After seventeen-year-old David is forced to stand trial for his girlfriend's death, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle and their young d... read full description
reviews
Oct 01, 2010
karen
rated it: 
okay, this book is not four-stars like proust is four-stars. this earns its rating because after reading a series of "ho-hum" and "meh-meh" teen books - this one was actually pretty good.
except for the epilogue, which made me a little embarrassed. ungood.
it's kind of a ghost story, it's kind of a mystery, it's kind of a story about a creepy little kid, it's kind of a coming-of-age story.
but it works.
it may be just that i read More...
except for the epilogue, which made me a little embarrassed. ungood.
it's kind of a ghost story, it's kind of a mystery, it's kind of a story about a creepy little kid, it's kind of a coming-of-age story.
but it works.
it may be just that i read More...
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Apr 28, 2009
Tessa
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After reading The Rules of Survivaland Impossible, I have become quite a fan of Nancy Werlin, and I found The Killer's Cousin to be another interesting book from this author. The main character's struggle with his past and his strange and difficult present lead to an interesting story with strong character development. Although some readers will predict part of the ending, the final scenes do offer some surprises and a satisfying and hopeful conclusion to a fairly sad story.
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Jan 31, 2012
Rose
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One of the fascinating things about "The Killer's Cousin" is that it's a story covering multiple dimensions, even considering the tough subject matter that it takes on. Nancy Werlin creates a sympathetic story for 17-year-old David, recently acquitted for the crime of murdering his girlfriend. Yet while the charges are dismissed against David, he does not absolve himself from wrongdoing because, in his mind, he's still a murderer - and he's no longer the same person following that ex
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Sep 03, 2010
Erin
rated it:
After being acquitted for an accidental murder, David leaves his parent's house to go live with his Uncle Vic and Aunt Julia and 11-year-old cousin Lily as a way to avoid the tabloids and ex-friends. However, it is obvious that Julia and Lily do not want him around. But something weird is going on--he sees shadows in the night and hears weird humming noises and determines it might have something to do with Lily's older sister Kathy who died when she was about 18. As he talks more with Lily and
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Apr 21, 2010
Sarah
rated it: 
Sometimes students are looking for a good mystery, and Nancy Werlin is good for that. This book was published back in 1998, so I wish the cover looked a bit more modern, but at least it's still in print!
David is seventeen and was recently on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. Therein is one mystery--how did she die? Why was he tried? Why does he have to move away from his hometown? The book opens with David moving into an apartment of his aunt and uncle's in Cambridge. He's repe More...
David is seventeen and was recently on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. Therein is one mystery--how did she die? Why was he tried? Why does he have to move away from his hometown? The book opens with David moving into an apartment of his aunt and uncle's in Cambridge. He's repe More...
Apr 13, 2010
Heidi
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jan 31, 2010
Rosalyn
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This was an interesting book, although not nearly as good (I thought) as Werlin's _Impossible_ (which I also read recently). In this story, David Yaffe, a high school senior, has just been acquitted of the murder of his girlfriend, Emily. Still, since the trial is still fresh in the minds of his community members, his parents send him to Cambridge, to live with his aunt and uncle for the duration of his senior year. His aunt Julia and uncle Vic are having their own problems, which stem from the
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Jan 11, 2012
LibraryAvenger
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 30, 2011
Shelli
rated it:
So I am a bit torn on how many stars to rate this book. More than half of the book was surprisingly good. Very good. Thought I was going to have to put this on my "recommend to friends" list of books. Then is went down hill FAST. There was two major things that happened in the book that made it go from a 5 star book to a 1 star book... I am being generous and giving it 3 instead of the 2. If you don't want to read about it then stop now because i'm not hiding anything under a cut.
