Malice

The scent is unmistakable gardenias, sweet and delicate, the same perfume that his beautiful first wife, Jennifer, always wore. Opening his eyes in the hospital room where hes recovering from an accident, New Orleans detective Rick Bentz sees her standing in the doorway. Then Jennifer blows him a kiss and disappears. But it couldnt have been Jennifer. She died twelve years ago... Once out of the hospital, Bentz begins to see Jennifer everywhere. Could she still be alive? But it was Bentz who identified Jennifers body after her horrible car wreck, and there had been no question in his mind that it was her crumpled form behind the wheel, her clothes, her wedding ring. Hes never doubted it until now. He cant tell his new wife, Olivia, about the sightings or his secret fear that hes losing his mind. But Olivia is also hiding a secret... When a copy of Jennifers death certificate arrives in the mail, emblazoned with a red question mark, Bentz follows the postmark trail to Los Angeles, returning to the painful memories hes tried so hard to forget, and straight into a killers web. Someones been waiting patiently, silently. Someone who knows exactly what happened that night twelve years ago and has been anticipating Bentzs every move. Soon it will be Bentzs turn to suffer for his sins. But he wont be the only one made to pay the ultimate price. For a diabolical killer has now made Olivia the prime target... From Publishers Weekly A vengeful ex-wife appears to have returned from the dead to stalk her ex-husband in this gripping thriller from bestseller Jackson ( Absolute Fear ). Former LAPD detective Rick Bentz has rebuilt his life with a happy marriage and new career with the New Orleans police 12 years after divorcing his unfaithful first wife, Jennifer, who subsequently died in a car crash. After a freak accident in a lightning storm that left his temporarily paralyzed, Rick starts seeing Jennifer's ghost. When Rick receives an anonymous package mailed from Culver City, Calif., containing recent photos of a woman resembling Jennifer, he goes to California to investigate. In L.A., the Twenty-one killer, who strangles identical twins on their 21st birthday, resurfaces. Rick's last unsolved L.A. case involved victims of this serial killer. Jackson heightens the creep factor by including the viewpoint of a character whose hatred for Rick for past wrongs inspires another extreme killing spree. (Apr.) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Rick Bentz is lucky to be standing on two feet, even with acrutch. Severely injured in an accident, he is itching to be back at his desk in the New Orleans Police Department Homicide Unit.After he left the Los Angeles Police Department with his reputation in tatters, he was fortunate enough to find a new home in New Orleans,but ever since the accident, things withhis new wife havent been the same. And Bentz is experiencing sightings of his long-dead ex-wife. After acopy of her death certificateemblazoned with a question markarrives in the mail,he heads cross-countryto find out what exactly is going on. As he delves deeper into the mystery, not only does he rekindle ill will among his former colleagues butthe sightings become more numerous, and soon after he interviews his ex-wifes closest confidants, they end up murdered. Bentz is the classic flawed detective whose emotions are real enough to feel, and best-selling Jackson cranks up thesuspenseto almost unbearable heights in her latest tautly written thriller, onethat keeps the reader guessing until the very end. --Maria Hatton When a copy of his first wife's death certificate arrives in the mail, emblazoned with a red question mark, New Orleans detective Rick Bentz follows the postmark trail to Los Angeles, returning to the painful memories he's tried so hard to forget, and straight into a killer's web that catches Bentz as the prime suspect From #1 New York Times-bestselling Author Jackson Comes A Gripping, Edge-of-the-seat Tale Of Deception And Betrayal, As New Orleans Detective Rick Bentz Is Forced To Confront The Ghosts Of His Past--and A Killer's Twisted Vengeance.