52 Weeks 52 Books / Week Ending April 29, 2013

THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND by Jennifer McMahon

"The summer of 1985 changes Reggie’s life. An awkward thirteen-year-old, she finds herself mixed up with the school outcasts. That same summer, a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother, Vera, the most, Vera’s hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there’s no body and Neptune disappears.

Now, twenty-five years later, Reggie is a successful architect who has left her hometown and the horrific memories of that summer behind. But when she gets a call revealing that her mother has been found alive, Reggie must confront the ghosts of her past and find Neptune before he kills again." 
~ from the Publisher

I've read other books by Jennifer McMahon, but had a few issues with this one.  The plot was intriguing but parts of the book seemed implausible to me and I guessed the killer fairly early on--and this was disappointing because surprises make it so much more fun.  The author goes back and forth in time in telling the story, which is not everyone's cup of tea.   
 ~ Katherine