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Nov 06, 2009
Terri
rated it: 
I've never read anything by Nancy Werlin - boy was I missing out! I listened to "The Killer's Cousin" on audio tape. It is a taut, psychological thriller that I found myself taking the long way as I drove so that I could listen longer. At the end, I sat in the school parking lot before work crying as I listened to the last several minutes of the book. Terrific last line that reminds us of the magic, or spirituality, or kismet, or whatever you want to call it, in all of our lives. Fanta
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Sep 08, 2010
Linda
rated it:
I have yet to read a book by Nancy Werlin that I didn't like. Her books always explore the darker side of people, and it often a side that we would prefer to ignore. Ms. Werlin always does a superb job helping us to understand what is going on in the minds of her characters and there is always something a bit creepy going on in those minds.
David is currently living with his aunt, uncle and cousin Lily, as he tries to complete high school. David has been sent there to avoid the notor More...
David is currently living with his aunt, uncle and cousin Lily, as he tries to complete high school. David has been sent there to avoid the notor More...
Aug 28, 2010
Mary
rated it:
Seventeen year-old David Bernard Yaffe was just acquitted off a murder that he didn't mean to commit. To get out of town and to retake his senior year he stays in his uncle's house in Massachusetts. David is happy to get out of the media but then he starts hearing humming and starts seeing shadows and his eleven year-old cousin Lilly is really starting to freak him out. Soon,secrets of his uncle's family start coming out and some of David's secrets too.
The Killer's Cousin was a great book More...
The Killer's Cousin was a great book More...
Jul 18, 2010
Thomas
rated it:
I love Nancy Werlin. Her ability to write different genres always amazes me. The Rules of Survival severed my heartstrings, Double Helix was a decent science-fiction novel, and Killer's Cousin was thrilling and suspenseful.
Seventeen-year-old David Yaffe feels guilty for the death of his girlfriend, Emily - despite the jury acquitting him and proving his innocence. He decides to move in with his aunt and uncle in Massachusetts, where he resides in their attic apartment. Strange things More...
Seventeen-year-old David Yaffe feels guilty for the death of his girlfriend, Emily - despite the jury acquitting him and proving his innocence. He decides to move in with his aunt and uncle in Massachusetts, where he resides in their attic apartment. Strange things More...
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Feb 04, 2012
Michelle
rated it:
After being aquitted of his girlfriends murder, David is moving to Cambridge to live with his estranged Aunt, Uncle, and 10 yr old cousin Lily. How did his girlfriend die? He acts pretty guilty...
He moves into the 3rd floor apartment where his other cousin, Kathy, died and he realizes that all is not well in this family. Julia and Vic don't speak to each other and when they do they use Lily as a pawn. And then there's Lily... odd, odd Lily. David can tell there's something really wron More...
He moves into the 3rd floor apartment where his other cousin, Kathy, died and he realizes that all is not well in this family. Julia and Vic don't speak to each other and when they do they use Lily as a pawn. And then there's Lily... odd, odd Lily. David can tell there's something really wron More...
Feb 19, 2011
Tracy
rated it:
I downloaded this one while awaiting a book on my hold list. It turned out to be very good, and quite different than I expected. David Jaffe is moving into the attic apartment of his Aunt and Uncle in Boston to attend a private school and repeat his senior year of high school. His first year was interrupted as he was on trial for murdering his girlfriend (he was acquitted). He seems to have gone from the frying pan into the fire. His older cousin died in that same attic apartment about 7 years a
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Jul 17, 2010
Kirsten
rated it:
David is making a big change in his life: after being acquitted for the murder of his girlfriend, he is repeating his senior year, moving to Boston to stay with his Uncle Vic, Aunt Julia, and cousin Lily. Unfortunately, not only does he have to deal with his own ghost, but the ghost of Kathy, his dead cousin lingers in his new attic apartment, where she once lived and died.
I found this story riveting right from the beginning, as David navigated his way through familiar Boston streets, a More...
I found this story riveting right from the beginning, as David navigated his way through familiar Boston streets, a More...
Jan 28, 2011
Cherylann
rated it:
This is more of a 4.5 star book than a 5 star read. Who knows, as time goes on, I may even bump it up to a five star book.
