Left to Die by Lisa Jackson

The woman's body is found lashed to a tree, naked, and frozen to death. The calling card for this scene is the same, yet different as the others. The letters carved into the tree above the victim are the same as the others but with the addition of this victims initials added. The star is still carved into the cold bark, but at a slightly different location. Her wrecked car has also been discovered, the tire shot out and all identifying items removed from the vehicle. The killer has struck again.

Talking with Ivor, who discovered the body, is disappointing. He really doesn't know anything to add to the scene, but that is expected. Ivan claims he was captured by aliens years ago, and isn't playing with a full deck.

Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli have been hoping for a career-making case, but this is a nightmare. Even with the FBI involved, Selena and Regan have nothing to go on but a killer's cryptic notes, and the unsettling knowledge that there is much worse to come. The knowledge that the victims had injuries beginning to heal before they were killed leads them to the idea the killer is the one who "rescues" them and tries to gain their trust before he brutally kills them. The knowledge of the tires being shot out of the vehicles to make them wreck, held from the public, leads them to the conclusion that the killer has a thorough calculated plan, and they try to link the women in some way.

As the detectives are combing the latest crime scene, Jillian Rivers receives photographs of her late husband, a husband declared dead. Needing to find out if he is truly alive, she leaves for Montana. Her car tire is shot out and she plummets over a ravine before she makes her destination. Rescued by Zane MacGregor, she is stuck at his cabin while a blizzard rages on while she begins to recover from her assorted injuries. Detectives Alvarez and Pescoli soon find car in the ravine and fear that Jillian in the next victim. Can they save her in time? Is Zane MacGregor Jillians savior or murderer?

I am a huge Lisa Jackson fan, her work is unprecidented. Book one of a new series, Left to Die, is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that does not disappoint. Peppered with interesting characters, an icy cold backdrop, and two detectives that have their own secrets makes for one very page-turning book. The hunt and clues will lead you to a very surprising cliffhanger. Highly recommend!