If I Live

Ruby Hunter #3

by Molly Black

FBI BAU Special Agent Ruby Hunter remains haunted by “The 13 Killer,” the serial killer who took everything from her—including her partner—before she put him away for good. Yet somehow, though behind bars, new bodies are showing up with his trademark 13 signature. Is he behind it?

“Molly Black has written a taut thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat… I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read the next book in the series!”
—Reader review for Girl Murder

IF I LIVE is book #3 in a new series by #1 bestselling mystery and suspense author Molly Black, whose books have received over 2,000 five-star reviews and ratings.

Victims of a new killer are showing up at nighttime, following an eerie pattern, and resembling the work of the 13 killer.

What do they have in common? Who is behind it? And can Ruby stop him in time?

Is Ruby finally a step ahead of the killer? Or is she right where he wants her to be?

A complex psychological crime thriller full of twists and turns and packed with heart-pounding suspense, the RUBY HUNTER mystery series will make you fall in love with a brilliant new female protagonist and keep you turning pages late into the night.

Books #4 and #5—IF I FORGET and IF I RETURN—are also available!

Genres: Thriller

193 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2023

About the author

Bestselling author Molly Black is author of the MAYA GRAY FBI suspense thriller series, comprising nine books (and counting); of the RYLIE WOLF FBI suspense thriller series, comprising six books; of the TAYLOR SAGE FBI suspense thriller series, comprising eight books; of the KATIE WINTER FBI suspense thriller series, comprising eleven books (and counting); of the RUBY HUNTER FBI suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting), and of the CAITLIN DARE FBI suspense thriller series, comprising five books (and counting).

An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Molly loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.mollyblackauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.

BOOKS BY MOLLY BLACK

GRACE FORD FBI THRILLER

NEARLY MINE (Book #1)

NEARLY SAFE (Book #2)

NEARLY FREE (Book #3)

NEARLY GONE (Book #4)

NEARLY HIS (Book #5)

CAITLIN DARE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

COME GET ME (Book #1)

COME FIND ME (Book #2)

COME TAKE ME (Book #3)

COME CATCH ME (Book #4)

COME SAVE ME (Book #5)

RUBY HUNTER FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

IF I RUN (Book #1)

IF I TELL (Book #2)

IF I LIVE (Book #3)

IF I FORGET (Book #4)

IF I RETURN (Book #5)

MAYA GRAY MYSTERY SERIES

GIRL ONE: MURDER (Book #1)

GIRL TWO: TAKEN (Book #2)

GIRL THREE: TRAPPED (Book #3)

GIRL FOUR: LURED (Book #4)

GIRL FIVE: BOUND (Book #5)

GIRL SIX: FORSAKEN (Book #6)

GIRL SEVEN: CRAVED (Book #7)

GIRL EIGHT: HUNTED (Book #8)

GIRL NINE: GONE (Book #9)

RYLIE WOLF FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

FOUND YOU (Book #1)

CAUGHT YOU (Book #2)

SEE YOU (Book #3)

WANT YOU (Book #4)

TAKE YOU (Book #5)

DARE YOU (Book #6)

TAYLOR SAGE FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

DON’T LOOK (Book #1)

DON’T BREATHE (Book #2)

DON’T RUN (Book #3)

DON’T FLINCH (Book #4)

DON’T REMEMBER (Book #5)

DON’T TELL (Book #6)

DON’T HIDE (Book #7)

DON’T BLINK (Book #8)

KATIE WINTER FBI SUSPENSE THRILLER

SAVE ME (Book #1)

REACH ME (Book #2)

HIDE ME (Book #3)

BELIEVE ME (Book #4)

HELP ME (Book #5)

FORGET ME (Book #6)

HOLD ME (Book #7)

PROTECT ME (Book #8)

REMEMBER ME (Book #9)

CATCH ME (Book #10)

WATCH ME (Book #11)

Reviews

[Carm]

