The Stalker

by Joan Lowery Nixon

For fans of Gillian Flynn, Caroline Cooney, and R.L. Stine comes The Stalker from four-time Edgar Allen Poe Young Adult Mystery Award winner Joan Lowery Nixon.

When Jennifer Lee Wilcox returns home from the beach, she finds that Stella Trax, her best friend’s mother, has just been murdered. The police think Stella’s daughter Bobbie did it. Jennifer sets out to prove Bobbie’s innocence, but as she uncovers clues, she realizes she’s only leading herself to danger!

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Fiction, Teen, Thriller, Horror, Suspense

180 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Author of more than one hundred books, Joan Lowery Nixon is the only writer to have won four Edgar Allan Poe Awards for Juvenile Mysteries (and been nominated several other times) from the Mystery Writers of America. Creating contemporary teenage characters who have both a personal problem and a mystery to solve, Nixon captured the attention of legions of teenage readers since the publication of her first YA novel more than twenty years ago. In addition to mystery/suspense novels, she wrote nonfiction and fiction for children and middle graders, as well as several short stories. Nixon was the first person to write novels for teens about the orphan trains of the nineteenth century. She followed those with historical novels about Ellis Island and, more recently for younger readers, Colonial Williamsburg. Joan Lowery Nixon died on June 28, 2003—a great loss for all of us.

Reviews

[mindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

//edit: I just saw the synopsis said "for fans of Gillian Flynn" so I am DONNNNEEE

okay.. so I'm pretty much done with John Lowery Nixon.

This was the most boring thriller with the most stilted dialogue I have read in quite a while.

Jennifer's BFF is accused of murdering her mom, so Jennifer sets out to find the real murderer. She teams up with an ex-cop turned PI named Lucas and absolutely no shenanigans happen.

Jennifer whines non. stop. about EVERYTHING. She is a hindrance to the case and is basically completely useless. u feel like the same outcome could have occurred with or without her.

the boyfriend sub plot and the whole "saving myself for marriage" is so out of place! I'm reading a supposed thriller. Why do I care thay Jennifer and Mark don't have sex. What possible reason are they together then? because Jennifer is mean to Mark. She literally said to her long term boyfriend that she wants to marry "you're such a great friend"

.....

I don't even know why I'm giving this 2 stars.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, seemed like a quick read and if I had more time it would have been finished the day I started ! This is an older book which I thought I may have read many years ago but had only a vague recall of. I really liked Jennifer the main character, her love of family, courage and her sense of adventure. It had a sense of mystery and suspense but not overly dramatic or scary. I like reading simple books every now & then, they are an enjoyable escape with no need to think or analyze what happened, it's all clear cut and obvious what happened and why.

[Four Book Freaks · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book kind of sucked, I read it for Reading Olympics. Jennifer annoyed me, she seemed more like a twelve year old than eighteen years old. Lucas lacked depth, as did all of her other characters. Her characters weren't flawed. The book was predictable and didn't make sense at times. There was a rising action and then the ending just deflated like a sad balloon. The ending was too abrupt, didn't close well, and frankly was just poop. I wouldn't recommend this book to others, it really isn't even worth reading.
~Emily

[Ang · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who love mysteries and thrillers, this is a great book. It combines the determination of one awestruck teenager who is trying to save her friend from persecution and the catastrophic point of view of the stalker/murderer himself. Without knowing who will win, this novel is a suspenseful page-turner that kept me going for hours at a time!

[Courtney Gruenholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

After resting from a tiring Thanksgiving holiday with family, I was able to get through my big spree of finishing up my JLN books for November.

The one thing about all of these books is that the lead character is always a teenage girl that can be relatable to even an old lady like myself. In that I mean that they all seem to be courageously willing to stand up for themselves and others and don't back down...even if what they are dealing with is terrifying.

Slightly naive but positive role models who soon learn more about who they really are. Some romance but it is clear they can do with or without having a guy to protect them.

