Dying Breath

Psychic Killer #1

by Wendy Corsi Staub

A SEASIDE RETREAT.......
It's summer on the Jersey Shore. Children play on the beach. Husbands are all working in the city & the surf echoes in the night. Here, in this perfect place, a serial has no worries in the world- except choosing the next victim.

HAS JUST BECOME.........
Cam Hastings has come to Long Beach Island with her teenage daughter and the hope that maybe she can save her failed marriage. Cam has never stopped loving her husband Mike nor has she been able to outrun her flaws and demons- a vanished mother, a lost sister, & the ugly visions she has of missing children.

A KILLER'S FAVORITE PLAYGROUND
Now, Cam is about to step over the edge. For once, she will act on one of her visions- and then face the consequences. For a killer has just struck again & for Cam, & the people she loves most, fear has come home for good.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Audiobook, Horror, Crime

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than ninety novels, best known for the single title psychological suspense novels she writes under her own name. Those books and the women’s fiction written under the pseudonym Wendy Markham have also appeared on the USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookscan bestseller lists.

Her current standalone suspense novel, THE OTHER FAMILY, is about a picture-perfect family that that moves into a picture-perfect house. But not everything is as it seems, and the page-turner concludes “with a wallop of a twist,” according to #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben.

Her critically acclaimed Lily Dale traditional mystery series centers around a widowed single mom—and skeptic—who moves to a town populated by spiritualists who talk to the dead. Titles include NINE LIVES; SOMETHING BURIED, SOMETHING BLUE; DEAD OF WINTER; and PROSE AND CONS, with a fifth book under contract.

Wendy has written five suspense trilogies for HarperCollins/William Morrow. The most recent, The Foundlings (LITTLE GIRL LOST, DEAD SILENCE, and THE BUTCHER’S DAUGHTER), spans fifty years in the life of a woman left as a newborn in a Harlem church, now an investigative genealogist helping others uncover their biological roots while still searching for her own.

Written as Wendy Markham, Wendy’s novel HELLO, IT’S ME was a recent Hallmark television movie starring Kellie Martin. Her short story “Cat Got Your Tongue” appeared in R.L. Stine’s MWA middle grade anthology SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN and her short story “The Elephant in the Room” is included in the Anthony Award-nominated inaugural anthology SHATTERING GLASS.

A three-time finalist for the Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, she’s won an RWA Rita Award, an RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense, the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement, and five WLA Washington Irving Prizes for Fiction.

She previously published a dozen adult suspense novels with Kensington Books and the critically-acclaimed young adult paranormal series “Lily Dale” (Walker/Bloomsbury). Earlier in her career, she published a broad range of genres under her own name and pseudonyms, and was a co-author/ghostwriter for several celebrities.

Raised in Dunkirk, NY, Wendy graduated from SUNY Fredonia and launched a publishing career in New York City. She was Associate Editor at Silhouette Books before selling her first novel in 1992. Married with two sons, she lives in the NYC suburbs. An active supporter of the American Cancer Society, she was a featured speaker at Northern Westchester’s 2015 Relay for Life and 2012 National Spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. She has fostered for various animal rescue organizations.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read about half of the book, there are several different characters telling bits and pieces (generally 2 or so pages), and after reading half and nothing really formulating and nothing happening I took the book back to the library. There are too many books to read ones that are meh.

Update: after reading so many reviews that said it started slow but ended well, I trudged through the end of this book. Boring beginning, the end is... eh.... It is painful how slowly it gets to the point, the ending is scattered, confusing and not terribly satisfying. I should have just put it down and moved on to the next book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a different mystery. Not the standard one where the detective is the protagonist. I live local to where it takes place so that was fun, but the one thing that annoyed me is that the characters and author kept on saying "Long Beach Island" all the time. When someone is really from here or at least a summer vacationer, they call it LBI or the Island. Silly, but it bothered me.

[L Cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one!!
The characters were interesting and well developed.
It was easy to get caught up in the psychic visions and feel the terror that Cam must have felt just knowing there were kids in danger and in pain. There were lots of possible suspects and none jumped out as the one to me. The puzzle of who did it was concealed until the end.

[LittleDeadRedGoddessPersephone · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 out of 5 stars

I only started reading Wendy Corsi Staub last year but I have since become a big fan of hers. So far every book that I have read has kept me entertained and the characters are really interesting. I really love the setting of this book. I love the idea of staying on an island for the Summer but have never actually had the experience so I read thrillers set on one!

