I had known Janice Spina as the author of charming, award-winning children’s picture books. So when her thriller novel “Hunting Mariah” hit the market, I was quite surprised! The next surprise (shock, in fact), came in reading the book’s opening. Raw and brutal, yet Spina tells it like it’s completely natural –thereby setting up getting the reader into the mind of the killer. This book started off with a bang!

The twists and turns this tale takes keep the reader off-guard as Mariah retells the events she slowly recalls after surviving her attacker – a man (and there are several men in Mariah’s life in the story) whose identity the reader is unsure of for most of the book. Devious poetry accompanies the text, as the killer verbalizes his justification for his savage desires, intentions, and actions.

This story runs the reader through the gamut of human emotions as Mariah, her friends, and family experience and endure what would be life’s normal course shattered by tragedy at the hands of a psychopath. I found myself deeply moved at one completely unexpected tragic point in the story.

I won’t give much more of the story away. After all, it IS a mystery/thriller, and I want you to be as surprised and entertained as I was.

This book held me on the edge of my seat from page one. The serial killer is introduced in a blood-curdling prologue rife with suspense, leaving the reader most eager to turn the page. When Mariah makes her appearance, she finds herself in a strange place, terrified and suffering from amnesia. This spawns the question: Is she already in the clutches of the “school girl killer”?

The author impregnates her story with intrigue by shrouding her main characters in mystery. Unknown to Mariah, their lives are intertwined and bear on each other significantly. Suspense builds as the veil is slowly lifted on each one’s secret, closely guarded for the sake of Mariah’s safety. Deeply rooted in the past, these secrets now threaten to explode into the present.

With a shocking introduction and seeding her story with crumbs of revelation, J. E. Spina captures and holds the reader’s interest throughout this action-packed tale of mystery and suspense. She gives nothing away until the very end, and then adds an epilogue that will delight horror fans.

I closed this book feeling that I’d just seen a very entertaining movie ~ and wearing a smile of utter satisfaction.

I normally don’t read mystery thrillers, but somehow it got to me. I couldn’t stop reading, it held me captive til the end, even I thought right from the beginning who the awful blood thirsty killer person might be. But still I was always pushed back again, could it really be him? There were so many different turns and twists, that you really couldn’t be sure of anything.

Mariah, the innocent school girl was put into a dangerous twist; she nearly couldn’t get out again, shutting herself up to cope with the unexpected. And then you were transported into the mind of the school girl killer. What a blood thirsty individual, killing school girls for practice then killing Mariah’s friend, only to get to her. Everyone longed for justice. But will justice come?

Very cleverly done, JE Spina. She put family values and support into the foreground.

Loved it. Have to give it 5 stars.

Hunting Mariah is written by J. E. Spina, an award-winning children’s author. This novel is her debut into the mystery and crime genre.

The story is set in a New York suburb, where a killer is on the loose, terrorizing a college campus filled with young students.

Be prepared to be creeped out as J. E. Spina gives us an intimate view into the thought processes of a killer. Spina portrays this character as if she channeled the thoughts and actions of a real serial killer. The guy is deranged and takes pleasure in the sight, smell, and the feel of blood. Her descriptions were chilling!

The story revolves around the protagonist, Mariah Hampton who suffers from amnesia and Dr. Roberts, who is helping her to remember the savage attack she endured at the hands of an unnamed man. Through most of the book, this man’s identity is a secret which adds to the suspense building.

As Mariah’s memories begin to resurface, she realizes that the family secrets from her past have exploded into the future.

J. E. Spina has written a whopper of a murder mystery. She strings the reader along, giving nothing away until the explosive ending!

MY RATING:
Character Believability: 5
Flow and Pace: 5
Reader Engagement: 5
Reader Enrichment: 5
Reader Enjoyment: 5
Overall Rate: 5 out of 5 Fairies

*I received this book as a gift.*

A terrifying and taut thriller, HUNTING MARIAH pulls you into the mind of a psychopath. And what you find will haunt you for many nights. A suspenseful tale of violence, deceit and longing, J E Spina weaves a story that will keep you reading late into the night.

Mariah, her memory gone and a fear within her that something is not quite right, works with Dr. Roberts to help her find what is lost. What she discovers is not what she expects.

HUNTING MARIAH is a thriller with a twist that will hold you captivated until the satisfying ending. I thoroughly enjoyed it.