Kill For Me - Karen Rose

Five teenage girls have been murdered. One survived, and only she can reveal the secrets of a disturbing ring of people who kidnap and sell teenage girls on the black market. But those responsible for the crimes will do whatever it takes to maintain her silence.

Susannah Vartanian and Luke Papadopoulos have both sworn to stop the murderers for their own reasons. Susannah, the sister of the hero in SCREAM FOR ME, suffers from a mysterious past that is connected to the sinister black market. Luke is an investigative agent and a computer expert who refuses to let another child predator get away.

Susannah and Luke are instantly attracted to each other, but their troubled pasts prevent them from immediately acting upon their feelings. The case will lead them to the shady realm of Internet chat rooms, where anyone can mask their identity. As Susannah and Luke draw closer to the criminals, they discover a chain of deception so intricate they don't know who to trust. Susannah and Luke find comfort in one another's arms, but the killers are ruthless and determined, and will take extreme measures to insure their anonymity and keep their business intact.

Kill For Me is the third and final book in Karen Rose's Vartanian trilogy. Susannah Vartanian, despite her successful career as an ADA has always felt like alone and isolated because she was a victim of her brother Simon. Now she is ready to confront her past and see the bad guys behind bars. Luke Papadopoulos is Daniel's friend that we met in book 1, he investigates internet crime, especially child abuse, but now he is lending a hand to Daniel in solving these past and present cases. Luke and Susannah both feel attracted to each other but for different reasons they both feel they are not right for the other, it was really nice to see them developing a friendship of sorts before taking their relationship further.

 

This book continues the story of the previous book - Scream For Me - and it can't be read as a stand alone. The cases, villains and victims in this story were introduced in the previous book and the action starts where the other one ended. Susannah and Luke had saved a girl from the "house of horrors" where they were kept by the kidnapers but she is unable to speak at first and then prevented to speak as the bad guys have minions everywhere.

 

I really liked Susannah and Luke, they were honest and caring about their work and their feelings. Susannah is especially brave as she decides to face what hapenned in the past and we discover that she was more a victim than at first revealed. But she and all the other victims are decided to face their attackers.

 

Like in the previous book there's a big body count. Not only of innocent victims but also as the villains turn on themselves. Fortunately we are out of that suffocating small town of Dutton for most of the action but the horrors and the evil net that the villains seemed to have created is still acting strong. There are many secrets to uncover and many identities to reveal before they are done but we do have closure in this story.

Grade: 4/5