attention and had a good twist with a climax that lead to a good ending.
True it may have been cliched in certain parts but at least it didn't drift too far in trying to "experiment" with motives.
Jennifer Merrill could probably be spoiled and not have to work a job working at the sweet roll shop in the mall but she does. Her father is very strict about the boys she dates and how late she can stay out and where she is going for college but she wants her own money too.
Her best friend Patty McMurphy is always spending her money on clothes but Jennifer saved up to get her little red Miata so she knows how to keep her dad from grounding her...it can't be for being frivolous with money.
She makes good grades and is on the tennis team at school so Jennifer is sure that her senior year will be the last time she has to sweat and toil...unless she finds a job that requires her to get her hands dirty.
Her father owns the electronics store in the McCarter Mall and his assistant manager is a senior at the high school named Gary Pyzik so hard work is something to impress Mr. Merrill, a man of a very short fuse on his temper.
Jennifer is left on her own to clean-up and close down for the night and a new security guard checks in on her while doing his rounds. She finds him to be very handsome and maybe just slightly older than her, at least old enough to be a security guard, but says she will be okay walking to her car alone when he offers.
Jennifer knows every part of this mall but she has a few second thoughts once she heads to the parking lot. Six months ago, an older woman had been killed and left behind the mall with no one arrested for the crime. She was homeless and thought to be killed by two other homeless folks over food but who knows in this town.
McCarter has older people buying alcohol from the nearby wet county and selling it to the high school students in this dry Texas county, stores in the mall being robbed of inventory and a high-school dropout supposedly selling drugs to minors.
Nice town...
As Jennifer heads out to her car, she hears voices but they die away before the lights go completely out. In the darkness, Jennifer reaches out to keep from falling and grabs on to an arm. It jerks back and before Jennifer can get out an apology or a question, a wire is slipped around her throat and pulled tight that Jennifer blacks out as the lights come back on and someone calls her name.
We get a glimpse at the security guard climbing into the back of the ambulance with Jennifer. His name is Troy Black and since he started working at the mall, he has noticed the hard-working Jennifer over at the Caramelbun shop. She's beautiful and polite to customers with a smile that has made its way into his heart and cornflower eyes like Troy has never seen.
Now this girl is in the back of an ambulance and heading to the hospital, dying and bleeding out because he didn't push his offer to walk her to her car. Troy is sick with remorse yet burning with anger...he'll get the person who did this.
Jennifer wakes up in the hospital and finds out from the doctor that hse has been here for a week.
Her brain was deprived of oxygen that she wasn't brain damaged or fatally asphyxiated but enough to keep her in a coma until now. Jennifer remembers only that she wasn't getting into her car but in the process of getting there after locking up and talking to the security guard.
Her father is furious and Jennifer now has a scar on her neck from the wire, a forever grisly reminder that she almost died.
Patty comes to see Jennifer once she is home to bring her two weeks worth of homework but also a get well card from her fellow seniors and even the juniors. It is a sad reminder that last year Patty's boyfriend, Pete Foley, committed suicide and hung himself from the goal post on the football field.
Good-looking, good grades, football star and tennis player as well as a girl who was crazy for him...why would he do such a thing? Most people think that Pete was getting tired of having to bail out his older brother, Mike, who spent more time drinking than even writing his own papers for school assignments.
Little brother always having to bail him out to keep his older brother from going to jail or ending up dead yet somehow Mike lived while Pete had a life worth living...
Jennifer tells Patty she is going back to work as well as school so already we can see that Jennifer is a strong female lead character in this book because I don't think anyone I know, as well as myself, could go back to a place where someone almost killed me...
Jennifer goes to the mall to check if it is okay with her boss Jerry to come back, pays a quick visit to where Patty works to see her, check out a new album for sale at her dad's store and then bumps into Troy while deciding on whether to get thick or thin crust pizza.
Troy asks her if she would like to join him on his lunch break for some thick crust pizza and Jennifer agrees, where they discuss her attack among other things. Patty showed Jennifer the article in the paper that ran the day after her attack where she found a picture of herself on a stretcher and Troy holding onto her hand.
