The Survivors Club

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Summary: A suspenseful novel about rape, murder and retribution.
Review: 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.

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Summary: A Very Scary, Engaging Thriller!
Review: 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.

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Summary: Another Great Read from Lisa Gardner
Review: Lisa Gardner captivated me with her first novel. This, her fourth novel, is her best yet. Here she has weaved two mysteries into one. Each story could have been a separate book, but it is so much more interesting to see them in one. I found the women's characters to be thoroughly interesting and more importantly to me, real to life. The end of the book demonstrated the importance of the Survivors Club and the growth of the three characters. I eagerly await #5.

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Summary: The Best!!!
Review: Lisa Gardner has done it again!! The premise of 3 women waiting for their day in court, only to find their attacker assasinated on the way into the courthouse was enough for me to get excited about. But then to find out that the Suspect might not have attacked the women after all and now all 3 have become murder suspects, maybe having killed an innocent man, is beyond Brillant!! This is a--Can't put the book down--Stay up all night kind of book--and it doesn't get any better than that!! Starting with The Perfect Husband--The Other Daughter--The Third Victim--The Next Accident and now The Survivors Club, Lisa Gardner just keeps getting better and better... I can't wait for her next one!!!!

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Summary: Thrilling through to the end
Review: Lisa Gardner is a master at writing compelling characters and interesting, clever plots. This book ranks right up there as one of her best. She handles the issue of rape with class and empathy. Lisa also takes you on the journey of how three victims support and heal each other through their interaction with the Survivor's Club.

An incredibly entertaining book.

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Summary: Best Yet!
Review: Lisa Gardner just keeps getting better and better. I'd give this one 10 stars if I could. The book gives great insight into just how demoralizing rape can be for women, and how much more educating we need to do about this crime. The book is also a cliff-hanger, cleverly plotted and beautifully written. Great job.

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Summary: Keeps you guessing.
Review: Many mystery novels are the literary equivalent of fast food. Not The Survivor's Club. Lisa Gardner has served up a gourmet meal with this one.
She has taken the time to give us an intricate plot which unfolds in such a way as to maximize suspense while keeping the reader engaged. Furthermore, the characters are richly fleshed out, thereby making both them and the story interesting and believable.
And for the more serious minded reader, The Survivor's Club delivers an ample amount of social commentary without being preachy.
This is one great novel. Suspenseful, well constructed, thoroughly engaging, substantial, and at times a bit frightening. The Survivor's Club has it all.

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Summary: So thrilling, I almost did not survive!
Review: 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!

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Summary: Superficial, Predictable, Cliched Melodrama!
Review: Ms. Gardner writes fairly well. Nevertheless, her plot, and particularly her characters, are shallow, unpersuasive and totally uncompelling. For me the concept of a feminist-soaked "club" of victims going after their rapist just doesn's work. Superwoman Jillian is offensive and unreal. She is complemented by lawman Griff (Is he buff? Gee, I don't remember). In any dimension of reality Jillian and he would have been making love by page 75. Actually the story screams for Jillian to be a lesbian. An honest ending would have Jillian and Meg living together at the beach, wrapped sensuously in each other's arms. No man will ever hold them again. Griffin will have another breakdown, unable to cope with his second contact with the charismatic and high intelligent (if perverted) villain.
All the plot twists stagnate and are mind-dullingly predictable. There are only two interesting characters: the hit man who is killed off early in the novel and the "villain" who can't survive lawman Griff, the other cops, and the intrepid girls. Finally, this story is actually just a maudlin romance, ala Harlequin with a thin veneer of soft-core suspense and with clunky hues of feminism, a novel unable to face the "other" within today's modern woman that jettisons hetersexual love and clings to the truth of homosexuality and anti-male attitudes.
Readers, please read M. Connelly's masterful Void Moon, with a genuine and strong female protagonist, or read T. Cook's Breakheart Hill, with perhaps the most fascinating and complex female lead character in all of suspense fiction.

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Summary: superb crime thriller
Review: On the surface it would appear that the members of THE SURVIVORS CLUB had nothing in common. Meg is a twenty-year-old college student; Carol is a fortyish uptown homemaker; and Jillian is a fiercely independent woman who runs her own business. Yet the three women have formed a strong bond based on the fact that they all survived attacks of a serial rapist.

Their group is largely responsible for the arrest of the College Killer Rapist. They all believe that the DA will have no trouble convicting Eddie Como for his crimes because his DNA matched with samples taken from all the crime sites. On the first day of the trial as Eddie is taken to court, an assassin on a nearby roof kills him. The women believe their nightmare is over but they will soon realize it is only just beginning.

THE SURVIVORS CLUB is a superb crime thriller told from the point of view of the three protagonists and the lead detective on the case. Lisa Gardner handles these multiple third person viewpoints so that the reader knows what is happening at all the time. However, this knowledge in no way gives a hint to what the final outcome will be or even if all the players will survive a diabolical psychopath's ingenious plan. Fans of Patricia Cornwell will enjoy Ms. Gardner's latest potboiler.

Harriet Klausner