Seven years ago, Lara Church lived in Seattle, Washington
and had just landed her dream job in the fashion industry.
She went out to celebrate with friends that night and the
next thing she knew, she was in the hospital fighting for
her life. As it turned out, Lara was the seventh victim of a
serial killer known as the Seattle Strangler. The main thing
that separated Lara from the other six victims is that Lara
survived her attack while the other women did not.
With her life shattered in Seattle, Lara leaves there and
travels around the country for a while until she lands back
in Austin, Texas where her grandmother has left a house to
her following her death. It turns out to be a great move for
her because she gets a job teaching photography at a local
college as well as a successful showing of her own
photographs. Yes, things are really looking up for Lara.
The thing is, though, the Seattle Strangler seems to be
active again and this time he's killing women in Texas.
There's an even bigger problem, too. Lara doesn't remember
anything about her attack or her attacker. So if this
happens to be the same man, how would anyone know?
Texas Ranger James Beck is determined to stop the Strangler
as well as protect Lara. As far as he's concerned, that
means forcing Lara to remember what happened to her the
night of her attack. This is something he's going to make
happen no matter what the cost to Lara's sanity is.
Mary Burton has long been a successful writer of bestselling
suspense and romance novels. I've been a personal fan of
hers for years and THE SEVENTH VICTIM has only made me even
more of one. There's just the right amount of creepy, scary
and downright terror that will make sure you've got all the
lights on as you read. The romantic element is not a sudden
one just to get to that required sex scene. Things get to
grow and when it happens, it makes sense. But the great
thing about THE SEVENTH VICTIM is that it's more about
solving the mystery and catching the killer than it is about
romance, even though there is the appropriate amount of
that, too. Basically, as usual, Ms. Burton combines the
correct amount of all the ingredients that makes a
successful suspenseful mystery.
James Beck has just returned to Ranger Division Headquarters
after three weeks on administrative leave with no regrets
about angering the higher ups or disobeying orders by
pursuing the politically well-connected bigwig he was
certain was the killer of ten-year-old Misty Gray. Today,
he's facing murder again, this time a killing seemingly
linked to one in San Antonio. Both involved young, blonde
women found dead and wearing white dresses. When a penny is
discovered in the hand of the new victim, alarms go off for
Beck as he recalls a case of serial murders in Seattle that
was never solved. Six women were strangled. All were blonde
and found wearing white dresses, and each held a penny in
her hand. The seventh victim survived.
Fear kept Lara Church moving from town to town for the last
seven years, until eight months ago when her grandmother
died. Lara inherited the home and land just outside of
Austin where she had spent all of her childhood summers. The
house had been a place of refuge for Lara and, though she
had planned to settle the estate and leave, she remained,
setting up her dark room, diving deeper into her art and
accepting a job teaching photography. Comforting memories
help hold her there, but those are not the ones that matter
to her.
She wants what she can't remember--being raped, beaten and
strangled, her attacker, and the clues that could lead to
the Seattle Strangler. Two months after the attack, Lara,
whose name was never released, dyed her blonde hair brown,
packed her bags and left Seattle forever, hoping to protect
her identity and escape the constant pressure to remember.
Lara's only just begun to believe that she may be able to
stay in one place, that she may have a chance at a normal
life, when Beck shows up demanding her help. But she's
already tried to remember, over and over again, to no avail.
There's no way she's going to let Beck drag her back to
hell, back into the world of shrinks and crime scene photos
that had nearly driven her insane.
Yet, as the killing continues, a mother's plea pulls Lara
into the heart of the investigation, struggling to remember
and to face the terror, even as her home and life are
invaded. Threats mount, the killer draws closer, and nothing
and no one is what they seem to be.
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