5 Hoots

*Trigger Warning* in this review I will briefly mention what this killer/rapist does and it might be triggering for some readers.

As I mentioned in the trigger warning, Please Don’t Tell is a psychological thriller about a killer who captures his victims, injects them so they do not wake up, rapes them, slits their neck and wrists, and puts a note across their mouths that says “please don’t tell”. Insane right? The book actually starts off with the killer stalking his next victim and brutally assaulting her, before running away because he heard someone near by. He left her for dead but she was strong enough to hold on for dear life. She gets brought to the hospital where they were able to save her but she remains in a coma. Now the killer has to figure out how to get to her before she wakes up and tells the world who he is.

Thankfully this book doesn’t focus on just the killer’s perspective. The book jumps between the perspective of a few of the characters aside from the killer: Vivi( the doctor who was in the ER the night they brought the victim in), a detective working on the case, Vivi’s sister (JC), and their aunt Fen. At first glance these might seem like a strange group to focus on but it really is not. On the same night that the woman was attacked there was a brutal storm that caused a stranger to show up at Fen’s door with a bloody knife! Immediately she believes he is a killer until she realizes that he was in a car accident down the road and her home was the closest to the accident. The next day he goes to the hospital to get his wound stitched up and meets Vivi (Fen’s niece) in hopes that she can get him in contact with the cops investigating the attack of the woman the night before. He claims he was the fiancé of one of the other victims but is it true? Is he the killer or just another victim of his crimes?

I really enjoyed the cast of characters that Adler created. Each one had an interesting back story but the two characters who I loved the most were detective Merlin and Vivi the doctor. At first the detective decides to hit on Vivi and she shot him down but a few days later she decides to accept his offer. They really did have a great connection and it really showed through out the book. The character of JC on the other side was very annoying. She just seems like a bit of a manipulative person. She even showed up to one of Vivi’s dates because she knew it was at a nice place and she wanted to eat fancy food. She is a major flirt and at one point throws what appears to be a tempter tantrum because she gets told that she needs to stay away from someone because he might be the killer. I mean seriously, she doesn’t really know this person but he was good looking so she refused to believe that he may not be who he says he is. Was she write? You will have to read the book to find that out, but honestly I just wanted to reach into the book and choke her.

The other thing that I enjoyed was how Adler tied everyone together along with the killer. It was really a beautiful web of connection. I mean even Aunt Fen ended up being pulled into this investigation in a way that no one would have expected. At first I was convinced I knew who the killer was, but then something happened that made me realize I was wrong. Once a major clue was revealed everything fell into place, I just had to hold on and see how everything really played out. Once you figure out who the killer is some of the interactions take on a darker tone. I would find myself holding my breath because I was waiting for him to snap and attack someone.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! Even after I finally figured out who the killer was I found myself needing to know how he was going to get caught. Was he going to kill someone else before getting caught? Was he going to get away with it? And of course, what cause this killer to rape and kill these women in the way that he did? I enjoyed that the book also had a little romance in it (which if you read my blog you know that romance isn’t always a plus for me) and that it was not over the top. Plus, the book didn’t end with the killer getting caught….it went past that. I loved that we were able to get a glimpse of everyone’s life after everything was over! You don’t always get that, so it was nice. I will absolutely be checking out more of Adler’s work!