Werlin crafts and intense psychological thriller in The Killer's Cousin. The novel is narrated by David Yaffe, a young man who is acquitted of killing his girlfriend. When I started the novel, I didn't want to like him. I didn't want to believe. However, as the novel unfolds, I found myself feeling sympathy for David and the emotional aftermath of his girlfriend's More...
Werlin crafts and intense psychological thriller in The Killer's Cousin. The novel is narrated by David Yaffe, a young man who is acquitted of killing his girlfriend. When I started the novel, I didn't want to like him. I didn't want to believe. However, as the novel unfolds, I found myself feeling sympathy for David and the emotional aftermath of his girlfriend's More...
Sep 10, 2010
Humayra
rated it:
I read Double Helix and was so impressed that I began telling everyone about Nancy Werlin and her fantastic book. The Killer's Cousin, in comparison, was a real disappointment. I'm not sure if was because I was so young when I read Double Helix, that I just didn't realize a lot of the flaws it had or what. The Killer's Cousin was a great idea, but not very well-written. For a book that was labeled as a "psychological thriller", I expected a lot more suspenseful moments to be scattered
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Mar 28, 2010
Sandra
rated it:
All right, if you have been reading my blogs lately you could say that a lot of the books I have been reading have a dark side to them. The Killer's Cousin is about a boy named David. He is sent to live with his aunt and uncle after being acquitted of murder. He is given the attic room that had belonged to his cousin, who is now dead. The longer he stays there the more he tries to convince his aunt and uncle that there is something seriously wrong with his younger cousin Lily. Whenever he makes
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Jan 12, 2012
Linda
rated it:
This was a very interesting book. The details were fed out little by little encouraging the reader on to learn them all. 17 year-old David, who just escaped being convicted for murder, is sent to Cambridge to live with an aunt and uncle who don't really want him and dislike his parents and their way of life (nothing wrong with it except that they're Jewish and successful). David quickly learns that the family is full of tension and wonders if it stems from the death of his beautiful cousin 4 yea
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Oct 30, 2011
Alex
rated it:
Killer’s cousin is a novel about coping with homicide consequences. The protagonist, David, moves into the house, where his uncle, aunt and 11 year old cousin Lily reside. He’s groping with fears that haunt him after the trial for his GF murder. But the new place of residence poses another threat to him, namely the unspoken taboo of not mentioning anything of his older cousin Kathy demise and the hard time that the younger cousin Lily gives him by literally driving him mad with a rage. And he’s
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May 24, 2011
M.
rated it:
On the one hand, this reads quickly and easily and I loved the suspense. But it wasn't anything earth shattering for me, and the ending wasn't as chilling as I'd hoped--the way THE RULES OF SURVIVAL was. I liked this better than DOUBLE HELIX and IMPOSSIBLE but still... lacking somehow. I couldn't relate with the characters in the end but a nice idea for the protagonist and his antagonist to bond. I thought it was pretty unimaginative for both protagonists in DOUBLE HELIX and this to be eighteen
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Feb 05, 2010
Tatiana
rated it:
Nancy Werlin picks another interesting topic to address in her book.
This novel is a killer's story, a story of a teenager who was acquitted of his girl-friend's murder and now has to attempt to start fresh in a new town, among new people. Once he moves in with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, he is forced not only to relive his guilt, shame and regret, but theirs as well, because they have their own tragedies to face.
"The Killer's Cousin" is a skillfully done thri More...
This novel is a killer's story, a story of a teenager who was acquitted of his girl-friend's murder and now has to attempt to start fresh in a new town, among new people. Once he moves in with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, he is forced not only to relive his guilt, shame and regret, but theirs as well, because they have their own tragedies to face.
"The Killer's Cousin" is a skillfully done thri More...