Even though Troy really likes Jennifer, we learn that he is trying to convince himself not to get involved with her after what happened. There are also other reasons that are left mysterious and vague but it is clear that he is not a fan of all the bad things that have happened here in McCarter.
Troy's biggest worry is that Mike Foley, older brother of the late Pete Foley, is pushing drugs to kids at the mall. He is the high-school dropout after his brother's suicide but Mike is more than certain that Pete...didn't kill himself and there is more to Mike than is on the surface...
Not the only character in this book with hidden agendas and building characterization but I won't go to much more into that...
The Stalker is more of mystery, suspense-thriller than an outright horror and plays bits of it like a police drama series with elements of high school thrown in to catch that early 1990s YA crowd. I don't even think that the title really fits unless you are pushing that a killer is "stalking" about the mall.
If I had to give you any example of what you could actually call this book for a better title than I would be spoiling it for anyone who hasn't read The Stalker but has scanned the aisles of a Blockbuster Video or watched a ton of movies like myself...
For those of you wondering what a Blockbuster Video is...I think it is time that this old lady heads to bed.
Comment if curious for more ramblings from one of the world's oldest teenagers ;)
True it may have been cliched in certain parts but at least it didn't drift too far in trying to "experiment" with motives.
Jennifer Merrill could probably be spoiled and not have to work a job working at the sweet roll shop in the mall but she does. Her father is very strict about the boys she dates and how late she can stay out and where she is going for college but she wants her own money too.
Her best friend Patty McMurphy is always spending her money on clothes but Jennifer saved up to get her little red Miata so she knows how to keep her dad from grounding her...it can't be for being frivolous with money.
She makes good grades and is on the tennis team at school so Jennifer is sure that her senior year will be the last time she has to sweat and toil...unless she finds a job that requires her to get her hands dirty.
Her father owns the electronics store in the McCarter Mall and his assistant manager is a senior at the high school named Gary Pyzik so hard work is something to impress Mr. Merrill, a man of a very short fuse on his temper.
Jennifer is left on her own to clean-up and close down for the night and a new security guard checks in on her while doing his rounds. She finds him to be very handsome and maybe just slightly older than her, at least old enough to be a security guard, but says she will be okay walking to her car alone when he offers.
Jennifer knows every part of this mall but she has a few second thoughts once she heads to the parking lot. Six months ago, an older woman had been killed and left behind the mall with no one arrested for the crime. She was homeless and thought to be killed by two other homeless folks over food but who knows in this town.
McCarter has older people buying alcohol from the nearby wet county and selling it to the high school students in this dry Texas county, stores in the mall being robbed of inventory and a high-school dropout supposedly selling drugs to minors.
Nice town...
As Jennifer heads out to her car, she hears voices but they die away before the lights go completely out. In the darkness, Jennifer reaches out to keep from falling and grabs on to an arm. It jerks back and before Jennifer can get out an apology or a question, a wire is slipped around her throat and pulled tight that Jennifer blacks out as the lights come back on and someone calls her name.
We get a glimpse at the security guard climbing into the back of the ambulance with Jennifer. His name is Troy Black and since he started working at the mall, he has noticed the hard-working Jennifer over at the Caramelbun shop. She's beautiful and polite to customers with a smile that has made its way into his heart and cornflower eyes like Troy has never seen.
Now this girl is in the back of an ambulance and heading to the hospital, dying and bleeding out because he didn't push his offer to walk her to her car. Troy is sick with remorse yet burning with anger...he'll get the person who did this.
Jennifer wakes up in the hospital and finds out from the doctor that hse has been here for a week.
Her brain was deprived of oxygen that she wasn't brain damaged or fatally asphyxiated but enough to keep her in a coma until now. Jennifer remembers only that she wasn't getting into her car but in the process of getting there after locking up and talking to the security guard.
Her father is furious and Jennifer now has a scar on her neck from the wire, a forever grisly reminder that she almost died.
Patty comes to see Jennifer once she is home to bring her two weeks worth of homework but also a get well card from her fellow seniors and even the juniors. It is a sad reminder that last year Patty's boyfriend, Pete Foley, committed suicide and hung himself from the goal post on the football field.
