Book
Heartstopper : a novel / Joy Fielding.
A spine-tingling thriller about a picturesque Florida town – and the killer determined to prey on its teenaged girls–from the <i>New York Times</i> and internationally bestselling author of <b>Mad River Road</b>.<br><br> “I’ve never been a fan of blood and guts,” writes the killer, “I’ve always preferred the buildup to an event over the actual event itself.” <br><br>In <b>Heartstopper</b>, bestselling author Joy Fielding creates a gripping buildup – and payoff – sure to get pulses pounding. <br><br>Welcome to Torrance, Florida. Population: 4,160. A small town in the middle of Alligator Alley, a safe place where residents feel comfortable leaving their doors unlocked and allowing their children to run freely. It’s also the town that Sandy Crosbie, a high school English teacher and mother of two teenagers, now calls home, thanks to her philandering husband who moved the family from New York just so he could live closer to the Barbie clone he secretly met on an Internet chat line. When the body of the most popular girl at Torrance High is found buried in a shallow, swampy grave, everyone in this cozy community becomes a suspect. Suddenly a down-on-his-luck sheriff must wade through the murkier depths of his otherwise sunny jurisdiction to determine who the killer is. Meanwhile, Sandy must do everything in her power to help target the attacker before it’s too late. <br><br>Alternating between the chilling journal entries of a cold-blooded murderer and the sizzling scandals of small town life, <b>Heartstopper</b> is Fielding’s most suspenseful novel yet.
Record details
- ISBN: 0385663536
- ISBN: 9780385663533 (hbk.)
- ISBN: 9780743295987
- ISBN: 9781416527015
- ISBN: 9781400025053 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0743295986
- ISBN: 141652701X
- Physical Description: 387 p. ; 24 cm.
- Publisher: [Toronto] : Doubleday Canada : c2007.
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | General Fiction > General Serial Killer > Fiction Missing Teenage Girl > Fiction Murder > Fiction Florida > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Psychological thrillers. Canadian fiction. |
Available copies
- 14 of 15 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Fort St. James Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 15 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort St. James Public Library | FIE (Text) | 35196000004064 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2007 February #2
A serial killer confounds a small Florida town already burdened with a complacent sheriff, a surgically enhanced Jezebel and a high school peopled by the usual mean girls, hapless faculty and Neanderthal jocks.In Fielding's latest mélange of suburban dread and mortal jeopardy (Lost, 2003, etc.), the main theater of action is a high school in Torrance, a sleepy town near Florida's Alligator Alley. Rochester, N.Y., transplant Sandy Crosbie gamely teaches senior English while the popular girls yawn and the jocks in the back row heckle class fat girl Delilah. Sandy herself recoils at Delilah, daughter of Kerri, the siliconed, lipo-ed, lip-plumped siren who lured Sandy's estranged hubby, Dr. Ian Crosbie, via Internet, to move Sandy, daughter Megan and son Tim down to this backwater. Ian's not the first. Sheriff John Weber has intermittently succumbed to Kerri's charms, escaping his sharp-tongued wife, Pauline, and anorexic daughter Amber. When mean girl Liana disappears, Weber fears the worst: Candy, a runaway teen, had vanished four months before. A "Killer's Journal" excerpt every few chapters reveals that the murderer is targeting "heartstoppers"âi.e., airheads both pretty and cruel. Candy and Liana were chloroformed, brought to the basement of an abandoned, isolated house and eventually shot, with no sexual component. Liana's body is discovered in a swampy, shallow grave by jocks Joey and Greg, members of a search party. Likely suspects include known wife-beater Cal from California, drama coach Mr. Lipsman, a cat-loving, never-was actor who casts Megan and Greg in his production of Kiss Me Kate, and creepy science teacher Mr. Peterson. Sandy pines for Ian's repentant return, worries about Megan going too far with Greg and takes some foolish risks of her own while imbibing green-apple martinis. Although the narrative is compulsively readable, the mystery cheats by banishing crucial facts from the consciousness of point-of-view characters. The closing twist relies on readers' gender assumptions.You'll be up all night reading, but you'll hate yourself in the morning. Copyright Kirkus 2007 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2006 December #1
Transplanted New Yorker (and mom) Sandie Crosbie goes after a serial killer targeting teenaged girls in suddenly shaken-up small-town Torrance, FL. With a three-city tour; Book Club Reader feature. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2007 February #3
Bestseller Fielding (Mad River Road ) delivers another dependably entertaining thriller. When Sandy Crosbie and her physician husband, Ian, move to Torrance, Fla. (pop. 4,160), from Rochester, N.Y., to make a new start, Sandy quickly discovers that the real new start is Ian's affair with "Barbie clone" Kerri Franklin, whom he met on an Internet chat line. Sandy, who's irritatingly docile about being deserted, trudges forward, getting a job teaching at the local high school and keeping an eye on her two teenage children, Megan and Tim. The author convincingly portrays the Crosbie siblings and other students, while examining in more depth than some readers might prefer teenage angst and puppy love. A popular girl, Liana Martin, disappears and her body later turns up in a swamp. Amid the offstage drama of the school play rehearsals, Sandy's painful blind date and Ian's affair, tension builds and cracks appear within and among local residents. Every few chapters, the anonymous killer offers an entry, which adds to the suspense, though the generous time spent with our mystery villain takes some of the kick out of the ending. (Apr.)
[Page 149]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