Jennifer Wilcox lives with her father and paternal grandmother in Corpus Christi and she seems to be leading a normal teenage life. She has one best friend, Bobbie Trax, and she is dating Mark, hard working and good looking guy. Her father has been seeing a woman named Gloria and her grandmother is a very opinionated and spirited woman even if she is getting on in years.

The normalcy is shattered when Jennifer's grandmother tells her that Bobbie's mother, Estelle "Stella" Trax has been brutally and fatally strangled. The police have also decided that the murderer is Bobbie thanks to the neighbor lady telling them that the two women had a loud argument before Bobbie left and Stella was found dead.

Bobbie hasn't been seen since and her scarf was used to strangle her mother.

The police question Jennifer to try and find Bobbie but she knows that her best friend would never kill her own mother. They may have fought and Stella may not have been the greatest mother in the world with loads of boyfriends coming and going but it doesn't seem possible that even an angry Bobbie could kill her mother.

Jennifer tells the police she doesn't know where Bobbie is and believes that her stepbrothers would be more likely to have killed Stella. Elton and Darryl Krambo are not the nicest of guys and both of them have either been in jail or are always looking for a fix whether it is something tame like pot or the harder stuff.

Too bad they have alibis, weak ones, but the police are already keeping tabs on Bobbie to pin the murder on her. The only person who seems to believe that Bobbie is innocent is Jennifer and she is desperate to help her best friend.

She's only a teenager with very little money to her name but Jennifer will find someone to help her since she knows the police already seem to be clear on Bobbie being guilty. When private investigators are too expensive, Jennifer remembers the name of a detective pointed out to her by an officer at the police station during her questioning about Bobbie.

He's Lucas Maldonado, retired from the force, but old habits are hard to break. He's always at the station and that tells Jennifer that he is the only one who can help her if he use to be the best homicide investigator.

The older man listens to Jennifer about Bobbie and his sense of justice is moved by her strong belief in her best friend's innocence. Lucas agrees to help but only if Jennifer will follow everything he tells her because this is no game of detective...it could be dangerous if the real killer is out there.

That couldn't be any further from the truth because he is out there and the murder of Stella Trax wasn't just a random act of violence. It is all connected to something bigger and he doesn't need a little girl like Jennifer getting in his way...

Typical murder-mystery with thrilling suspense and that part of it works but when you get to the chapters from the "murderer" and his POV...you can catch his identity long before it is revealed to the reader toward the end.

There are other things that are revealed which are far more shocking but the parts that make The Stalker a book worth reading that I actually like are the interactions between Jennifer and Lucas.

Jennifer is a hard-headed, stubborn teenager and Lucas is an older, hard-headed widower who is trying to protect yet also educate this almost protege about the truth behind detective work. Lucas teaches Jennifer how to notice details and clues to try and find the evidence that can clear Bobbie's name.

He doesn't really get frustrated with Jennifer as much as Lucas frustrates Jennifer but he doesn't treat her like a child...he treats her like an adult. Lucas and Jennifer's grandmother who she calls "Grannie" are pretty great in this book...my favorite characters beside Jennifer.

Bobbie doesn't get much time in this book except to show how much she seems to have given up any hope of not going to jail even with Jennifer's faith in her...because no one else has any.

Mark is just a love interest who just wants he and Jennifer to get married right out of high school because he's just so in love with her. Seems just a little too good to be true to me that he would be satisfied to bring home the bacon working in a supermarket yet also head to college with his high school sweetheart after only dating a year?

In any case, The Stalker is a JLN book with a good lead, female character and a positive, adult male role model. The hilarious yet heartwarming ending takes the edge off the nail-biting climax despite the lackluster fumble of the reveal and it is one I can highly recommend...

[Jacob Penrith · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not that big of a fan of this book. It was mostly boring and dialog. Not much action which I like. It was a mystery book but I didn't wonder very much about the killer mystery part of the book.

[Pamela Chelekis · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was younger, the cover of this book would creep me out. I used to keep it turned over so I wouldn't have to look at it. Honestly, it still creeps me out a bit now. But it's easily the most intriguing part of this book.

I'll be blunt. This book is utterly terrible.

I have to wonder if this was an early manuscript or something - because we're back to the Christina Lattimore style of overwritten descriptions, flat characters, and really awful dialogue and plotting. I just find it so hard to believe that JLN was a creative writing teacher sometimes when she churns out stuff like this... and after her previous books being so much better, this feels like such a backslide.

The story revolves around Jennifer, and her mission to prove that her bff Bobbie did not kill her mother. Setting aside the fact that it's a bit laughable how easily everyone wants to throw Bobbi under the bus with such little evidence, the stretched to the edge of believability is not the worst thing about the novel.

Jennifer is, by far, the worst of the heroines. She is so annoying and whiny; she's obtuse and constantly getting in the way of her own interests; and she's just dumb. I found it really difficult to finish this (rather short) book because everything she did drove me crazy. She was just so unlikable that there was no incentive for anyone to care about her. Oof.

As an aside - I find it interesting that this is the first book not written in the first person. The reason being is that every other chapter is written from the 'stalker's' point of view in first person. It's an interesting idea for JLN to do this - it's the first time she's written someone outside of the main heroine's POV, and I applaud the fact that she tried to be innovative. But the whole thing completely falls flat. The 'stalker' doesn't really do much but utter 'you're next' over and over again. It just comes off silly more than anything.

Anyway... most of this novel is Jennifer doing a piss poor investigation of what was really going on. She teams up with an ex-cop named Lucas, who is trying his best, but my god - he has this idiot to deal with, and it's amazing he doesn't just give up due to Jennifer's incompetence.

There's also a side plot involving Jennifer's long term boyfriend -- Matt? Mark? He's so bland and uninteresting I can't even remember his name. Jennifer doesn't seem all that interested in him -- and the whole point is that she's choosing herself and college over getting married (oh god - we're still doing this whole women has to choose career or love in the mid-80s, aren't we?) but my god, he is just annoying as she is -- constantly trying to pressure her into sex, and telling her to give up on trying to figure out who killed her bff's mom. This guy is such a deadweight in the story.

Most of the other characters are all a bit lifeless. Jennifer has a Granny - we haven't had an older woman caretaker around in a while. And a dad who is dating a younger woman. They float in and out of the story without much to do. Meanwhile, Bobbie is all but absent for most of the book, so we never really get a sense of her. And there are a few others, like Bobbie's brothers and a couple of main detectives who pepper the characters but leave no real interesting impression.

Oh - and the ending doesn't really make a whole lot of sense? All of these books end maybe a smidge too suddenly. But I never really got a solid sense of what was going on that lead to the bff's mom's death. It just feels muddled and not fully realized.

Overall - this was the worst experience yet having to read one of these, and I'm very grateful it's over.

[0strukk · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Spoiler Alert*

I read the book The Stalker by Joan Lowery Nixon, but I only read up to chapter six so that is all that will be talked about in the summary. It is about a girl who is living her life, going to school, hanging out with friends, hanging out with her friends but one day that changes. When she comes home from school and finds out that her best friend disappeared. I really enjoyed Joan Lowery Nixon books when I was in middle school because they were challenging and unpredictable. As I read some again now as a high schooler I realize that they are actually not meant for older kids. In my opinion this book is too predictable, you kind figure out what's going to happen next based on previous events. The character, Jennifer, kind of annoys me. In my opinion she acts more like a twelve year old than an eighteen year old. I didn't really like the setting of the story, to me it seemed like the basic setting of every other mystery book, it would've been cool to see the setting somewhere new. I think if she used a different setting and different kinds of character, instead of the basic cop and kid, then it would have been a lot more interesting.
The main character in the book, Jennifer Lee Wilcox, doesn't like authority and wants to live her own life, but that all changes when she comes home from school one day and her best friends mom is dead and her best friend is missing. She has to team up with a cop to help prove her friend innocent because no one will believe her. She has to go on a journey to prove her friend did innocence and finds out some interesting informs along the way.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been years since I first read The Stalker by Joan Lowery Nixon and honestly, I didn't remember the story. As a mystery/suspense YA novel, from the mid-1980s, it holds up pretty well. Young adult fiction, especially from that time period often receives criticism about "absent" parents. This is not the case in The Stalker. While the main character, Jennifer Wilcox, is a senior in high school about to graduate, she has very present adults in her life including her father and grandmother. When her best friend's mother is murdered and her friend accused of the crime, Jennifer teams up with retired police detective Lucas to find the real killer and clear her friend's name.

The mystery is solid and there are are clues to the identity of the killer, who also is stalking Jennifer. Overall, I enjoyed the book and the way the mystery unfolded. There was ample tension, a bit of action, and I liked how Lucas mentored Jennifer. Joan Lowery Nixon was one of my favorite authors when I was younger, and it was fun to go back and reread The Stalker.

[Marjan Afshari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend this book to anyone who is into suspenseful, mysterious stories. I really enjoyed all the characters in this book because it was easy to relate to each of them. The one thing that I didn't like about the novel is how it didn't really have a preface or backstory. Throughout the whole book you are trying to figure out who the "real" killer is and this is what keeps the story interesting. I did get annoyed whenever the book kept having so many twist and turns that I didn't really "approve" of. In my opinion the most important literary element is imagery because this is how you picture the story unfolding. This novel gave a lot of descriptions about the characters and setting, which I really appreciated. I think that the biggest connection in this book is text to world because a lot of people get wrongfully accused of horrendous crimes.

[Paula Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always wanted to read Joan Lowery Nixon, but this introduction to her work was pretty lackluster! The mystery wasn't very interesting, and the main character was a pain. She was so immature! I kept expecting her to cross her arms in front of her chest and stamp her feet whenever things didn't go her way. It was nice to see her teaming up with the retired detective to solve the murder, however. I think there's a reason R.L. Stine and Point Horror took over in popularity from this sort of mystery. It's too dull and tame to really engage.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was good because there were many clues that they gave us and thy helped us try and figure out who the stalker was.

[Jaeley Legg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book was good but it wasn't the best because if didn't give a lot of information about what you were reading and it didn't end right it never said who actually did the crime.

[Chinita · Rating 1 out of 5]

cool.

[Colton Jarvela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Suspenseful Read!!

[Melanie Scalera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed reading this book. The ending was a bit abrupt...and the (un)necessary advice from Lucas is a bit weird. Might just be outdated in this time.

[Jennifer]

Pocket size delight!

[Muralidhar Mutnuru · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book over 30 years old, I was really impressed with it's timeless writing and good story

[Bethany (CozyLittleBookNook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. I don't really have very many fallings about it. I guessed the big twist at the end so there's that.

[Sofia Maldonado · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bastante inecesario la vdd lo leí para cumplir el goal de libros y me lo pude haber ahorrado

[Eunise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the cover of the book because it looked scary. I picked the book because of the title because I thought that it would be a scary or thriller book. The genre of this book is mystery because this is about a murder. This book is good because it kept me wondering about who killed who.

