The Killer in Me

by Margot Harrison

Overview

Hasn't he lived long enough? Why not? I could take him like a thief in the night.

This is how the Thief thinks. He serves death, the vacuum, the unknown. He's always waiting. Always there.

Seventeen-year-old Nina Barrows knows all about the Thief. She's intimately familiar with his hunting methods: how he stalks and kills at random, how he disposes of his victims' bodies in an abandoned mine in the deepest, most desolate part of a desert.

Now, for the first time, Nina has the chance to do something about the serial killer that no one else knows exists. With the help of her former best friend, Warren, she tracks the Thief two thousand miles, to his home turf-the deserts of New Mexico.

But the man she meets there seems nothing like the brutal sociopath with whom she's had a disturbing connection her whole life. To anyone else, Dylan Shadwell is exactly what he appears to be: a young veteran committed to his girlfriend and her young daughter. As Nina spends more time with him, she begins to doubt the truth she once held as certain: Dylan Shadwell is the Thief. She even starts to wonder . . . what if there is no Thief?

From debut author Margot Harrison comes a brilliantly twisted psychological thriller that asks which is more terrifying: the possibility that your nightmares are real . . . or the possibility that they begin and end with you?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484728512
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/09/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,096,651
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Margot Harrison is an award-winning journalist living in Vermont. She is also the author of The Glare and The Killer in Me. Find her on Instagram and Twitter at @MargotFHarrison.

Editorial Reviews

*"Harrison expertly shapes a sharp, tense narrative, told alternately in Nina and Warren's points of view, as Nina confronts terrifying personal truths and must fight for everything she holds dear. Taut storytelling and believable characters make this a standout mystery, with paranormal notes adding another layer of complexity."— Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The narrative simmers with tender secrets, mystifying memories, and supernatural connections. While the debut thriller's twists and turns will draw readers in, it is the novel's palpable heart that guarantees they won't let go."— Booklist

"Flowing and expressive prose paints a clear picture of Nina and Warren as they follow the Thief, wavering between certainty and doubt, both with regard to the killer and each other. The teens are smart, self-aware, believable characters, and a budding romance between the two adds another layer to the work without detracting from the story line. Nina's secret and multiple plot twists will keep readers guessing until the end... A must-read debut for fans of fast-paced, eerie psychological thrillers who won't mind reading late into the night."— School Library Journal

"The plot twists and turns like a sidewinding rattlesnake through the scorching heat of the desert setting; even savvy readers won't be able to trust their instincts until all the clues line up, just before a startling ending brings painful emotional impact for Nina and Warren."— BCCB

Accolades
2017 Vermont Book Award, finalist

From the Publisher

★ 05/09/2016
A teen tracks a serial killer in Harrison’s terrific debut thriller. Sleep hasn’t been kind to 17-year-old Nina Barrows, and she has taken to using pills to avoid it as much as possible. There’s a killer on the loose who calls himself the Thief in the Night, and Nina has insight into his next moves—her dreams give her a direct line into his life. Calling on Warren Witter, the friend who is hooking her up with her pills, she plans to stop the killer before he strikes again, but his identity remains elusive. Under the guise of meeting her birth mother for the first time, Nina and Warren set out on a road trip from Vermont to New Mexico that will lead them straight to the killer. Harrison expertly shapes a sharp, tense narrative, told alternately in Nina and Warren’s points of view, as Nina confronts terrifying personal truths and must fight for everything she holds dear. Taut storytelling and believable characters make this a standout mystery, with paranormal notes adding another layer of complexity. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jessica Sinsheimer, Sarah Jane Freymann Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2016
Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Vermont native Nina has intimate knowledge of a serial killer living in New Mexico. She knows his methods of selecting and disposing of victims, the steps he takes to make sure he will never be caught, and the name he chose for himself: the Thief. Nina finally has an opportunity to do something with her knowledge, so she turns to her former best friend Warren, but unwilling to tell him how she knows of the Thief, Nina lies. Although Warren is skeptical of her story and concerned for her mental well-being, his longtime crush on Nina compels him to help, and the teens set out to track the killer. But when she finally meets the Thief, he seems anything but the homicidal sociopath the protagonist has described. Could she have been wrong? What if there is no Thief? Is there a way to truly find out? Flowing and expressive prose paints a clear picture of Nina and Warren as they follow the Thief, wavering between certainty and doubt, both with regard to the killer and each other. The teens are smart, self-aware, believable characters, and a budding romance between the two adds another layer to the work without detracting from the story line. Nina's secret and multiple plot twists will keep readers guessing until the end. VERDICT A must-read debut for fans of fast-paced, eerie psychological thrillers who won't mind reading late into the night.—Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC

School Library Journal

2016-04-13
Nina's not a killer, but she dreams of one every night.Vermonter Nina Barrows, 17, was adopted by her single, lesbian, lawyer mother before Nina turned 1. Each night for as long as the black-haired, pale-skinned teen can remember, she's experienced life from the perspective of "the boy," including his memories of the "Bad Days," when his father committed suicide. Since she realized these visions were not the norm, Nina has told no one what she's seen, especially when the boy started hurting animals and graduated to killing people. She deals with it by trying not to sleep. When her plot to stop his next murder before it happens is discovered by her former best friend, strong, smart, handsome, white Warren, she enlists his help. Things go wrong in just such a way that neither is sure Nina's visions are 100 percent true. Tracking the probable killer to the New Mexico desert, they plan a trip to visit Nina's birth mother, part Navajo, who also lives out west. They hope to prove Nina's dreams and expose a serial killer…but Nina learns shocking secrets about her past when she gets too close. Nina and Warren share narrative duties in Harrison's debut, a tame, unsurprising parapsychological thriller. Neither voice is distinct, and twists are either telegraphed too early or just not twisty enough to increase interest.An additional purchase even where killer thrillers are king. (Thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews