Loading...
41st out of 86 books
—
8 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Promise Not to Tell
by
Jennifer McMahon (Goodreads Author)
Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered--a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del--shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl"--was bru
...morePaperback, 256 pages
Published
April 10th 2007
by Harper Paperbacks
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
5,635)
Meh. This story didn't quite hit the right note for a thriller, a ghost story, or a psychological drama for me. It started out with a thriller beginning, and then failed to follow up on it. Then there was a large chunk that was about growing up poor with an undesirable best friend, and also about moving home to care for your Alzheimer's-suffering mother. I didn't think it really hit home with either of those--I could never figure out why the main character was drawn to Del or Nick or any of ...more
view 1 comment
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Although I’m not a big fan of mysteries, I am a die-hard horror fan, and when I saw the book Promise Not To Tell by first time novelist Jennifer McMahon come across my desk, I had to read it. Part murder mystery, part ghost story, it tells the story of two similar murders that take place thirty years apart in small town Vermont.
Kate Cypher is a Seattle school nurse returning to her hometown to check into nursing homes for her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. On the night of her ...more
Kate Cypher is a Seattle school nurse returning to her hometown to check into nursing homes for her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. On the night of her ...more
WOW!! I just blew through this book! My friend is buying the next two, so hopefully before I leave Florida I will be able to read those as well.
This is an odd story~told in both present time AND flashbacks. It does at times get tricky keeping up with what time period you are in.
Told by Kate, this is the story of a friendship that is unexpected and what happens when you deny that friendship and hurt the one true friend you have for being part of the popular crowd. And its the ...more
This is an odd story~told in both present time AND flashbacks. It does at times get tricky keeping up with what time period you are in.
Told by Kate, this is the story of a friendship that is unexpected and what happens when you deny that friendship and hurt the one true friend you have for being part of the popular crowd. And its the ...more
There are two things I hate about how the Internet suggests things that I'd like based on what I've already purchased/read/watched: 1) It reminds me, by suggesting crappy stuff over and over again, that I'm a sucker for crap and 2) I'm almost powerless against suggestion, so, inevitably, I purchase/read/watch what it suggests, and the cycle of crap continues.
Okay, I admit that I sort of love that, actually. I am blessed to live in a time and place where I have access to a practially...more
Okay, I admit that I sort of love that, actually. I am blessed to live in a time and place where I have access to a practially...more
I've read two of Jennifer McMahon's books so far, this one and Island of Lost Girls, and they were both so awesome. Out of those two, Promise Not to Tell was my favorite. This author makes it so easy for me to start reading and not stop until I'm finished it, and it's rare for me to find books that I like so much. I actually passed the book along to my mother, who is currently reading it. I definitely hope that Jennifer continues to write more, since she is so talented, and I will continue t...more
Mimo
rated it
Recommends it for:
People who like story & character, mystery & ghost story fans
Shelves:
adult-fiction,
own-it
Promise Not to Tell is an excellent page-turner with strong character development. The story goes back and forth between spring of 1971 and the fall of 2002. In the present day, main character Kate Cypher has returned home to Vermont to care for her mother, who has Alzheimer's. The night that she arrives a preteen girl is murdered in the woods. The murder is eerily similar to the 1971 murder of Del Griswold, an outcast that Kate befriended who was called "potato girl" by teasing classm...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Decent writing, interesting premise, some memorable characters. But there's a fine line between writing an ending that makes you say, "OMG that was so surprising! I would never have guessed that X was the perpetrator of such a horrible crime, but looking back I can see that it makes perfect sense! Oh, you clever author, you!" and an ending that makes you say, "OMG that was so surprising, I would never guessed that X was the perpetrator of such a horrible crime, because looking ...more
http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/2011/...
In the ’70′s, middle schooler, Kate, ends up on the outside of the in crowd at her new school. Residing on the outskirts, in a hippie commune, she is a tad bit worse for wear when presented to her more traditional Vermont native classmates. All definitions of popularity are put on hold for a moment, though, as the town comes to a stand still over the brutal murder of one of Kate’s classmates.
Flashforward to the present and Kate finds...more
In the ’70′s, middle schooler, Kate, ends up on the outside of the in crowd at her new school. Residing on the outskirts, in a hippie commune, she is a tad bit worse for wear when presented to her more traditional Vermont native classmates. All definitions of popularity are put on hold for a moment, though, as the town comes to a stand still over the brutal murder of one of Kate’s classmates.
Flashforward to the present and Kate finds...more
Apparently I'm going through a phase here. All of the books that I pick up lately seem to have something to do with people being murdered, and then figuring out whodunit. And perhaps, I'm going through all of these to try and find the ones that are the LEAST like that while still being in that format. That have the most of some other literary component to them. Which I guess makes me a snob, but so be it. I genuinely liked this book. The "potato girl" who is one of the central ch...more
Jennifer McMahon’s novel Promise Not To Tell is a gem of a story which, as promised on its cover, once I started reading, I couldn’t put down.
"Part ghost story, part whodunit, and part coming-of-age tale…[it] takes you through the twisted world of adolescent friendship, betrayal and murder," says author, Pam Lewis. Yeah, I know these little endorsements are meant to entice readers- but Lewis is telling the absolute truth.
Kate Cypher returns to rural Vermont to c...more
"Part ghost story, part whodunit, and part coming-of-age tale…[it] takes you through the twisted world of adolescent friendship, betrayal and murder," says author, Pam Lewis. Yeah, I know these little endorsements are meant to entice readers- but Lewis is telling the absolute truth.
Kate Cypher returns to rural Vermont to c...more
Really enjoyed this! Wish it was longer! It ended much too fast! They could not have picked a better picture for the cover... The little girl is the perfect materialization of Del, the resident dirty girl turned ghost. Everyone knew someone like Del in their childhood, so solving her murder almost felt like doing justice for someone I once knew...or could have known. The characters were richly developed despite the short length, but I think I would prefer a story to develop at a more rapid...more
I enjoyed this book, but if you're looking for a scary creepy ghost story, it's nothing like that. Yes, it is slightly spooky, but only slightly. Well done, I didn't suspect the right person, even if some reviews said it was obvious. In fact, I was kept more or less guessing until the end, even looking back through the book for the name and who they were!! Quite well written, but the f word is used quite often and so are a couple of other derogatory terms that were well placed but still made me ...more
"The dead can blame," (page 86).
Part "Medium", part young Angela Lansbury, part teenage angst. All outstanding and unique novel. One of the very best I've read in a while. While reading I couldn't help but become focused upon Sensory Imagery and Local Color. Loving nearly everything Stephen King has brought us from the bizarre days and ways of Maine, to a semi-familiar, equally awkward Post-Hippie Vermont, with a sprinkling of country-bumpkin-ism, and you ha...more
Part "Medium", part young Angela Lansbury, part teenage angst. All outstanding and unique novel. One of the very best I've read in a while. While reading I couldn't help but become focused upon Sensory Imagery and Local Color. Loving nearly everything Stephen King has brought us from the bizarre days and ways of Maine, to a semi-familiar, equally awkward Post-Hippie Vermont, with a sprinkling of country-bumpkin-ism, and you ha...more
Since there is no 3.5 star rating, I am giving this book 3 stars. (I have no need or desire to read it again, but I would recommend it to others who enjoy suspense.) I must say it really did hold my interest--I read it in two sittings, which would likely have been only one sitting if I didn't have to sleep. It was a very intriguing story, but I do wish it went into a little more detail in some areas (though perhaps that lent to some of the mystery). I also failed to see the attraction to Nicky--...more
This was one of those unsettling books that stays with you long after you've read it. While it unravels like a mystery-cum-ghost story, this is actually a story about the weight of untold secrets, of intense child friendships and the mistakes of the past that can haunt us forever.
Promise Not to Tell is the author's debut and, if it's any indication of work to come, we can expect great things from Jennifer McMahon. This was one of those books that, in a short span of a couple of hun...more
Promise Not to Tell is the author's debut and, if it's any indication of work to come, we can expect great things from Jennifer McMahon. This was one of those books that, in a short span of a couple of hun...more
Promise Not to Tell, by Jennifer McMahon, A-minus, narrated by Celeste Ciulla, produced by Recorded Books, downloaded from audible.com.
This is a debut novel, and quite good. A little bit of the woo-woo but I don’t mind that. Kate Cypher is forced to come back to her home because her mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s and cannot care for herself. Kate has stayed away from her hometown since highschool, about 15 years ago, because she doesn’t want to remember the horrible events t...more
This is a debut novel, and quite good. A little bit of the woo-woo but I don’t mind that. Kate Cypher is forced to come back to her home because her mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s and cannot care for herself. Kate has stayed away from her hometown since highschool, about 15 years ago, because she doesn’t want to remember the horrible events t...more
Promise not to tell really pulled me in from the beginning. I have a love for stories that involve some coming-of-age aspects. The reader is taken back and forth in time with Kate Cypher as an adult returning home to make some difficult decisions regarding her mother and whose arrival has also coincided with a murder that is eerily similar to the murder of her childhood friend, Del.
I particularly enjoyed reading the story from young Kate's point of view. I still find myself magically...more
I particularly enjoyed reading the story from young Kate's point of view. I still find myself magically...more
Promise Not To Tell is about a young girl who is now 40 years old and comes back to her childhood town to visit her mentally challenged mother. Her old childhood friend, now dead, has a ghost that is trying to warn her something. After remembering old lovers, old enemies and the horrible things shes done to Del, she changes quickly and saves her neice from someone who though she was Del.
While reading this book, i made a text-to-self connection. Just like Del, i was different and i o...more
While reading this book, i made a text-to-self connection. Just like Del, i was different and i o...more
This assured, ambitious debut novel offers an unusual mix of mystery novel and ghost story, with particularly well-drawn coming-of-age themes. Kate fears she betrayed Del, a free-spirited farm girl. Did her betrayal cause Del's death? Who killed Del? Another local girl is murdered in a similar manner at the time of Kate's return. Could the killer be loose again? Meanwhile, Jean appears to be possessed with Del's spirit and may have the answers to these questions. Seriously spooked, Kate reconne...more
The first half of this very easy to read book was griping, a touch scary, and on track to be a 4-5 star book. But then it all changed. The final third of the story was different...a bit ridiculous...and convenient. Darn...
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Dang it...I really did love this book when I first started out and the mystery was just beginning. I never suspected Kate of being the murderer and never su...more
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
SPOILERS
Dang it...I really did love this book when I first started out and the mystery was just beginning. I never suspected Kate of being the murderer and never su...more
Kate Cypher comes home to care for her ailing mother suffering from dimentia and Alzheimer's; however, the day she arrives a young girl is murdered. Murdered almost exactly as her best friend was thirty years ago. Her killer was never found.
The book is written in alternating chapters: present day 2002, following the murder and story of the young girl strangled on the day Kate arrived home, and thirty years ago, 1970's, following Kate and Del's friendship and ultimately Del's murder. ...more
The book is written in alternating chapters: present day 2002, following the murder and story of the young girl strangled on the day Kate arrived home, and thirty years ago, 1970's, following Kate and Del's friendship and ultimately Del's murder. ...more
I'm rounding up here; if half stars were allowed, I'd give this three and a half. The story started out slow, but picked up; I finished it in a couple of evenings. Overall, an entertaining and fast read.
Complaints:
Some of the plot devices were a bit too blatant, and some of the twists were nothing but filler. In fact, the book feels like a short story/novella that's been artificially inflated to book length, and a small book at that. The layout was decidedly fluffy; a full-pag...more
Complaints:
Some of the plot devices were a bit too blatant, and some of the twists were nothing but filler. In fact, the book feels like a short story/novella that's been artificially inflated to book length, and a small book at that. The layout was decidedly fluffy; a full-pag...more
If this had been my first introduction to Jennifer McMahon's writing, I would have totally loved this book. Having just read Dismantled though (which I would consider one of the best thrillers I have read this year), I think I was a little disappointed with this one.
School Nurse, Kate Cypher, has returned to her home in rural Vermont to care for her mom who has Alzheimer's. The night she arrives, a young girl in town is murdered in a horrific murder that eerily is the same as a murd...more
School Nurse, Kate Cypher, has returned to her home in rural Vermont to care for her mom who has Alzheimer's. The night she arrives, a young girl in town is murdered in a horrific murder that eerily is the same as a murd...more
Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered—a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del—shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl"—was brutally slain. Del's killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost...more
Jennifer McMahon combines a realistic murder mystery type thriller with the supernatural. I picked up this novel, honestly, because the cover art caught my attention in a bookstore. When I started reading it I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I got lost in the story and I couldn't put the book down. McMahon's organization of the novel and her flipping back and forth between the past and the present is done in a way that does not upset the flow of the story and keeps the reader's attenti...more
I wasn't immediately drawn into this story, which switches from the main character's past to her present. A young girl is murdered in both her present and her past, and the main character is somehow involved in both situations. I found the potato girl, Del, an interesting and realistic character, someone that you could likely find in any school yard. The other kids are mean to her and she tolerates it as only she can. The main character also has a hard time fitting in and finds herself frie...more
I don't mind gore. An author can describe in detail how they rip open someone's belly and dissect their large intestine and I'm just fine. You tell me a ghost story though... I'm out. I made the mistake of reading this silly book while my big, bad, keeps-the-mean-ghosts-away husband was out with friends. I had to stop reading it and lay there with my eyes wide open, not blinking, stiff and terrified waiting for him to get home. I, of course, fell asleep, thankfully - but ended up having a dream ...more
This short little thriller was just not my cup of tea. I see I am in the minority here so by all means check it out. The story is about middle aged Kate who returns to the town she grew up in Vermont to take care of her ailing mother. The town is also the sight of her fifth grade friend's murder and thirty years later it seems the murderer is striking again. Sound familiar?, yeah it did to me too. Too many rehashed old plot points. I have heard this referred to as a "creepy" read but i...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potato Girl | 5 | 66 | Dec 28, 2011 07:36am |
Readers Also Enjoyed
Share This Book
I live in central Vermont with my partner and my daughter. I'm the author of Promise Not to Tell, Island of Lost Girls, and Dismantled. My new suspense novel for HarperCollins is called Don't Breathe a Word -- it was released May, 2011.
More about Jennifer McMahon...
6 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“the dead can blame”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