Good-looking, good grades, football star and tennis player as well as a girl who was crazy for him...why would he do such a thing? Most people think that Pete was getting tired of having to bail out his older brother, Mike, who spent more time drinking than even writing his own papers for school assignments.
Little brother always having to bail him out to keep his older brother from going to jail or ending up dead yet somehow Mike lived while Pete had a life worth living...
Jennifer tells Patty she is going back to work as well as school so already we can see that Jennifer is a strong female lead character in this book because I don't think anyone I know, as well as myself, could go back to a place where someone almost killed me...
Jennifer goes to the mall to check if it is okay with her boss Jerry to come back, pays a quick visit to where Patty works to see her, check out a new album for sale at her dad's store and then bumps into Troy while deciding on whether to get thick or thin crust pizza.
Troy asks her if she would like to join him on his lunch break for some thick crust pizza and Jennifer agrees, where they discuss her attack among other things. Patty showed Jennifer the article in the paper that ran the day after her attack where she found a picture of herself on a stretcher and Troy holding onto her hand.
Even though Troy really likes Jennifer, we learn that he is trying to convince himself not to get involved with her after what happened. There are also other reasons that are left mysterious and vague but it is clear that he is not a fan of all the bad things that have happened here in McCarter.
Troy's biggest worry is that Mike Foley, older brother of the late Pete Foley, is pushing drugs to kids at the mall. He is the high-school dropout after his brother's suicide but Mike is more than certain that Pete...didn't kill himself and there is more to Mike than is on the surface...
Not the only character in this book with hidden agendas and building characterization but I won't go to much more into that...
The Stalker is more of mystery, suspense-thriller than an outright horror and plays bits of it like a police drama series with elements of high school thrown in to catch that early 1990s YA crowd. I don't even think that the title really fits unless you are pushing that a killer is "stalking" about the mall.
If I had to give you any example of what you could actually call this book for a better title than I would be spoiling it for anyone who hasn't read The Stalker but has scanned the aisles of a Blockbuster Video or watched a ton of movies like myself...
For those of you wondering what a Blockbuster Video is...I think it is time that this old lady heads to bed.
Comment if curious for more ramblings from one of the world's oldest teenagers ;)
November 27, 2022
Random notes:
- LOVE that this takes place almost entirely at the mall!!
- Girlfriend is a freak for going back to work at the mall when she was almost killed there.
- Had me guessing who the killer was until the bitter end. Bravo, Nicole Davidson!
- One of the guys says "shit". Tee hee!
- My 2nd Nicole Davidson read, really digging her writing!
- LOVE that this takes place almost entirely at the mall!!
- Girlfriend is a freak for going back to work at the mall when she was almost killed there.
- Had me guessing who the killer was until the bitter end. Bravo, Nicole Davidson!
- One of the guys says "shit". Tee hee!
- My 2nd Nicole Davidson read, really digging her writing!
March 10, 2018
Here I am, at the age of 42, discovering all these rad YA horror books that I somehow missed out on in high school. Probably because I was a total literature snob back then and I didn't really read for fun, but instead I only read what I considered to be "art". This meant I missed out on a lot of cool, fun reads. Thankfully, I've since ditched my snobby ways and am catching up on some really great reads!
The Stalker came out when I was 16 but back then I was way too old to enjoy it. Now I know better. This book has a really cool structure that seems vaguely familiar but I can't quite place it. The pace is decent and ramps up, along with the action and the chills, until it crescendos at the end and then we get the quiet, reflective conclusion. Nice! It's great to be catching up on what I missed!
The Stalker came out when I was 16 but back then I was way too old to enjoy it. Now I know better. This book has a really cool structure that seems vaguely familiar but I can't quite place it. The pace is decent and ramps up, along with the action and the chills, until it crescendos at the end and then we get the quiet, reflective conclusion. Nice! It's great to be catching up on what I missed!
June 29, 2024
This book was very messy and the plot was a little more ridiculous than I could suspend disbelief for overall. It is very similar to The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick, although that book is much better. The Stalker kept my attention well enough until the last few chapters but I found myself skipping through multiple pages at a time to get there and by the end, I didn't really care anymore. I wanted this to be better than it was. Also, the title was very misleading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews