Never Fear

By: Scott Frost

Narrated by: Shelly Frasier

Seventeen years ago, three women were killed, their bodies dumped in the wasteland of the L.A. River. The serial killer was never found, and the case was mysteriously closed. Now, all these years later, Detective Alex Delillo reopens the River Killer case to help solve her own brother's murder.

Alex never knew she had a brother until she went to identify his body. He was found next to the river near Griffith Park, a single gunshot wound in his head. LAPD is calling it suicide, but when Alex reconstructs her brother's final hours she stumbles across his research on an old LAPD case: the River Killings. The prime suspect was none other than their own father.

As Alex gets closer to the truth, her father's past comes into focus, and alarming flashbacks from her childhood start to plague her. A journeyman actor who disappeared when she was a child, he had a history of violence against women, but was he capable of murder? Meanwhile, the schizophrenic son of the killer's third victim is out for his own revenge, and someone in the shadows is stalking Alex's every move and leaving a body count. In a chilling turn, Alex finds that the truth is as murky and as empty as the L.A. River itself.

Replete with a labyrinth-like plot, feverish suspense, and the simmering setting that is Los Angeles, Frost proves he can rival the best popular suspense authors in this, his second outing in a promising new series that Publishers Weekly called "a jaw-dropper that will leave readers clamoring for more."

©2006 Scott Frost (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Frost's combination of psychological depth, complex plotting, and an evocative, arid Los Angeles setting will have fans of intelligent suspense counting the days until his next book." (Publishers Weekly)
"Frost delivers a superlative scorcher with a cast of memorably eccentric characters (including a brilliant schizophrenic hell-bent on revenge) and a sinuous plot that crackles and pops." (Booklist)

Great Read

I thought this was a great story and well read. It kept me listening to learn what would happen next and to try to decipher the mystery with all the twists. I thought the characters were real, I liked their sensitivity and I was glad to listen to a "cop/crime" book that wasn't full of foul language. I will read more of this author and look for the narrator too.

Excellent read

This is my first book by the author - but definitely not the last. The book kept my interest the entire time - the characters seemed real. Many twists and turns in the story...but believable! Give it a try - you won't be sorry!

Awesome!

This a fantastic book and not too graphic. I have a hard time with in depth descriptions of murders, it makes my stomach turn. You can read this book without reading the first book "run the risk". I have read run the risk and if you can I would read them in order. If you like John Sanford, you will like this book!

Not memorable

One reviewer said that if I liked John Sandford, I'd like this book. Well, I like John Sandford, but I didn't think this book was anything special. I thought the plot was a bit disjointed and the story was drawn out. The hours didn't fly by as I listened and I wasn't sorry to see it end. I don't have a problem with female leading characters, but this book seemed a little more tailored to the female reader. It's another one of those books that wasn't bad, wasn't good, was just there. A definite three stars.

so so

I found some of this story quite good, but there were too many places where the detectives were so sensitive that it was painful to listen to. Almost like a crime novel mixed with chick-lit... I don't mind the "cop with the heart of gold" theme, but this was way past that. The narration was average too... maybe a little flat or even melancholy voiced, which didn't help. I'm sure i won't read the author again.

For reference, authors that I've enjoyed recently on audio include John Sandford, Ian Rankin and Daniel Silva. (If you've read those authors too, you can tell if we have similar tastes.)

Terrible

This was boring... never ending... lacking any kind of excitement or suspense. I couldn't wait for it to be over.

a snorer

book was tedious and reader did nothing to make it more exciting nor interesting.

A predictable story line and even more predictable ending.