The next day Robin begins to receive bizarre greeting cards and notices that Vince and Amy have begun stalking her. Robin is not sure how public she wants to go with her experiences, but she is spooked and calls the St. Louis police who dispatch Detective Jack Jones. Jones is an aging detective who has lost three partners recently, and has married a stripper half his age.

Jones has been on limited duty, but this assignment seems to be a good one for him to get back into things. Jones, for some reason, is taken with Robin and is determined to help her. He begins probing the couple and finds similarities to cases in Omaha. Not having anything specific to arrest the couple on, Jones watches and waits.

An attack on Robin’s estranged husband and two deaths cause Jones to become very vigilant, as he is sure Robin will be the next target.

The Offer is a fast-paced suspenseful novel that may leave many readers unsatisfied. While the plot is well conceived and moves along at a fast pace, the characters are flat and uninteresting. Vince and Amy Wheaton are presented as a normal couple who thinks nothing of making friends with someone and then stalking them and killing people around them if they feel they have been snubbed. There is nothing particularly menacing about them; when they stalk Robin, they just stand there, but no feeling of evil is conveyed.

Robin is very wishy-washy as she is separated from her husband, though neither really knows why. She agrees to a one-night threesome and then is startled when the couple pursues her. She is also quick to run back to her husband after his attack, though no indication is given that she still feels that she wants to be with him or that she is even unsure about the separation. Detective Jones is possibly the most interesting character, along with his wife Katy, as he grapples with the death of three partners, but this again is something that is only touched briefly upon.

Filled with all the elements of a suspenseful thriller, The Offer comes up short and may disappoint those looking for an exciting read.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry