About the Series
Suburban housewife Cam Hastings and psychic detective Lucinda Sloan meet on the Jersey Shore during a summer of shocking disappearances that captivate the press—and a second cunning killer waiting in the wings until the first case is solved.
Dying Breath
A SEASIDE RETREAT…
It’s summer on the Jersey Shore. Children play on the beach. Husbands are off working in the city. And the surf echoes in the night. Here, in this perfect place, a serial killer has no worries in the world—except choosing the next victim…
HAS JUST BECOME…
Cam Hastings has come to Long Beach Island with her teenage daughter and the hope that maybe she can save her failed marriage. Cam has never stopped loving her husband Mike nor has she been able to outrun her flaws and demons—a vanished mother, a lost sister, and the ugly visions she has of missing children…
A KILLER’S FAVORITE PLAYGROUND…
Now, Cam is about to step over the edge. For once, she will act on one of her visions—and then face the consequences. For a killer has just struck again. And for Cam, and the people she loves most, fear has come home for good…
“Dying Breath (is) the perfect beach blanket book for the summer of 2008.”
—Asbury Park Press
“(Four Stars!) Staub’s books, filled with emotion and terrifying details, are impossible to put down. She writes in the present tense, which can take some getting used to, and the chapters are often divided abruptly between the many characters and plotlines. In the end, however, the threads are pulled together and your heart can stop pounding.”
—Page Traynor for RT Book Reviews
“Wendy Corsi Staub has been compared to Mary Higgins Clark for good reason. Even though you may begin to figure some things out fairly early in Dying Breath, you will be so drawn into the story, intrigued with the plot, the characters, and the fine details the author feathers in, your intrigue will keep you bolted to the book to its very satisfying conclusion. If a novel had volume, Dying Breath would be almost too loud to bear at the end as it builds in intensity and conflict. This is one of those books that will keep you reading way past your bedtime. This was my first book by Wendy Corsi Staub, and it won’t be my last. Highly recommended.”
—Peg Brantley for Armchair Interviews
“Once the table is set by talented Wendy Corsi Staub, readers will appreciate the increasingly tense tale as the audience can feel the horror eating at Cam’s gut. She is a fabulous protagonist as she learns no good deed goes unpunished yet cannot ignore her visions partially because she was helpless when her sister died and her mother disappeared; fans will root for her as she and Mike struggle to save Tess.”
—Harriet Klausner for The Mystery Gazette
Dead Before Dark
Formerly titled DYING LIGHT
THE SUN GOES DOWN…
The Night Watchman is ready to kill—again. After thirty-five years in prison, he is free to commit the same twisted atrocities that once made him as notorious as the Zodiac Killer and Jack the Ripper. Now, at last, his moment has come…
THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS…
For renowned psychic Lucinda Sloan, fame is a double-edged sword. Through her television appearances, she helps police capture America’s most elusive serial killers. Unfortunately, she also catches the eye of the Night Watchman. Once this madman learns that Lucinda “sees” murders after they’re committed, it’s time to play…
…AND THE FEAR NEVER ENDS.
The first victim is someone she knows—a personal shock that brings Lucinda closer to her ex-lover, Detective Randall Barakat. Then a second murder in Chicago, and a third in Denver, makes her realize that the Night Watchman is toying with her. Each victim wears a wristwatch…each watch bears a message… and each message is a warning for Lucinda that her time is up—and soon she’ll be next to die…
“Staub keeps things taut and unpredictable…a surprisingly effective thriller.”
—Publishers Weekly
“In this intense follow-up to 2008’s DYING BREATH, just as self-described psychic detective Lucinda Sloan is helpless to stop a monomaniacal serial killer, readers will be helpless to stop turning pages until the end. From the moment the killer branded the Night Watchman sees Lucinda on television, he knows that she will be the grand finale in his latest series of brutal murders. He busies himself sending cryptic messages to her and her friend, Cam Hastings, whose daughter was kidnapped the previous summer and whose sister was the victim of a long-ago murder. Retired FBI agent Vic Shattuck, who is writing a book about the Night Watchman, also receives messages that only tease at the edges of clues about the next victim. A few inconsistencies are tiny bumps on the twisty road to the chilling conclusion.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Staub’s masterful use of suspense keeps readers turning the pages of this twisted tale about a serial killer who involves a psychic detective in his deadly game of cat and mouse. The vast array of possible suspects will have you guessing at the true identity of the killer.”
—RT Book Reviews
“From first page to last the anticipation builds and the characters refuse to let you put their story aside. These characters are outstanding, and their chilling story is brilliant. DEAD BEFORE DARK is an expertly crafted, dark, deadly, and dangerously addictive tale. Wendy Corsi Staub continues to mesmerize her faithful followers, and new readers alike, with this extraordinary thriller.”
—Reader to Reader
“Action, adventure and mystery abound in this one! Ms. Corsi Staub knows how to keep a reader on the edge of their seat. One turn leads to another and not one of them is predictable. The story moves at a fast pace, but the reader is able to keep up fairly easily. As a woman who spends evenings home alone while my husband works, I did find myself turning on more and more lights as I continued reading. Dead Before Dark should fulfill any reader’s desire to be scared and thrilled.”
—Coffee Time Romance & More
“Staub weaves secondary characters and subplots into this complex and chilling tale with ease, creating a world where nobody is safe and everyone is suspect. You will find yourself turning pages at a frenzied pace to reach the story’s conclusion, which is both shattering and surprising. While the whole haunted house thing has been done before, you can be sure that it has never been done like this!”
—John Valeri, Hartford Books Examiner
“Although serial killers sending clues to the cops have been around for quite a long time, DEAD BEFORE DARK is a terrific thriller starring an evil, efficient and effective psychopath and the three people he chooses to spice up his second coming. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the reader meets the Night Watchman, who knows his first task as a free man is to kill. Sub-genre fans will appreciate this fine saga as Lucinda realizes by the third homicide that the serial killer is playing chess with her.”
—Harriet Klausner
“DEAD BEFORE DARK is a tautly told, evenly paced, blood- chilling thriller from beginning to end. The villain is a vile, twisted individual who truly loves his handiwork, and appreciates Lucinda’s intelligence. Lucinda Sloan is a worthy opponent—it’s too bad she will have to die. This is a first class tale written by an equally first class author. “Beach reading” doesn’t get any better than this one.”
—Fresh Fiction