From Goodreads: She was like all the other victims. Naked, flawed, helpless… Fifteen years ago, Emily Wright barely escaped from a serial killer dubbed the Baby Doll Strangler. She wants nothing to do with the small town where she was abducted, but when her father is hospitalized she reluctantly returns home to care for her teenage sister.

When her sister’s friend is killed and left in front of Emily’s house, Emily begins to relive the nightmare she endured long ago. Soon she realizes that her sister, too, is in danger from the killer—and the only person who can help is the man Emily left behind: Deputy Bailey O’Neil. Together, Emily and Bailey must discover the killer’s identity before he claims his next victim…

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Carina Press has been extremely gracious to allow me to read an ARC of this novel, via Netgalley, prior to its release today, and I am extremely grateful because this novel is phenomenal!  The synopsis itself peaked my curiosity and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it—the idea of a serial killer tracking down the “one that got away” intrigued me to no end, and I wasn’t disappointed in the least as I read.  I was pulled into the novel from the very first page and couldn’t put it down until I’d read straight through to the end.  Of course, I picked this novel up at nine o’clock at night just for a perusal and found it so riveting that foregoing sleep to finish it was absolutely necessary.  I couldn’t have put the novel down, even if I had wanted to (and I didn’t), as Lynn did such a magnificent job creating a twisted, dark thriller. 

I love a novel that keeps me guessing, and that is exactly what The First Victim did.  All the way through I kept pointing fingers at different characters, dubbing them the “Baby Doll Strangler,” and when I finally ended up settling on one character above all others, it ended up being the wrong character.  In fact, the actual killer wasn’t even on my list of suspects, and that’s how I know it’s a great novel.  As Lynn revealed the identity of the killer, everything clicked for me, and as I thought back on all the scenes involving this character, it all made sense.  This, in and of itself, proves to me that Lynn is a very talented writer, a pure genius able to keep the reader in the dark along with her characters—knowing just how much to reveal to keep the reader hooked, but never giving away enough to allow both the reader and characters to see the truth until it’s too late.  I loved it!

For me, the story was chillingly real and all the characters were very well written.  I feel like they all grew in one way or another throughout the novel, and that’s a feat in and of itself since I feel like many writers, especially those with multiple characters end up creating some static or flat characters.  That is not the case in The First Victim, and I highly enjoyed getting to know each and every character—even the twisted ones.  Lynn truly is a phenomenal writer and I cannot wait to read more of her work.  I highly suggest reading this novel, as it will blow you away!  Five stars!