Heartstopper, by Joy Fielding (Doubleday Canada $29.95)

The danger of reviewing a mystery novel is giving away too much information and spoiling the thrill of discovery for the reader.  I will try not to do that.  And just to reassure you … I didn’t guess the outcome until it hit me in the face in the last chapter!

Heartstopper by Joy Fielding, is a modern day Hitchcock thriller set in a small town in Florida.  Much of the action takes place within the high school of 400 students.  Not much ever happens in this out of the way, sleepy town, until the abduction and murder of a runaway teenaged girl … followed by the disappearance of the popular and pretty high school student, Liana Martin.

The story is interspersed with chilling excerpts from the “Killer’s Journal.”  The temperament and psychology of the killer is apparent in this early passage:

“I think it was Alfred Hitchcock who best summed up the difference between shock and suspense.  Shock, he said, is quick, a jolt to the senses that lasts but a second, whereas suspense is more of a slow tease.  Rather like the difference between prolonged foreplay and premature ejaculation, I would add, and I like to think old Alfred would chuckle and agree.  He always preferred suspense to shock, the payoff being greater, ultimately more fulfilling.  I’m with him on this, although, like Hitch, I’m not adverse to the occasional shock along the way.  You have to keep things interesting.”

This quote not only indicates the Killer’s nature, but also describes how the author intends to treat the pacing of this book and her readers’ reaction to it.  You can count on a riveting, suspenseful crescendo with a shock or two along the way.

The other unsettling element adding to the suspense of this novel is the clue we are given within the first chapter of the “Killer’s Journal,” indicating that the killer is probably known to the victim.  This revelation occurs while the killer is watching the victim trapped in her underground cell. 

“The peephole I’ve carved into the wall is too small and too elevated for her to discover, especially in this meager light.  Besides, hearing my voice would not only tip her to my presence and approximate location, it might help her identify me, thereby giving her an unnecessary edge in the battle of wits to come.  No, I will present myself soon enough.  No point in getting ahead of the game.  The timing simply isn’t right.  And timing, they say, is everything.”

On that note, I encourage you to pick up this book, although I’m warning you – it’s a Heartstopper!