Spring Break - Softcover

Perrin, Kayla

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312547285 ISBN 13: 9780312547288

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin, 2010

Synopsis

With a breakneck pace and cat-and-mouse twists, Spring Break is the ultimate beach read.

"Help me . . ."

These are the last words Chanetelle hears from her friend Ashley, in a static-filled phone call that soon goes dead. Their trip to the island paradise of Artula started the way any trip should, and soon Chanetelle and her friends find themselves in sun-drenched days and party-hopping nights. The vacation is not without its conflicts, however, and old rivalries and new jealousies come to light as the week passes. But no one expects things to turn as ugly as they do. No one expects that they won't all return. And no one expects that murder might be the ultimate souvenir.

When Ashley disappears, the question is asked: Was it a random act of violence? Or is something more sinister going on? And is Ashley really dead, after all?

"Drawing on real-life tragedies, Perrin creates an unforgettable and chilling tale of the seamy side of an island paradise." - Booklist

About this title

About the Author

Kayla Perrin is Essence bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels including The Delta Sisters, We'll Never Tell, and What's Done in Darkness. She was featured in the documentary Who's Afraid of Happy Endings. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

Reviews

Set during spring break on the Caribbean island of Artula, Perrin's intriguing if flawed romantic thriller centers on the hunt for college student Ashley Hamilton, who disappears after breaking up with her boyfriend, Ryan Sinclair, and meeting Jason Shear, a New York editor who's researching a story on human trafficking. Jason's sister disappeared on Artula in 1987, and he's learned 19 women have gone missing on the resort island in the last seven years. Jason joins forces with Ashley's friend, Chantelle Higgins, to investigate, while the local authorities remain surprisingly indifferent. After Ashley's family arrives, the stakes rise with the murder of someone with information he wanted to share with Chantelle. Essence bestseller Perrin (We'll Never Tell) succeeds in building a mood of nail-biting suspense, but toward the end the plot takes some dubious twists before rushing to a less than convincing resolution. (Mar.)
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Three best friends, Chantelle, Erica, and Ashley, are excited about their island spring break. They leave their college outside of Philadelphia for the all-inclusive resort, where they enjoy sun and partying until Ashley has a falling out with her boyfriend. To cheer her up, Chantelle suggests going to an island bar, which is when everything starts to go wrong. Beautiful blond Ashley hooks up with a stranger and fails to return. Chantelle calls the police, who give her the brush-off. Layers of friendship and resort conviviality start to peel away as the search goes on, revealing secrets of the island and the girls’ personal lives. Drawing on real-life tragedies, Perrin creates an unforgettable and chilling tale of the seamy side of an island paradise. --Patty Engelmann

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Spring Break

By Perrin, Kayla

St. Martin's Griffin

Copyright © 2010 Perrin, Kayla
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780312547288

Prologue
PRIVATE NAME. Private number.
My heart began to accelerate, the response I’d had every time this week I’d seen those words on my caller ID. I quickly placed the cell phone to my ear, cautiously hopeful and sick with anxiety at the same time.
Please, let this be the call.
“Hello?” I said, then held my breath as I waited for a response. Scratchy static .lled the line, evidence of a bad connection. I strained to hear the person on the other end of the phone. And then, the faint sound of something on the other end of the line. A voice, a movement—I  wasn’t sure.
“Hello?” I repeated. “Is someone there?”
“Chantelle . . .”
My back went rigid. I was certain now. Someone had whis­pered my name.
“Help . . .  please.”
“Ashley?” Excitement washed over me in waves. The voice was faint, but it was female. It had to be her. “Ashley—is that you?”
“Help me . . .”
“Why are you whispering? Where are you? Who’s there with you?”
“I was stupid,” she went on, sobbing between her words. “This was . . .  all a mistake. A stupid decision. And now . . .”
The rest of her words  were drowned out by the static.
“Ashley? Ashley!”
When I heard more soft sobbing, I was relieved. For a mo­ment, I thought the call had been disconnected.
“Ashley, we must have a bad connection. Can you speak up at all? Tell me where you are. I’ll come get you. Or I’ll send someone.”
I strained to listen, hearing static and the faint sound of a voice. So faint I  couldn’t make out the words.
“Ashley, please speak up.” Now I was crying. I was relieved, but terri.ed. I had to get to my friend. Save her. “Please tell me where you are.”
“I . . .” More crying. “I . . .”
My voice  rose an octave as hysteria set in. “Where are you?” No answer. “Ashley? Ashley!”
The dial tone sounded in my ear.
The line was dead. And Ashley was gone.
Just like a ghost.

Excerpted from Spring Break by Kayla Perrin.
Copyright © 2010 by Kayla Perrin.
Published in March 2010 by St. Martin’s Press.
All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from the Publisher.

Continues...

Excerpted from Spring Break by Perrin, Kayla Copyright © 2010 by Perrin, Kayla. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312547285
• ISBN 13: 9780312547288
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336