‘Kill For Me’ by Karen Rose
Published by Headline, February 2009.
ISBN: 978-0-7553-3713-2

This is the third of the series following Die for Me and Scream for Me and unveils even more horrifying truths about the Vartanian family: the corrupt judge and father, the egotistical and psychopathic older son, the abused daughter… it just seems never to end.  In Kill for Me Susannah Vartanian and her brother Daniel, along with Detective Luke Papadopolous, are tracking down a paedophile ring which is somehow linked with their dead brother and a group of his old school friends.

An innocent girl is saved during a raid in which five other girls die, but she lies paralysed in the hospital under the threat of death, as she can identify the main player.  The body count mounts as Susannah and Luke get closer to the key partners in the trafficking.  Whilst the detectives from the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) are tracking down the leads, led by events of the past and the present, the criminals appear always to be one step ahead and have an inside track to Susannah’s past.  In addition, bringing up painful memories and opening up old wounds has a special poignancy for the character who is really pulling the strings, with Machiavellian intent.

There is a nice twist in the tale which is carefully built up to and each revelation in Susannah’s life leads to her discovering more about her childhood and how it is entwined with events from the recent past.   I have enjoyed other books by Karen Rose, including the previous two in this mini series, and this one was not a disappointment.  Thrilling, intense with enough twists and turns to keep even the most energetic reader guessing, this book was difficult to put down without finishing another chapter.  Recommended reading.
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Amanda Brown