Every Serial Killer...

A serial killer is stalking the streets of New Orleans. The victims are killed in a ritual fashion, a series of numbers tattooed into their bodies. There are no clues, no connections except one: a crumbling old asylum that was once the scene of unspeakable madness--and is now the calling card of a new kind of fear.

Is Searching For...

Eve Renner knows Our Lady of Virtues Hospital well. As the daughter of one of its doctors, she spent her childhood exploring its secrets chambers, hidden rooms, and forbidden passageways. Now, somewhere in the decaying asylum lies the key to a betrayal from the past whose echoes are being felt with a vengeance--a crime beyond imagining that seems to lead to Eve herself.

The Perfect Victim...

As each new body is found and forgotten, memories surface, and Eve must race to put together a deadly puzzle, one terrifying piece at a time. A killer is watching, planning, luring her back to the ruins of Our Lady and the shocking truths hidden there. For the sins of the past must be revealed, and the price paid--in blood...

I enjoyed the story. Like every other book written by Lisa Jackson I think she goes into detail way too much, but I've learned where to skim through her words and where I need to pay attention. While I guessed part of what was going on, I definitely did not figure out the entire story of who the killer was and why until it was revealed and for that, I give the author kudos.

Yes, is some of the story far-fetched, absolutely! But it's FICTION, not true crime. IMO, it's like in the movies when someone enters a scary place and you find yourself yelling at the t.v. - don't go in there and they do (they always do). Of course they do, it's what sells, just like in books. Same goes with the part that everyone seems to be related to one another - I personally thought that part was downright hysterical (which means it's entertaining and isn't that what it is all about).

As for leaving things untied, I see how that happened with Eve's brothers, no real ending with them (which makes me think maybe something more will be explained in another book?). As for Eve's relationship with Cole, I thought there was nothing wrong with the way it ended. And of course the Epilogue sets up the next book, it's a series isn't it?

I've read several of Lisa Jackson's books, and while I've liked the Bentz/Montoya stories, I thought this book was her worst by far.

It started very slow and didn't really pick up until close to the end. The storyline was confusing from the get go because so much had happened already before the book began, and the author didn't do a good job of recapping it. She also didn't do a good job of weaving in previous storylines, so someone reading this book without having read the others in the series would have no idea what was going on with Faith, Abby, Father James, etc.

The story went on too long and the way everyone ended up being related to each other was just beyond the realm of believable. It actually turned the book into a joke.

Too many ends were left hanging. What happened to Eve's brothers? Her father's will? Why the tattoos? What happened with Eve and Cole? They were the main characters through the book, but the whole wrap-up was about Kristi, setting up the author's next book with a cliffhanger, but not bothering to wrap things up for the main characters that we just spent nearly 500 pages reading about.

The book was also poorly edited, just like "Shiver." On one page, Montoya is talking to Bentz, Eve and Cole at Eve's house. On the next page, he's getting annoyed that Bentz hasn't yet shown up for their meeting with Eve and Cole, and Bentz is at the police station interviewing a possible witness. And this seems to continue in the next book of the series, as during the preview, it says on one page that Kristi and Olivia don't get along, then on the very next page it says they get along but aren't close.

Don't waste your money on this one.

I've read a few of the reviews and many have stated that there were some aspects of this book that were unrealistic... true. When I buy fictionally based books, I'm looking at the entertainment value, not whether or not the story is correct in procedures or religious practices.

As far as the entertainment value of this book is concerned, it was good and I enjoyed it, but was a little disappointed in the sudden ending. The build up was pretty suspenseful, and then BAM! The story ended without much of an detailed explanation of what happened to the main characters, with the exception of Kristi, who I had a hard time caring about throughout the telling of the Absolute Fear since she seemed like a sidekick throughout the book. The book was a little long, so I'm wondering if the meat of the ending wound up on the editing room floor in an effort to save a few pages of text.

All in all, I'm giving this book 3 stars. A good read, but not excellent/outstanding. I think it's predecessor, Shiver, was a much better book. Better character details, and a lot better ending!

i thought it started out very slow. Then it got really good, then the end..it just seemed rushed. The ending to me, didn't really have anything to do with the story. As one person wrote, you don't know how Eve's and Cole's relationship ended up, besides them getting back together. It just seemed Jackson wanted to hurry and start her new book which apparently is the sequel to this one.

By the end of this book, it seemed that everyone in it was related to everyone else and about the only person who wasn't a blood relative to the killer(s) and/or victims was the reader, and the family tree was so convoluted I began to question my own lineage. And wasn't it convenient that all the people involved in the cover up or frame up or who were unwitting victims all had names that were palindromes? What about the tatoos? Honest, I knew what the tattoo meant the first time it was mentioned and the second time and the third time. I wanted to scream at the detectives in this one: Wake up, idiots! And these were detectives I liked in previous works by Lisa Jackson. This book was kind of interesting for the excitement end of it, but the mystery was no mystery (except when the ultimate bad guy turned out to be someone we hardly even meet in the book) and the romance between Cole and Eve was simply ridiculous. He was so abnoxious, I can't believe Eve was so shallow as to have any interest in him at all. On the other hand, why would this intelligent rising star of a lawyer be wasting his time with such a self-destructive airhead as Eve Renner? Maybe it was because he managed to lose his apparently substantial amount of accumulated wealth in about a month. He lost his house, his car...Everything and for what? Because he was a suspect? Cole definately needed a better financial planner. Okay, he had a great body and she was willing to do the deed with him whenever oppurtunity knocked. I wonder how their relationship will be in twenty years when he isn't the great hunk anymore and she's still hopping into bed with any stud who has a little animal magnetism. I don't know what to make of the explanation of the 'phantom' sperm. That was just way too convenient for the bad guy. Then there was Kristi, who found out late in the book how she was related. Kristi quit her day job on the off chance that she might be successful as a writer of true crime stories. Did she ever stop to think she might have to live for maybe a couple weeks before she started receiving royalty checks? How about an advance check if she had even started to write something? I don't know how that works, but can an unpublished, unknown and even unstarted writing writer earn a living? Anyway, I continue to count myself a Lisa Jackson fan, but this one was close to puting me over the edge and saying no more. I look forward to her next novel, but ABSOLUTE FEAR was not up to her usual standards. Bring on LOST SOULS! Maybe I'll re-read SHIVER or THE MORNING AFTER. Those are Lisa Jackson at her best.