If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [0]
“[A] riveting new series … Lucy continues to be a fascinating and enticing character, and her ongoing development adds depth to an already rich brew of murder and mystery. Brennan rocks!”
—RT Book Reviews
Praise for Love Me to Death
“A world-class nail-biter … Brennan is in the groove with this one.”
—New York Times bestselling author LEE CHILD
“This pulse-ratcheting romantic suspense from Brennan delivers intense action, multifaceted characters, and a truly creepy bad guy … [A] fast-paced, engrossing read.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Twists and turns in this dark drama make it creepy and compelling in the extreme!”
—RT Book Reviews (starred)
Praise for Original Sin
“Brennan shows a deft command of all things both normal and otherworldly in crafting one of the best tales of its kind since Dean Koontz and Stephen King were still writing about monsters. There is no shortage of those here and the result is a new genre classic.”
—Providence Journal
Praise for Fatal Secrets
“A master of suspense, Brennan does another outstanding job uniting horrifying action, procedural drama and the birth of a romance—a prime example of why she’s tops in the genre.”
—Top Pick, RT Book Reviews
“A fast-paced, action-packed romantic suspense.”
—Romance Junkies
Praise for Sudden Death
“Brennan knows how to deliver.”
—New York Times bestselling author LISA GARDNER
“This very satisfying read presents loads of action that keeps the pages flying—and makes one wonder how much is pure fiction and how much of it could really happen.”
—BookLoons
Praise for Tempting Evil
“Tempting Evil is an old-fashioned potboiler in all the right ways, chock-full of tried and true hallmarks of the genre.”
—The Providence Journal
If I Should Die is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Allison Brennan
Love Is Murder by Allison Brennan copyright © 2011 by Allison Brennan
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Rench Audio for permission to reprint an excerpt from “Big Branch” music by Rench, lyrics by Tomasia, performed by Gangstagrass featuring Tomasia. Available at www.renchaudio.com. Reprinted by permission.
Love is Murder was originally published as an ebook in 2011.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52042-5
Cover design by Scott Biel
Cover photograph (woman): Tom Grill/Getty Images
www.ballantinebooks.com
v3.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Other Books by This Author
Love Is Murder
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Who’s the outlaw, quick on the draw
Cast the first stone