You Kill Me

Picking up a year or so after "Hide Your Eyes" Samantha and Detective John Krull are now living together, but the relationship is anything but rosy. After 9/11 Krull begins to close himself off from Samantha. Suddenly, a woman living in the same apartment Samantha used to live in is murdered. A stranger is sending Samantha notes warning her of the danger she is in. Someone is watching her every move and she is somehow connected to the horrible crimes. The evidence points to Detective John Krull. Is he really capable of murder? Samantha is determined to know the truth, but can she handle it? "You Kill Me" was suspenseful from the start and never let up. I couldn't turn the pages quick enough. This author has great potential and I look forward to reading more from Alison Gaylin. Is it worth buying? Yes. Although it is better to have read "Hide Your Eyes" first, so the reader has better knowledge of how Samantha and John first met and what brought them together. Hide your Eyes was more of a romantic suspense, where You Kill Me is more of a mystery.

Samatha Leiffer is a pre-school teacher and works part-time in an off, off Broadway ticket office, The Space. She's also the daughter of a famous self help guru. And she also seems to be a bit of a magnet for serial killers. In "Hide Your Eyes", while out on a break from The Space she witnessed a couple dumping a large ice chest into the river. Although the police think she's overreacting at first, when an ice chest is found, with a little girl's body they begin to take her seriously. So begins Sam's relationship with John Krull, NYPD detective, which continues in "You Kill Me". John and Sam have been living together for a year and a half. Suddenly, Sam begins receiving notes warning her that she is in danger. Then the woman who moved into Sam's old apartment is brutally murdered. At the same time, John starts disappearing for hours, sometimes overnight, during which time he can't be contacted and he has no explanation for where he's been. I really enjoyed this book, even more than "Hide Your Eyes". The only problem I had was the resolution of John's absences. He had to know Sam thought he was having an affair and he should have never kept the secret he kept from her for two years. But he is still a good guy who loves her very much and as someone else pointed out they are a committed couple. The end of the book set up for another sequel and I can't wait!

I confess, I loved "Hide Your Eyes" and hoped this wouldn't be another disappointing sophomore effort. So, I enjoyed the first half of the book, catching up on the lives of our heroes. It drew me in, had me intriged and I was very satisfied for the first 200 pages or so... Then Gaylin suddenly steps on the gas, launches into overdrive and achieves that "can't put it down" feeling you hope for whenever you start a novel. Whew. While I'm in the story, I just wish life could be easier for Samantha Leiffer, but, when I'm looking for another book to read, I'm so happy to have found a character I love to follow who manages to lead such a thrill-filled adventurous life.

I loved this book. Couldn't put it down! It has suspense,romance and comedy! What more do you need?! Having read both of her books now, I have to say I really appreciate the fact that the main characters are still together,not without problems, but seem to be a commited couple. (I wish more authors would follow this line instead of the moving in together and then moving out, alternate love interests etc...dragged out thru 11 books, it gets old) I hope she keeps our hero's together in upcoming books and we don't have to wait long for another book of the series. Buy both of her books, I don't see how anyone wouldn't enjoy them.

Samantha Leiffer works as a pre-school teacher and the theater Space selling tickets and answering the phoned. After killing a murderer and moving in with Detective John Krull who saved her life, she thought nothing bad would even happen to her again.. Time proves her wrong. Her nightmare begins when a stranger gives her a note in a public place saying "You are in Danger". A bit scared she turns to John for comfort but he seems to have withdrawn from her emotionally and disappears for long stretches of time without telling her where he is. The woman who took over the apartment where Samantha was almost killed was murdered and her body left in the park neatly wrapped. The stranger sends her more notes telling her to watch out because someone is watching her. Her ex-boyfriend corners her in his twelve step- sexual addiction program to tell her he's sorry. She finds out that he slept with the woman who was in her old apartment. Later his body is found in the closet of her classroom. The note sender is also murdered and while trying to figure out who is after her, she goes to the wrong person for help. Only a miracle will save her life that is if John and the rest of the cavalry arrive in time. YOU KILL ME is much darker in tone than Alison Gaylin's debut novel HIDE YOUR EYES. The author is a talented writer who builds up the suspense and since this tale, told in the first person from Samantha's perspective allows readers to feel her gradually growing feelings of tension and terror. The characters and the plot comes across as very realistic so that readers will finish the book in one sitting just to find out who the killer is. Harriet Klausner