The Survivors Club

Lisa Gardner

The Survivors club was started by Jillian Hayes when her sister was brutally raped and murdered, and she herself attacked by the College Hill Rapist. It includes his two other victims, Carol Rosen and Meg Pesaturo. The three banded together, putting pressure on the police, looking for clues of their own. When Eddie Como is arrested and charged, they feel vindicated. On the morning of the trail, Eddie Como is assassinated, then the gunman himself is killed. The only suspects are the members of The Survivors club - until another rape and murder, all fitting the same MO occurs. Is it a copy cat? An accomplice? Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin of the State Police and Detective Fitzpatrick of the Providence police must go back over every lead, go over every angle before the College Hill Rapist strikes again.

I felt that the concept of this book was very clever. All of the main characters, even Griffin, are victims in their own way, but trying to make themselves into survivors. Each character is well drawn, and the horror of the attacks is very real, very terrifying. The aftermath and how it affects them, how they try and go on with their lives, try to take control is as admirable as it is heartbreaking. The relationships between the women and their families are also very good. In some ways, the reality of this characterization, which makes you feel keenly for them, makes the real life crime and every womans fear of it more horrifying than the actual story.

The pacing of this story is tight...she sort of runs two stories together: the story of Griffin, and a past case that shattered his life, and the Survivors Clubs own tale. These tales work together, even mesh together in unexpected and interesting ways. The twists to the story, how things change and develop as the clues are discovered and unraveled make it hard to put down. Things fit together very neatly. Roan Griffin is a complex and interesting character, and makes an interesting focal point for the story. His budding romance with Jillian is charming. His concerns for the ladies, his own weaknesses that he has to fight make him relatable.

I felt that this was a very well done thriller. It is clever enough, and horrifying enough to keep the reader captivated, without creating emotional distance between the reader and the victims.

Four out of five trench coats
--Cindy Lynn Speer, GWN Book Reviewer
6/10/2002