The Survivors Club: A Thriller

by Lisa Gardner

Book Overview

"Starts fast and never stops moving. Clever, complex, and original "--Phillip Margolin THE SURVIVORS CLUB . . . that's what Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen, and Meg Pesaturo call it. They won't consider... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553584510
• Release Date: April 2003
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.9" x 1.1" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Disappointing

Lisa Gardner could not possibly have written this book. It's not suspensful. The book hardly held my interest. No great ending...nothing.

The Best Club

Amazing! A very good book from the beginning to the very end. You'll not find a way to put it down. You'll not loose the interest until the last page.I strongly recommend this book for those who like a good reading and a very good suspense.

A Very Scary, Engaging Thriller!

Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen, and Meg Pesaturo are three women, all from different walks of life, who survived brutal attacks by serial rapist Eddie Como. They form their own version of a support group and call themselves The Survivors Club, under Jillian`s leadership. Ironically they become the prime suspects when Eddie is murdered right before his court appearance and his assassin is blown up as he attempts to leave the scene.Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin wonders if the three women have collectively conspired to carry out their revenge on Eddie, or if someone one wants to make it look as if they did. Roan must deal with the growing complexities of this case, as well as his own personal demons as he confronts the women. After another woman is attacked, there is more controversy and confusion, especially since the killer is now determined to eliminate each member of the Survivors Club. Roan must now pullout all the stops, even if it costs him his career, and possibly his life.Lisa Gardner is an extraordinary writer. She serves up witty and upbeat dialogue, eclectic characters and complete pandemonium in this book. The Survivors Club is chock full of enough excitement, chills and thrills to exhaust even the most die-hard suspense fans. Don't miss this one.

So thrilling, I almost did not survive!

Ms. Gardner only gets better with each novel. This is surely her best work so far. She handles the difficult subject of rape in a delicate yet heart-throbbing manner. The victims of these rapes: Jillian, Carol and Meg, under Jillian's persuasion form 'The Survivors Club'. They are of one mind....push the police to find the rapist/murderer and learn to cope with the violence that has been inflicted upon them. And there is not one of them who doesn't already have several personal problems with which to deal.These three characters are great. However, Griffin and Fitz head the list in the "my favorite characters" category.Detective Sargeant Roan Griffin had been on leave from the Rhode Isand State police. On the day he returns he is put in charge of the rape/murder case and must interface with Detective Joseph Fitzpatrick of Sex Crimes for the Providence Police.Fitz is a gruff old bear with a heart of gold, but tough to get to know and appreciate. This in itself, because of the competition between city and state, adds tremendous tension to the scene already unfolding. Griffin is a strong character and comes across very powerfully. Yet the story behind his leave of absence slowly unfolds and will hold you in its grip for a long, long time after the last chapter is read and the book is on the shelf. Ms. Gardner is a gifted teller of tales and her constant delving into the procedurals involved show just how diligently she does her homework. She is to be lauded for her plot, her characters, her knowledge and most of all for her expertise in putting it all together to form one of the best thrillers yet. Read it, you will enjoy every minute!

A suspenseful novel about rape, murder and retribution.

Jillian Hayes, Carol Rosen and Meg Pesaturo belong to "The Survivors Club," a group of three women living in Providence, Rhode Island, who meet regularly after having been victimized by the same rapist. Jillian, the de facto leader of the group, lost her beloved younger sister, Trisha, at the hands of the rapist. The criminal then savagely beat Jillian when she unwittingly walked into her sister's apartment after the rapist had attacked and killed Trisha. Jillian, Carol and Meg still bear the emotional scars of their encounters with the man who robbed them of their security and their peace of mind.After putting a great deal of pressure on the police and airing their case in the media, the members of the Survivors Club are gratified when a suspect, Eddie Como, is arrested for the rapes. DNA evidence found at all the crime scenes appears to prove conclusively that Como is the rapist, although he insists that he is innocent. The case is blown wide open, however, when Como is gunned down by a hired killer on the day that his trial is about to begin.Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin of the Providence State Police is brought into the case after having been off the force for a year. He had suffered a meltdown after the death of his beloved young wife, and after he discovered that his next door neighbor and friend was both a pedophile and a serial killer. Griffin joins forces with the local police to reopen the investigation of the rapes and to find out who paid to have Como killed. Could one or all of the members of the Survivors Club have paid a killer to murder Eddie Como? As Griffin's investigation continues, he discovers that this case is far more complicated than anyone has previously realized. Griffin is also drawn to Jillian Hayes, a beautiful and vulnerable woman who has built a shell around herself since Trisha's death.Lisa Gardner has written a satisfying thriller with wonderfully drawn characters and plenty of twists and turns. The author effectively describes the terrible psychological effects of rape on both the victims and their families. Gardner sympathetically portrays the difficulty of carrying on with one's life after suffering a severe trauma. The mystery is well handled, and Gardner, for the most part, avoids the melodramatic touches that have marred her books in the past. I recommend "The Survivors Club" highly. It is a fascinating look into the lives of criminals and their victims, and it is a riveting novel of suspense.