I really did enjoy this and the sequel just as much.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a long while since I’ve read anything by Ms Staub, I guess so many other books came my way that needed to be read. Ms Staub is a fantastic author and I’m so glad I found my way back to her. This book was another nail biter, especially the ending. Very well written, with an ending I truly never saw coming. Physic visions or premonitions are something I do believe in, and am fascinated by. With this being the topic, my eyes were literally glued to the pages.
I know this is an older book, but kudos to you, Ms Staub, for another fantastic story.

[Cassidy Collazo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I'm skeptical of the whole 'psychic' concept when it comes to a murder mystery, but it played out amazingly. I can't even tell you how many times I truly thought I knew who the murderer was, only to be completely taken aback at who it truly ended up being! The way every characters true colors come to light over the course of the story was amazing, the characters secrets and motives seemed to constantly shift to make you think that they were the killer. It was truly a mystery in my brain and I loved being surprised! Now, I need to know if there is a sequel to this because I NEED to know.. WHO killed Ava???

[Kristeen Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Round up to 4.5 stars.

[(NurseLisa) Square Granny from Ohio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty intense in places. 3.5/5*’s

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh I mean it was an okay book but it kinda dragged on for a very very long time. Then you only get like 5 minutes of the killer and to me it just didn't make any sense. Then the ending felt super rushed after spending the whole book lolly gagging.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good mystery, but they spelled Matawan wrong.

[Sarah Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate a book that can keep me guessing. I thought i had the entire story figured out, right up until the very end. I was so wrong and I loved that i was caught off guard.

I liked Cam's character. Having visions , staying sober and being a good mom were all likeable, interesting traits. The dialogue flowed easily, making for an easy read.

I have only read a couole of other WCS books, and i cant wait to read more. If I had to nitpick, i wish the chapters were a little shorter. I found a couple of chapters dragged on and could have been broken down into shorter segments.

[Lizelle Hards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the greatest book I've ever read, but, it did have a good storyline. Told from multiple perspectives- I felt that the narrator of the audiobook didn't leave enough of a pause between the different POV's which resulted in having to rewind a lot to figure out who's POV it is. I also feel the author didn't give enough forefront to Gwen right up to the end. It didn't make sense that Cam called her as the person to be with her when Tess disappears because they were never close at all. Merely a friend of a friend, or so it came across.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping for a captivating thriller. I get it that before anything actually happens the author wants to introduce the characters and give us a little bit of background but when after over 2 hours of listening to the 12 hour audiobook nothing even remotely caught my attention I decided not to waste the remaining 10 hours of my life and use them for something else instead. Extremely slow moving action and events that could have been summarized in much less detail.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had trouble putting this book down! Be warned; there are some disturbing elements.

If you like Laura Lippman or Mary Jane Clark's books, you will probably like this one. One of Staub's better mysteries.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story, but at times wished I didn’t have to
Know every last detail in their heads. The ending was great! I didn’t know what was going to happen until right before it actually did. Worth the read!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it 😊

[Vickyb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't often read this kind of book. If it gets too gross I may not finish it.

[Skeptic Hecate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book I read from the author and most likely my last. The good thing about this book is that it is decently written, and that's about it. The bad things are nearly everything else


1. The characters are annoying/unlikable and have little to no developement whatsoever. I do not mind an annoying character, as long as they are called out on their BS eventually, but this is not the case in the book. The worst offender is the protagonist who is dense as a brick, has the spine of a wet paper tissue and gives off major "pick me/not like other girls" vibes, so much indeed that I had to double check when was this published. Now, the "not like other girls" protag is also is problem in the second book, in a different way. All the characters, even the side characters with little to no personality are assholes, and instead of being called out on their behaviour, the author praises their actions and thoughts, as if she genuinely believes these are decent people. The only good one is Tess, she behaves as a normal teenager and is quite smart, except for the last two chapters where her mother's dumb genes decide to make her an idiot.

2. Too many characters! I couldn't care less about half the characters in this book, and I cared very little about the mains as well. However, I felt a new character was introduced every few chapters for no reason only to dissapear in the next chapter. It doesn't help at all that each new character is a carbon copy of the last one with a different background, and all of them have the whitest names in the history of white names.

3. It is so slow one can skip entire chapters and not even notice. Besides having to hear every bloody thought of the most annoying entitled people ever, you have to hear the same thoughts over and over again. Seriously, I feel like I was reading the same chapter again, people think the same things over and over again, does the author think the reader is dumb and needs constant repetition? This book could've been 1/3 the lenght. The pacing is so slow and the interesting parts are few and far in between.

4. Cellphones are used until it is inconvinient to the plot. Because if the issue is solved with a call/text, then the author will avoid remember the existance of cellphones until it is relevant to the plot again.

5. Consequences? What are those? Every asshole keeps assholing without facing consequences. Not even the killer faces consequences.

