The One I Left Behind by Jennifer McMahon

Morning, all! Today I'm a stop on the TLC tour for Jennifer McMahon's latest, The One I Left Behind.

In 1985, Reggie's mother disappeared. She was assumed to be the final victim of Neptune, a killer whose MO included cutting off his victim's right hand and leaving the hand, packaged in a milk carton, for police to find. Each victim was kept alive for four days after and then left in a public place to be found. Only the body of Reggie's mother was never found. Just her dismembered hand. Now Reggie's all grown up and her mother has been found, alive. What, if anything, Reggie's mother remembers about Neptune or the past twenty-five years is yet to be figured out. She's sick and seemingly out of her mind. Reggie left her home years ago without looking back, but she'll return now to care for her dying mother, finding herself once again drawn into the painful secrets of the past and facing those that have built for the past two decades. Then Neptune strikes again, this time taking another victim that was once close to Reggie.

Jennifer McMahon is a master at drawing out a story, teasing the reader and revealing things at a carefully plotted pace. It's truly engrossing! As The One I Left Behind plays out, there are tiny clues as to the identity of Neptune and the various information characters are hiding, but it's always just enough to increase the tension and suspense without giving too much away. Every time I thought I'd figured it out, McMahon threw me for another loop, so the big reveal at the end was truly a surprise to me. Excellent in all regards yet again!

I've been a fan of McMahon's work since the release of Promise Not to Tell, a book that had already begun generating buzz in the industry when it hit shelves. I'd read so much praise about the book that I had to get my grubby little book junkie hands on it as soon as possible. Once I was able to track down a copy (and I was not pleased when I didn't immediately find it in stores) I dove in and have never looked back. Each new release from McMahon is on my "Must Have" list as soon as it's announced. I jumped at the opportunity to participate in this tour and have to admit that I did a really dorky happy dance as soon as I received a copy of The One I Left Behind :)

To see more stops on the tour, visit the official TLC tour page here.

For more on McMahon and her other work, visit her official website. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. And as a fun extra, check out this great little interview from Publishers Weekly.