Killer Instincts

by Natalie R. Collins

Cassie’s visions take her into the fourth world, where danger lurks, and she may not come out whole, if she comes out at all.

270 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2010

About the author

In her acclaimed thrillers, Natalie R. Collins reveals the secrets that lurk in every town, the darkness that lies in every heart, and the ties that bind every family--till death...

Natalie R. Collins has ten published books, has worked as a ghostwriter on several other books, and is currently working on revisions for her fourth book with St. Martin's press, as well as a YA, her first. She has dabbled in both dark suspense and cozy mysteries, and is happy to be able to work in both genres. She has written for Penguin Putnam, Thompson Gale, and still currently has a contract with St. Martin’s Press. She spent five years as an editor at the Sundance Film Festival, has worked in journalism, and is currently working to get her degree in graphic design.

Natalie also has three books, TUTU DEADLY, TAPPED OUT, and POINTE AND SHOOT, published by Penguin Putnam (Berkley Prime Crime), under the name Natalie M. Roberts. The Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery Series chronicle the adventures of an erstwhile dance teacher in Ogden, Utah, and her many adventures with pyscho dance moms.

Her critically acclaimed WIVES AND SISTERS received excellent reviews, including one from Kirkus, calling Collins “…a talent to watch.” New York Times Bestselling author, Allison Brennan, said of BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, "Intense, suspenseful…page-turning."

Publisher's Weekly said of TWISTED SISTER, "In this solid sequel to Sisterwife....Roberts pulls off a thought-provoking puzzler."-- Publishers Weekly

Reviews

[Peggy Tibbetts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natalie Collins is famous for her mysteries that pull back the Mormon curtain. In "Killer Instincts" she reveals a whole new dimension. Cassie Clark has suffered the unthinkable. She survived a car crash in which her husband and three children were killed. After six months in the hospital and rehab center she returns home with a broken spirit and her faith in Mormonism shattered. On top of that, the only person left to care for her is her estranged mother. Wracked with pain and plagued with terrifying visions, Cassie watches helplessly as what’s left of her life explodes around her. An old friend from the past, Ray Nez shows up but by then she is no longer certain whom she can trust. Bodies are piling up and Cassie has reason to believe she could be next. Or perhaps she has simply lost her mind. Native American and Mormon cultures collide in this well-crafted whodunit. Collins’ brilliant plotting takes readers through a maze of clues, red herrings, and a long list of likely suspects to an astonishing climax. "Killer Instincts" doesn’t just keep readers guessing, it could make them question their own sanity.

[Natalie Collins]

A woman with implicit faith in the teachings of her religion, Cassie Clark finds her sheltered world decimated when her loving husband and two young children are killed in a fiery automobile accident. She is thrown free of the wreck, but critically injured. As she heals, she is torn between the relief she feels knowing her children are in the Celestial Kingdom with her husband, awaiting her eventual return to them, and intense anger at God for destroying her life and her family.

She is forced to come to terms with her estranged mother, reconcile her now cold and distant in-laws, and worst of all, visions that seem to replay the accident. When they take a different course, she is forced to turn to Raymond Nez, a member of the Navajo Nation and tribal police, and Cassie’s childhood sweetheart.

Cassie’s visions take her into the fourth world, where danger lurks, and she may not come out whole, if she comes out at all.