Jan 06, 2011
Recently acquitted of murder, 17-year-old David has moved to Massachusetts to complete his senior year of high school. His aunt and uncle have offered him shelter--escape from the media's incessant questions and from the uncertain glances of his neighbors and ex-friends. His attic apartment doesn't feel much like a shelter, though. He sees ghostly shadows at night, his aunt is strangely cold, and his 11-year-old cousin Lily is downright hostile. And as Lily's behavior becomes more and more threa
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Feb 24, 2010
Cornmaven
rated it:
A tight, intense psychological thriller involving family secrets, family dysfunction, murder, and redemption. The title can refer to at least three characters in the book, and their lives intersect and intertwine. First person narrative keeps the tension going, as does the slow reveal of what really happened. Everyone except the artist renter is going through PTSD, and how they manage it is part of the story.
The characters are complex and readers can have some good discussions about moti More...
The characters are complex and readers can have some good discussions about moti More...
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Dec 24, 2009
Ryan
rated it:
Werlin's books seem to arrive just when I need them. She uses some of the worst possible events to get at simple things, and does it well. I liked the message that our children are rarely who we thought or planned they would be. At some point, we have to let go of that and see them as they are, realize we love them and are immensely proud of them even though their choices were not what we would have made for them. It is tough enough to make choices you know won't please your parents. Tougher bel
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May 14, 2009
Christine
rated it:
Best Books for Young Adults: Mystery
I enjoyed this book very much--thanks again Jessica!
This book is about a boy named David who is forced to stand trial for the murder of his girlfriend. Due to all of the press and attention surrounding this case he is forced to move in with his aunt and uncle. As time goes on and he begins to question the hidden secrets of his family. Such as how exactly did his cousin Kathy die? Why does his aunt and uncle fight so much? Why does More...
I enjoyed this book very much--thanks again Jessica!
This book is about a boy named David who is forced to stand trial for the murder of his girlfriend. Due to all of the press and attention surrounding this case he is forced to move in with his aunt and uncle. As time goes on and he begins to question the hidden secrets of his family. Such as how exactly did his cousin Kathy die? Why does his aunt and uncle fight so much? Why does More...
Sep 07, 2009
Sherrie
rated it:
"The Killer's Cousin" by Nancy Werlin
(from the back cover)
Recently acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David has moved to Massachusetts to complete his senior year of high school. His aunt ad uncle have offered him shelter--escape from the media's questions and from the uncertain glances of his neighbors and ex-friends.
His attic apartment doesn't feel much like a shelter, thought. He sees ghostly shadows at night, his aunt is strangely cold, and his eleven More...
(from the back cover)
Recently acquitted of murder, seventeen-year-old David has moved to Massachusetts to complete his senior year of high school. His aunt ad uncle have offered him shelter--escape from the media's questions and from the uncertain glances of his neighbors and ex-friends.
His attic apartment doesn't feel much like a shelter, thought. He sees ghostly shadows at night, his aunt is strangely cold, and his eleven More...
Dec 12, 2011
This book was one of the best, I loved and its talk about a seventeen year old boy called David. This boy move to Cambridge, Massachusetts to complete his senior year to school .His aunt and uncle offered him something to escape from the media’s incessant questions.
My favorite character is David of cause, he is the main character and he have to do a lot of thing in the story.
And one thing I recommend this book to people how love fiction book, am telling you is the best.
My favorite character is David of cause, he is the main character and he have to do a lot of thing in the story.
And one thing I recommend this book to people how love fiction book, am telling you is the best.
Jul 03, 2011
mstan
rated it:
Even though you can see the solution to the mystery from a mile away, this is still a pretty creepy book in some parts.
David, who has been accused of killing his girlfriend Emily, but has subsequently been acquitted of this crime, tries to finish high school in Massachussetts, living in the attic of his uncle and aunt's house. He has not seen them ever since their elder daughter Kathy died at the age of eighteen, four years ago, and in the meantime his younger cousin, Lily, has turne More...
David, who has been accused of killing his girlfriend Emily, but has subsequently been acquitted of this crime, tries to finish high school in Massachussetts, living in the attic of his uncle and aunt's house. He has not seen them ever since their elder daughter Kathy died at the age of eighteen, four years ago, and in the meantime his younger cousin, Lily, has turne More...
