This review originally appeared on my blog at www.gimmethatbook.com.
Thanks to the author for gifting me this book in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this book! Chapter one was crazy intense, with plenty of action to set the tone of the story. Kay Hunter is a determined, capable woman with some job conflict in her past. The kidnapper is a sociopath on a mission, full of devious ways to murder his victims.

Amphlett knows how to grab the reader’s attention by using strong character development and by keeping the plot moving. There are never too many people clogging up the pages; I really struggle with books that require a scorecard to keep track of characters. I also love that she believes in a strong female lead. Hunter knows what she wants and she trusts her intuition, no matter how much others may think it incorrect.

Setting the crimes in an abandoned building warmed my heart. What creepier place could you find to make a victim consider her own death? I’m an urban explorer and could visualize the locations easily. What an excellent idea to use these places as a focus point for drama!

SCARED TO DEATH is a win on so many levels; I truly have nothing bad to say about this book. This is the type of story that you sit down to read and suddenly regret not having cleared your calendar prior to starting. The plots twists keep you guessing; even when the real kidnapper is identified, it’s never a guarantee that he will be captured.

Equal parts of suspense, humor, drama and action make this book one of the best ones I’ve read this year so far. The ending leaves the door wide open for the next book in the series to be awaited eagerly – I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens. I also have a theory about who caused the gun to go missing in her previous case – but I’ll keep that to myself and see what happens.
( )

A police thriller with a sociopathic serial killer shouldn’t be boring. The plot was interesting enough, but nothing else really rises beyond serviceable: The characters are there to get the job done, the writing merely communicates the plot, and there were way too many pedestrian details that just slowed things down and contributed nothing. ( )

This seems to have a lot of rave reviews and I'm not really sure why. It's not the worst book I've read - but it's definitely not the best.

The cast of characters are lacklustre and have no depth and could be swapped out with any generic group. I had no emotional connection with them good or bad - they were just bland. The mystery itself was decent but it was clumsily written. Half the time the cops interviewed the suspect they were done with one question. The information they had seemed to fall into their hands. And the mystery had pacing issues and stretched for way too long. And it bothered me the whole money aspect Bob mentions went nowhere. A decent editor could rework this into a stronger read but in it's current form, 2 stars. I may pick up the next one in the series depending on price and availability. ( )

Scared to Death is the first in a new series by Rachel Amphlett. I had not read anything by Rachel Amphlett before I read this book, but as a big time crime fan was I intrigued by the premise and the cover of the book. So, what makes this so special that you should pick it over other crime books?

Personally, I just love when I instantly like the main character and Kay Hunter was just the kind of tough female cop that I like to read about. And, it was quite nice that she seems to be quite stable, despite recent problems both at home and at work. Not, that I don't like my heroines flawed, I do. But, having a woman cop, in a stable relationship felt like a nice change. I just loved that she and Adam have a loving and understanding relationship, despite that they have just been through hell together.

As for the case, it's tragic, the whole case feels like just an awful nightmare. Without giving too much away is this case a typical example of what could happen when someone that has been abused for years suddenly snaps. It's such a chilling story. Also, the story has some brilliant twists. Just the way I like it.

I want to thank the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review! ( )

1432 ( )