Freak

by Jennifer Hillier

Overview

Jennifer Hillier amps up the terror of her “truly frightening” (Suspense Magazine) debut thriller, Creep, returning to the Pacific Northwest college town where one killer’s stranglehold has ebbed...but another sick mind emerges from the shadows.

Sitting alone in a maximum-security prison cell, Abby Maddox is a celebrity. Her claim to fame is the envy of every freak on the outside: she’s the former lover of Ethan Wolfe, the killer who left more than a dozen dead women in his wake and nearly added Puget Sound State professor Sheila Tao to the tally. Now Abby, serving a nine-year sentence for slashing a police officer’s throat in a moment of rage, has little human contact—save for the letters that pour in from demented fans, lunatics, and creeps. But a new wave of murders has given Abby a possible chance for a plea bargain—because this killer has been sending her love letters, and carving a message on the bodies of the victims: Free Abby Maddox.

Jerry Isaac will never forget the attack—or his attacker. The hideous scarring and tortured speech are daily reminders that the one-time Seattle PD officer, now a private investigator, is just lucky to be alive. Abby Maddox deserves to rot in jail—forever, as far as Jerry’s concerned. But she alone may possess crucial evidence—letters from this newest killer—that could crack open the disturbing case. With the help of Professor Sheila Tao, seasoned police detective Mike Torrance, and intuitive criminology student Danny Mercy, Jerry must coax the shattering truth from isolated, dangerous Abby Maddox. Can he put the pieces together before Abby’s number one fan takes another life in the name of a killer’s perverted idea of justice?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501119248
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	03/07/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	136,605
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Jennifer Hillier made her fiction debut with Creep and is now the author of several psychological thrillers, including Freak and The Butcher. Originally from Canada, she spent eight years in the Pacific Northwest before returning to the Toronto area, where she lives with her husband and son. Visit her on the web at JenniferHillierBooks.com.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The second book in this series leaves readers hungry for the next. Taut and fraught with surprise twists, Hillier’s thriller is addictive.”—Kirkus

" This book freaked me out – in a good way. In a word, “frightening.” Jennifer Hillier creates a truly scary killer in Abby Maddox, the female version of Hannibal Lecter – smart, cunning and wickedly evil. I was engrossed on page one, couldn’t put the book down and breathless at the ending. Be prepared for a late night's reading. Then sleep with the lights on – if you can. This one blew me away."

—Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of Murder One

“Freak is an exhilarating serial killer thriller…fast-paced…a shocking final twist.”—GumShoe Review

“Freak is difficult to put down.” —National Post

Editorial Reviews

Readers are advised to read Hillier’s frightening 2011 debut, Creep, before this so-so sequel, which features many of the same characters. In the previous book, Abby Maddox, the girlfriend of serial killer Ethan Wolfe, went to prison for nearly cutting the throat of PI Jerry Isaac, a former Seattle policeman. In the year since that assault, the authorities have been trying to link Maddox to Wolfe’s murders. With both the mental and physical scars still all too fresh, Isaac is horrified to learn of a new horror from his former Seattle PD colleagues. After strangling a young woman with a zip tie, someone carved “Free Abby Maddox” into her torso. The search for the killer inevitably connects to the previous crimes. Efforts at humor (“There was one simple reason Jerry didn’t like cemeteries. They were full of dead people”) do little to enhance a familiar serial killer story line. Agent: Victoria Skurnick, Levine Greenberg. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"The second book in this series leaves [fans] hungry for the next. Taut and fraught with surprise twists, Hillier's thriller is addictive." ---Kirkus

From the Publisher

"Free Abby Maddox, 2/10." Carved into the back of a murdered prostitute, these words resurrect a violent story that everyone thought had ended. Picking up where Creep (2010) left off, the latest from Hillier reassembles a cast of characters facing the aftermath of serial killer Ethan Wolfe's death. Dubbed the Tell Tale Heart killer, Wolfe had seduced and tortured psychology professor and recovering sex addict Sheila Tao. Now that Wolfe is dead and his girlfriend, Abby Maddox, has been incarcerated for attacking Detective Jerry Isaac, Sheila believes she can rebuild her life. Retired from the force and estranged from his wife, Jerry struggles to regain his confidence after Maddox's attack. The scar she left on his throat is simply the physical manifestation of the scars within his psyche. Suddenly, the wary peace is shattered, and Jerry's partner calls him back to help with a murder case. The corpse bears a strong resemblance to Maddox, and the killer has strangled her with a zip tie. The message carved into her back prophesies nine more victims. Who is willing to kill for Maddox's freedom? Twists and turns reveal a website devoted to freeing Maddox, a trash bag full of fan letters to Maddox and a mysterious young man hiring prostitutes online. Jerry isn't quite ready to cope with this case, particularly when the only leads seem to lie in Maddox's hands. Even more strange, Maddox wants to talk to Sheila. Luckily, Jerry has a new intern, Danny. Studying to become a criminologist, Danny is, of course, intrigued by the case. Her fresh-faced interest, energy and technological skills rejuvenate Jerry's hunt. Yet as the kill count mounts, he has to begin to wonder: Is someone orchestrating everyone's every move? The second book in this series leaves readers hungry for the next. Taut and fraught with surprise twists, Hillier's thriller is addictive.

Kirkus Reviews