This takes place somewhere in the 1970's this is relevant to the story because they use words that some people might not say today. This book is about a girl named Jennifer Wilcox. She is shocked to hear that her own friend, Bobbie Trax killed her own mother. Estelle Trax, but she is called Stella. Jennifer believes that Bobbie didn't do it and all the facts are pointing the wrong person. She gets help from Lucas Maldonaldo. A retired investigator. It started one day when Jennifer came home to her grandmother and found out that her best friend Bobbie, killed her own mother, Estelle Trax. Nobody calls her that a lot, they call her Stella. Jennifer was interrogated many times by the investigators to find out if Bobbie really killed her own mother. Jennifer believes that Bobbie didn't do it. So she called for help to multiple investigators but she was declined because she had no money to pay them. Until she talked with Crandall and Kline. She was rejected by them also. When she was rejected, they recommended her a retired investigator. Lucas Maldonaldo. He agreed to help with Bobbie for free. So together they looked for clues to who really killed Stella Trax. A few days later Jennifer found Bobbie on the beach alone. Jennifer told everything that has been happening with Bobbie's mom and her being targeted as the killer. Bobbie ran away because she and Stella had a fight. After that they were both caught and Bobbie was put into custody, and left with Jennifer being interrogated, again. It's been days and Jennifer finally has a chance to talk to Bobbie , but Bobbie did not look like herself anymore. Then late at night she snuck in into the Trax house to look for more clues even though Lucas told her not to without a warrant. She heard footsteps and found Mr.Biddle the person who recommended Crandall and Kline. He was Elton with who were together looking for the bag that Stella would always carry. Lucas and Jennifer found out that she had many credit cards along with Mrs. Aciddo. So she was targeted as a murderer for Stella. Later on, they soon found out that it wasn't her, it was Mr.Biddle because it all added up. When Jennifer saw Mr.Biddle last, he said he was going to see Bobbie, when Jennifer saw a letter that had Lucas' number on it, thought it was Stella handwriting, but Lucas knew Stella, but never gave her his number for emergencies. Then she found another letter that had similar handwriting, the same writing as Mr.Biddle. So he killed Stella. Finally he was put into custody until further notice. This type of conflict is person v.s. person because of Mr.Biddle who Jennifer was always suspicious of because of the letter. The theme of this book is to go with your instinct and stand up for the innocent because Jennifer instantly thought that she would help her friend that she never killed her own mother and she ended up being right.

There were two points of views in the story Third and second because in some chapters it's the murderers point of view for example, "Maybe I'd send her a little something more than a phone call. I don't need her in my way." This effects the story because it makes you wonder who the murderer really is by context clues. Jennifer had a lot of motivation because she knew it wasn't Bobbie who killed her mother she kept pushing on to the facts she was going with until she was right, and she was. The author builds suspense by, at the end of a few chapters, there is a short paragraph of the murderer's thoughts.

I thought the ending of the book was not good because after they found the person who killed Stella, they ended with Jennifer becoming a cop and it ended with the sentences, "Whatever I decide, I hope Mark will understand, Jennifer thought, but she put Mark out of her mind as she tugged her notebook out of her pocket and asked,"Where do you want me to start?"". I don't like this ending because they never explained what happened to Mr.Biddle when he was arrested. I like the way the author had different points of view in some chapters in first person. For example, "That's what I wanted to do-scare her good." That's what i liked about how the author wrote the story.

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars because it was not s scary as i thought it would be. I would recommend this book to my cousin Lorraine because she likes books like these. Jennifer Wilcox believed that Bobbie Trax did not kill her mother and she was right for finding the evidence to help her friend.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a big fan of Joan Lowery Nixon's books when I was a kid, and was kind of excited to revisit my childhood. Jennifer's best friend Bobbie has been accused of murdering her (Bobbie's) mother, but Jennifer knows Bobbie couldn't have done it. So she embarks on a quest to discover the real murderer, teaming up with a retired police detective to hunt down clues and figure out whodunit.

As a young teenager, this book would have drawn me right in. It has murder, mystery, and a teenage girl who believes she knows better than everyone else, breaking the rules and disobeying direct orders to achieve her goals (yet it all works out in the end, of course). But this book was published in 1985, and you can tell. There are obviously no cell phones, a yet-to-be invented device that would have drastically changed the entire course of Jennifer's investigations. When Jennifer finds herself in trouble, she doesn't call 911 – she calls the operator (from a landline) to request police assistance. And the romance between Jennifer and her boyfriend Mark is quite tame and a bit unbelievable, given the characters' ages. I also didn't personally care for Mark, who tells Jennifer flat-out that she's wasting her time by playing detective instead of being a loving, supportive boyfriend.

