Monday, July 18, 2011

CREEP by Jennifer Hillier

Title: Creep
Author: Jennifer Hillier
Publisher: Gallery (July 5, 2011)
Format: Hardback
Source: Purchased from Amazon
To Purchase: Amazon

Description: If he can’t have her . . .

Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behavior. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren’t, she knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she’s finally engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and she’s taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won’t let her walk away.

. . . no one else can.

Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancĂ© discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn’t resist—who is now the monster who won’t let her go.

Review: Jennifer Hillier’s Creep is a chilling must-read.

Dr. Sheila Tao made a huge mistake when she had an affair with her grad student Ethan Wolfe. Now she is breaking off the affair for her engagement with an investment banker. As the wedding date grows closer, Ethan’s plans development into a horrifying twist that might not only ruin Sheila’s career and engagement but also her life.

Creep may be Hillier’s debut novel, but she mastered the art of the thriller. The scenes are so realistic and don’t gloss over any facts. The flawed characters push the plot forward. Everyone has secrets and faults, and Hillier creates wonderful shades of gray. The sprinkling of bread-crumb clues still leave the reader guessing up to the surprising conclusion. The pace is action-packed with never a dull moment. A word of advice though: don’t start this book unless you plan to keep reading until the last page. Creep sticks with you, will follow you around, and just might kidnap your dreams. I loved it!

If you are a fan of Chelsea Cain’s Beauty Killer series like I am, then you’ll love Jennifer Hillier’s Creep. I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for book two.