6. Ending was anticlimatic and mediocre. At the few chapters most of the characters have a sudden personality change, i.e. overprotective mother starts chatting to husband about stupid shite while daughter is missing. Self proclaimed loner has a friendship boner for the protag she knew for 2 seconds. Defensless skinny kid nearly escapes killer because reasons. Killer that is so "smart" as to have committed numerous murders without being caught or suspected, was so careful as to "take care of loose ends" and seldom revealing their motives throughout the book, becomes a Scooby-do level monologuing villain.

7. Mental health, cancer, alcoholism, neglect, lose, trauma and child abuse are treated as either plot devices or excuses for characters to be shitty and never address their issues. I.e.: protag can beat alcoholism in two seconds because: "my alcoholism has a 'motive', unlike those low-life disgusting addicts from AA I keep judging without knowing because I am sooooo special and different".

In short: don't recommend this book nor the author.

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cam Hasting figured she and her husband, Mike, would weather whatever came at them. But her disturbing visions--visions that came true--were more than she could stand. Her only choice, so it seemed, was to self medicate; and for years, the booze flowed freely. The marriage eventually drowned in alcohol. Mike moved out, and 14-year-old Tess was left to deal with the broken home with all its negative ramifications. But the couple never stopped being in love.

Horrifically enough, the vision that disturbs Cam Hasting most is one in which she glimpses her own daughter dying. Newly pregnant with Mike's baby, the one they made before he moved out, Cam determines not to drink, even attending AA meetings with a mysterious sponsor.

I loved the author's writing style. I was hooked from the beginning, and the fact that I finished the book while doing my morning walk is proof that I got through it quickly and remained interested throughout. I felt that some things were a bit too predictable though, and that's where the three star rating comes in. Granted, there are still plenty of surprises, but I figured out enough of it too early for me to be able to unload a five-star rave on you. The thing is, this is part of the new Audible expanded library where you can download certain books without expending one of your precious credits. If I'd actually had to cough up a credit for this, I'd have been mildly disgruntled.

Emily Sutton-Smith's narration is excellent at 2.7X. Her diction is clear and solid, and she doesn't do some kind of over-the-top narration that involves weirdly exaggerated voices. You won't get listener fatigue from her, and in fact, her narration added to my enjoyment of the book.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book started out a bit too slow for my taste, it definitely picked up somewhere along the way, and turned out to be a very good mystery - but still the plot comes along slowly. The best thing about the book is not really knowing who the villain is. The author gives us a plethora of characters that we think it could be, and waits until almost the end to spring it on us. And it is not who I thought. The concept of having two psychics in fairly close proximity is unrealistic, in my opinion. I am not really sure what Lucinda added to the story, and I really am unsure why we are introduced to a side plot of Lucinda and Randy's relationship. If it were me editing, I would have left Lucinda out of the book completely, and delved a bit more into Cam's abilities. Maybe more how the visions affected her over the years and drove her to drinking and why she was unable to confide in her husband. I also realized, as I got further into the book, that it must have been written 10-15 years ago, based on the cell phone technology with a GPS being the newest and coolest. Even with all of that, I still liked the book. I appreciated how the ending gave us an answer on what happened to Ava, even though it is a mystery as well.

[Krys · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think a new sub-genre should be added, parental horror. This book was a study in it. The entire premise was centered around a psychic mom who only saw the suffering of children who were eventually murdered (accidental headbutts on the playground and badly scraped knees aren’t injurious enough for this psychic) and she did virtually nothing with her insights until she feared her own child would be abducted, then she became super mom, despite being in the middle of a shaky separation from her hubby, pregnant, and being largely emotionally unavailable.

This book was for parents. Intense fear minors in my care will be abducted is not something I’ve experienced, and it’s a very specific fear that I had difficulty relating to.

I also didn’t find the MCs particularly compelling nor did I find the story immersive.

The twist at the end was fun because it played off an assumption I made and I hadn’t even realized I made it, though I will say, the audiobook narrator must have been coached on not giving it away because the way she read the book fed into my assumption. That part was fun.

In general, this was meh for me. Good background noise for my late night crafting sessions but nothing that made me shiver in my fluffy pjs.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read several of her books and enjoyed them, I liked this one too. I wouldn't consider it a favorite, but that is partly because I'm not into Psychics/people seeing visions. I also find the killing of teenagers/kids to be disturbing. I didn't especially like any of the characters, but I didn't hate them either. I felt like certain things came too easy for the characters, there wasn't enough struggle such as Cam's visions being believed immediately since the investigator was also a psychic or her husband having gotten the tracker on their daughter's phone which made it easy to find her. Also how Tess had been mortified by what happened with her crush, then he shows up where she is and they are suddenly a couple. I also felt there were a couple of unnecessary killings, characters that weren't even worth mentioning...they had no real effect on the story. There were already a lot of character POV's to keep track of. With all of that being said, I am looking forward to now reading the sequel to find out how a the other story lines end.

