The Perfect Couple: A Heart-Pounding Domestic Thriller About a Missing Girl and Hidden Lies (The Last Stand Book 4)

Brenda Novak never seem to disappoint me. Brilliant book, easy read, This reminds me of Columbo, you know the killers from the beginning of the book, but the twists and turns to prove their guilt takes on a different dementia. I highly recommend this book.

Many twists and turns, all comes out well at the end. But wow what a book. Now have to get the next in the series.

Love these books. Can't wait for more

Chilling but romantic suspense at its best.

This is a book that really is scary, especially if your a parent! When Samantha goes missing while home sick from school it creates panic in the town. The physco that has Sam is seriously demented, hard to read about when it concerns children being hurt and killed. If you can handle that this book is a very good story. This book will keep you reading, I couldn't put it down only to find out if they ever find Sam and if the "Perfect Couple" are brought to justice. Very scary, will keep you in suspense.

I felt this was not the normal book that Brenda Novak usually writes. I did finish it, but was pleased with the ending.

am feeling sick, sisappointed and disgusted by the context of this book. decided to remove it from my kindle after only reading the first 3 chapters. Have previously bought and loved Brenda's books. please go back to what you are good at writing.

I would have given this book five stars-- it's definitely a real page-turner-- except for two things: I absolutely do not believe that a sadistic serial killer is simply "born that way." I've read a vast number of true-crime books and I have never heard of even *one* such person was simply born that way. All of them came from very dysfunctional homes, and most of them came from severely abusive homes. The notion that Colin Bell, the villain in the book, was simply "born evil" therefore doesn't wash. The second thing comes at the ending. There is nothing to explain how Tina, Colin's long-estranged mother, could have traveled from her home in Los Angeles to Chester, California-- a distance of 536 miles-- in a mere hour or two. Perhaps she had already come to Sacramento, but if so, either it's not mentioned in the book or I somehow overlooked it. Aside from those two things, the book is well-written and suspenseful. Novak especially shines in her depiction of the way Colin Bell manipulates his wife, Tiffany, alternating threats and abuse with sweet talk, gifts, and promises. That rings absolutely true. So does the escalation of Colin's sadistic tendencies. Several reviewers have complained that too much time was spent on Colin and Tiffany; others have complained about the fact that the book involves the rape, torture, and murder of young teenagers. However, knowing how dire Samantha's situation really is, and how evil the people holding her prisoner really are, makes for greater suspense than there would have been otherwise. Also, the crimes are not described in any detail, and in fact, are not really described at all. The people who express such an objection would probably curl up and die of shock if they ever read a real true-crime book. Other reviewers have criticized Zoe Duncan because she slept with Jonathan Stivers while her daughter was still missing-- as though she's some sort of slut as though doing so makes her a "bad mother." That ignores two facts: first, Zoe and Jonathan felt a strong attraction to each other from the moment they met. Second, a woman (or man) who has been under extreme stress for several days is not likely to be thinking clearly or to worry about "What would people think of me for doing this?" People often don't behave in the way we think they "should" or the way we "think" we would under similar circumstances. All in all, if you can overlook the implausible explanation of why Colin Bell is the way he is, and can accept the equally implausible last-minute rescue, the book is well worth reading.

The Perfect Couple is anything but perfect. It starts with Colin insisting that his wife Tiffany take Rover's body, that's in the trunk, and drop it off in the woods. Rover was yelling, screaming, kicking making all sorts of noises. Tiffany calls Colin: "He's alive!" Tiffany pulled the car over when she got into the country. She opened the trunk, and Rover jumped out yelling down the street. Rover ran off and there wasn't anything she could do. Tiffany went home afraid to tell Colin. She had to think of something that would make Colin happy. Tiffany kidnapped Sam Duncan who's thirteen and home from school with mononucleosis. She lured her into her home, and locked Sam in an empty room with a mattress. When Colin got home, Tiffany told him that Rover got away. Colin turned on Tiffany and became vicious toward her. Tiffany told Colin she kidnapped Sam and she's in Rover's old room. Colin went upstairs to check it out. When he opened the bedroom, Sam said: "You can't come near me, I've mono. I'm contagious." Colin wasn't happy when he found out he had someone sick and contagious in his home. When Zoe Duncan got home from work, her daughter Sam wasn't there. It wasn't like Sam to wander off while sick. Zoe called the police. The police started an investigation, first checking with Sam's friends. Zoe Duncan also called Skye Willis from The Last Stand to help find Sam. A former victim herself, Zoe became friends with Skye when the met at a victim's seminar. Skye called her private detective Jonathon Stivers to help find Sam, even though the local and state police were working the case. Jonathon and Zoe teamed up to investigate the disappearance of Sam, and soon developed a mutual attraction for one another. Colin played the character role of a psychopathic killer. He lacks a conscience and is a master manipulator. His wife Tiffany was a victim. Colin used Tiffany's lack of self-esteem to control her. Tiffany would do anything for Colin. She was terrified of him, knowing that someday he would kill her. Tiffany is aware that Colin would like to kidnap Zoe. Colin was upset when Tiffany kidnapped Sam, a thirteen year old with mono, but the thought of kidnapping Zoe appealed him.