There also isn't much background information given on the secondary characters (the fore-mentioned detective, the boyfriend, the best friend) – they're only there to move Jennifer's story along. The reader never really understands WHY Jennifer loves Mark or what's so special about Bobbie that makes her Jennifer's best friend, you just have to accept that that's the way it is. The title is also a bit disingenuous, as there isn't really much "stalking" going on. The book is mostly written in third person as it follows Jennifer's adventures, but there are short intermediate chapters written in the killer's first person POV that show him kind of keeping an eye on Jennifer in case she figures out too much. For a book titled "The Stalker," I'd really expect there to be a lot more focus on actual stalking.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stalker, by Joan Lowery Nixon, is a book about a courageous girl named Jennifer Wilcox. One late afternoon she comes home to some bad news. When she walked inside her house, her grandma told her that Stella Trax, her best friend's mother, has been murdered in her house. The thing was that wasn't the only bad news... The police think Bobbie, her best friend, was the one who murdered her. Jennifer knows it couldn't have been Bobbie so she did whatever she could to prove that and help her friend. What she doesn't know is that she getting herself into some serious trouble. Somebody is watching her...

I really enjoyed this book because its really interesting and suspenseful. I recommend it to anyone who's interested in mystery books.

[Cindy Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was about Jennifer solving a mystery about who killed her friend`s mother. Jennifer`s friend is Boobie whom the police thinks that she killed her own mother. Jennifer knows she did not so she goes on a investigation with a retired police named Lucas. They find people and ask question, everytime they did they got closer. What they didn`t know was that someone was stalking them the whole time so they don`t get to close on the guy.In, the end Jennifer found who killed Bobbie`s mother but almost got killed from the real killer. It was an amazing book; and I would definetly recommend it to other people.

[anjali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Title: The Stalker

author: Joan Lowery Nixon

Series: N/A

Rating: ★★★★

Summary: When Jennifer Lee Wilcox returns home from the beach, she finds that Stella Trax, her best friend's mother, has just been murdered. The police think Stella's daughter, Bobbie, did it. Jennifer sets out to prove Bobbie's innocence, but as she uncovers clues, she realizes she's only leading herself to danger!

Review: This stalker's scary. Definitely scary.

Things I Loved: There's the mystery I wanted! After reading A Deadly Game of Magic, I wanted a real Lowery mystery. :)

Things I Hated: N/A

[Samantha]

This book was also pretty creepy. It was about this girl who had a friend who's mother was murdered. People said that it was her friend (the main character's friend) so of course the main character couldn't believe that it was true and set out prove everyone wrong but in doing so she found out stuff i would say she probably really wouldn't want to know. I thought that when i first read the blurb i wanted to read it soo bad because i love mystery type books so it was very eye catching so i think that anyone is ready for creepyness, mystery and suspense should pick this book up.

[Nicole Svare · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was about a girls compassion and loyalty for her friend. She refused to believe that her best friend, Stacy, had committed the crime of murdering her mother. I really liked that there were a few pages at the beginning of each chapter, That were from the viewpoint of the murderer. Seeing it from his point of view really made it seem creepy. "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum" is what he would say, most of the time. I found that funny, and imagined him singing it. I would recommend this book for people who like mysteries.

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

About the characters: Lowery did a good job keeping consistency with the characters personality, flaws and strong suits, but for the protagonist, there wasn't much development.

Protagonist Jennifer Lee Wilcox is racing to solve the murder of her best friend's mother while handling her impatient urge to rush procedure and sprint to the finish. She doesn't overcome her quirk at all, though it hints that she will learn to do so. I wish there was more to her character and some resolution to her boyfriend problem.

[Kelsey F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love t read mysteries and I think this book may be my favorite mystery book yet.When Jennifers friend Bobbi finds herself blamed for the murder of Stella her mother Jennifer knows she didn't do it. She tries to hire a private eye but doesn't have enough money for one. She finds herself asking a ex police officer to jion her and help her crack the case.Those of you who like mysteries this is a book you have got to try.It's worth the time and you'll never guess who did it.I love this book.

[Matt Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Jennifer who's best friend named Bobbie was arrested for allegedly killing her mother but Jennifer thinks that she is innocent and has gotten a private investigator to help her and is determined to prove Bobbies innocence. After she had proved that Bobbie didn't kill her mother she realized that Bobbie was in on a credit card scam and now Bobbie will have to stay in jail.