[Lex · Rating 3 out of 5]

**3.5 stars**
another book read at work. this was good! good plot and suspense and action. however, poor communication tropes in books bother me because girl.. you have visions and didn't tell your husband the entire marriage?? waited months to reveal your pregnancy? I get things happen for a reason but like be fr. I do think they should have told the Pearson family what they thought about the daughter and I feel like the story could have been tied together a little sooner (I really thought Cam's mom was the killer so good job on the author because I didn't realize who it was till they revealed it) I also wish there was a little more closure? with her finding out about her mom, her sister potentially being killed?? KC?? but overall I thought the killer POVs were good cus talk about delusional!!
SN: I wish people would stop calling tan white people dark skin lol. and "hired woman" was interesting to me lol.

[Thereadingbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dying Breath by Wendy Corsi Staub

Cam Hasting figured she and her husband, Mike, would weather whatever came at them. But her disturbing visions--visions that came true--were more than she could stand. Her only choice, so it seemed, was to self medicate; and for years, the booze flowed freely. The marriage eventually drowned in alcohol. Mike moved out, and 14-year-old Tess was left to deal with the broken home with all its negative ramifications. But the couple never stopped being in love.

Horrifically enough, the vision that disturbs Cam Hasting most is one in which she glimpses her own daughter dying. Newly pregnant with Mike's baby, the one they made before he moved out, Cam determines not to drink, even attending AA meetings with a mysterious sponsor.

I felt some part of the story dragged on and did not flow well and when we get to the end it felt like it was rushed.

[April Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying that I did very much enjoy this book but I knocked a star off because of some formatting choices that I think they thought would enhance the reading experience but I felt took away from it.

There were multiple perspective shifts in each chapter but rarely were they delineated in any understandable way. Perhaps it was meant to keep the readers on our toes but mostly it was just frustrating.

I enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t a classic detective thriller story and that the majority of the book was centered around Cam. I think the author did a fair job of creating realistic characters that stay true to what most people in their situations would think and feel. I appreciated how authentic each of their voices sounded.

I am looking forward to the next book.

[Thompson615 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first WCStaub book. I really struggled with the present tense writing style. I never felt like the characters had any dimension to them. They were just flat on the pages. Without being able to connect to the characters, I found myself skimming many pages- too much filler, especially towards the middle of the book.
The story itself was good, I just would have enjoyed it much more without the present tense writing and pointless filler.
I'm planning to read the 2nd book in this series bc the psychic elements intrigue me and also bc I'm hoping I'm going to love the next book. Here's to hoping :)

[Samantha Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with this book a little. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked the main character. Then the author added more characters and their viewpoints. Then she added even more characters and really crowded the storyline. She also segued between viewpoints without any indication it has changed and it did confuse me a little, especially when she literally left one conversation with one character in a totally different storyline to another character in a different storyline. It was a bit jarring. I'm not sure if this was the way the author wanted to build suspense but for me, it didn't work.
Once I got to know the characters I did enjoy the story.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time staying with this book in the beginning, and once I got through the first half I finished it quickly and was content with the ending. It did keep me guessing and there was an element of surprise which was great. Some of the characters were rather flat and not memorable, which was a crucial downfall. I was a bit disappointed that the peak of the book was captured in only a few pages and everything happened so quickly. I wish there was more depth in the story and conflict occurred earlier to keep me interested. There were plot lines and characters who were not necessary to the primary story. However, overall a good read but not my favorite.

[Ashley Hedden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dying Breath (Psychic Killer #1) was a great read by Wendy Corsi Staub. Cam Hastings has come to Long Beach Island with her teenage daughter with that hopes that she may be able to save her failed marriage. She never stopped loving her husband but her own demons has gotten in the way. Her mother vanished when she was younger and she has awful visions of missing children. Cam is about to act on one of her visions which she has never done before. A killer has struck again and Cam and the people she loves most are living in fear. I enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read more by the author.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this- partly b/c its placed where I grew up and lived much of my adult life. Living in Northern NJ, going to college in NYC, working in Montclair, and spending 8 years living near LBI- I was very familiar with all the towns in this book. There were enough characters in this book to really keep you guessing about who the killer was-right up till the end. Cam's visions, her troubled relationship with her husband, and her strange family growing up were all intriguing plot lines. This story was twisty and fun to read!