Ok. No rating here. Why? Because I’m not entirely sure Molly Black is real. What I had once considered to be a fairly cookie cutter, yet still relatively enjoyable procedural crime series… may in fact be the product of a team of ghost writers or AI. The author has written like 50+ books in the last three years. That’s a lot for one human person. There are no pictures of her online and her avatar on all of her socials is just her latest novel (including her author page here on GR). Take a look at books written by Molly Black, Blake Pierce, Kate Bold, Rylie Dark & Ava Strong. Between the six of them, they have cranked out hundreds of books in a few years. Each book has a generic (yet similar) title and even more generic (yet similar) cover. Also, depending on where you’re looking, the books are often credited incorrectly, i.e. on hoopla, this book is listed as a Blake Pierce novel despite being part of a Molly Black series. It’s all a little fishy. A quick google search tells me that I’m not the first to connect the dots here. I don’t support AI created art. HOWEVER… I already paid for two more books in this series before my epiphany… so I’m going to read them. 🙄 I can’t help it… I don’t like to throw my money away. That said, I won’t continue to support this author(?) going forward and I’ll be changing my ratings of the other books that I have previously read. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aaaaaand this is where I get off the Ruby Hunter train. At this point, the author was very obviously just copy/pasting sentences and even entire passages from the first 2 novels. Yes, I understand the need to throw in information from the last 2 books in case someone is jumping into this series in the middle or it’s been a while between reading books. Cool. But that can be done in an interesting way. Legit just copying the same shit into a new book when said book is already less than 200 pages long is just annoying. So repetitive. Then add in the immense descriptions of unnecessary things (ie. the hotel room, what everyone is having for breakfast). The amount of skimming I ended up doing is pretty embarrassing given the short book.

And not only the copy/pasting but the constant going around in circles. This is the 3rd installment where the same thing happens (there’s a killer with the same MO as Lucky 13) and her partner wants to act like he’s unsure if there’s a connection. Bruh, if you’re still doubting anything you should probably pack up and go back to Oregon cuz your head is obviously not in the game. Literally one sentence Ruiz says “unless he’s [the killer] jealous of Vallejo” and then the very next page “I’m concerned that you keep finding connections to him [Vallejo] with every case.” DUDE.

Barrett Murphy was a COMPLETE waste. Why randomly add him in now? Why is he even involved considering Bellisario is higher up and technically in charge of Ruby? I don’t get it. Murphy has n o t h i n g to do with this and is just added fluff. Bellisario brought Ruby back on board because of the suspected connection of some murders to Vallejo. So I’d say visiting Vallejo in prison is a pretty wise thing to do… so wtf is this Murphy dude even sticking his nose in? I’m honestly super annoyed this character was even included.

And my biggest complaint- this is book 3… why do we still not have a complete picture of Vallejo and his crimes? The same shit about this case keeps being mentioned but we never get a full story. Is there a particular reason he has all these followers? Or is this just typical creepy serial killer obsession? Why do these people think they’re his apostles or fallen angels or whatever? And the book keeps alluding to the fact that Ruby messed up somehow during the Lucky 13 case and in bringing Vallejo in but they never come out and say what she did. Went and brought him in by herself? Cool… that hardly seems like that big of a deal. There’s just too much left unknown.

This had the potential to be such a cool series but it just falls flat. Instead of trying to throw out as many books as we can, how about we try and hone in on just a couple books and do them really well? Because there’s too much repetition, too many plot holes, too much fluff as it stands. Bummer.

[Claudete Takahashi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby keeps on working on cases related to the 13 Killer as even though he is behind bars he is still able to spread his malevolence. She misses Asher deeply and still is not 100% sure of her new partner, Gabe. In this story, she will confront her fears, her feelings, and her difficulties in the working environment, and even put her life in extreme danger. Fast-paced, well-written, perhaps, the best book in the series so far!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby Hunter and her new partner are chasing yet another disciple of “The 13 Killer”. This time Ruby is getting more comfortable with her new partner but she’s still obsessed with the man who killed her last partner then texted her the location of his body. Very repetitive in places and Ruby can’t seen to stay away from the prison where the inspiration for this string of killings is incarcerated.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! I'm looking forward to reading the 4th book in this series.

[Karen Katilie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read three of the books in this series. The second was a rehash of the first and this third was just more of the same. It got very old very quickly and I almost did not finish this one.

[Shamore boston · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was real good that book was very good I really do like her play twist though how do she do it you should read

[Beth Lechman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 3rd book in the Ruby Hinter series and honestly I didn't find it quite as intriguing as the 2 before.

[JAE Monroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book actually said it was written by Blake Pierce instead of Molly Black🤔

[Becca Peppin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the series!

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

3rd one in the series and again it follows the same formula. But, it's also weaving a web of intrigue ... why is this serial killer so interested in Ruby ... and how does he know so much about her ... how does he have so much control when he is behind bars, in solitary confinement. Ruby knows that's where he is because she put him there.

I am interested to see where this story is going and will listen to the last 2 books soon.