Creep by Jennifer Hillier
My Rating:  5 of 5 Stars

Title:  Creep
Author:  Jennifer Hillier
Length:  368 pages
Publisher:  Gallery Books
Published:  July 5, 2011
Genres:  Fiction; Suspense Fiction; Psychological Fiction

My Rating:  ✮✮✮✮✮

Synopsis:

Pulsing with the dark obsession of Radiohead’s song “Creep,” this taut thriller—Jennifer Hillier’s superb debut—rockets from its seductive opening to a heartpounding climax not easily forgotten.

If he can’t have her . . .

Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behavior. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren’t, she knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she’s finally engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and she’s taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won’t let her walk away.

. . . no one else can.

Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancé discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn’t resist—who is now the monster who won’t let her go.

My Review:

Wow!  What a debut novel from Jennifer Hillier!  If this book is any indication of her work to come, this lady will have an amazing career as an author of suspense and psychological novels!  I was amazed at her writing abilities, especially as a newbie.  She writes like a pro, as if this is her twentieth novel, not her first!  I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us!

The title of the book is absolutely the most fitting of any title I've ever read!  Everything about this book was creepy, from the characters, down to the plot!  

The characters in this book were such a diverse group, but enjoyable to read about throughout the book.  I can't think of any other book with characters like these, and I enjoyed that!  I am one to always root for the good guys and the happy ending, so I must say that I was rooting for Sheila and Morris from the get-go!  Ethan creeped me out from the first moment I met him, and I enjoyed Jerry later on in the book!

The plot was so thick and full of details, with many different unpredictable twists and turns!  I had determined early on that I knew who the killer was and that Hillier was just trying to show the reader's what went through a killer's mind, but BOY WAS I WRONG!  It was one of those, I knew what it was until it slapped me in the face, and it left me standing there, with a big red hand-print on my cheek, stinging, going WHOA!!! I totally DID NOT see that happening!  What a thrilling read!!  The second half of this book was a total rumdinger, as it kept me on the edge of my seat, dying to know what happens next!  I went to reading two to three chapters a day, to reading the whole second half of the book in a matter of 24 hours!  I COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN!

When I first began reading Creep, I wasn't aware that Hillier had written another book, so I was a little taken aback by the ending, thinking what they heck?  Either she left it wide open for another book, or that the readers are just going to be out in left field forever.  When pulling up the title to do this review, I found that Hillier wrote a book that takes place after Creep, which is Freak and I can certainly assure you that I will be running out to get my hands on a copy of it as soon as I possibly can!  I HAVE to continue with this author and find out what other great reads she has in store for me!

Overall, I LOVED this book!   I was thrilled with the writing, the story, the characters, the suspense...everything about it!  I am STUNNED that this is a debut novel, because it is expertly written, like that of a professional.  I would compare this work to that of suspense greats, Lisa Gardner and Chelsea Cain!  This girl has got the talent, and I can't wait get my fill of more!!

Would I Recommend This Book:
Seriously, need you ask after that review??  I WOULD NOT HESITATE to recommend this book to anyone and everyone that will listen to me!

Stand Alone or Part of a Series:
Part of a series

• Creep #1