by Jennifer Hillier

Gallery, $23.00, 358 pages

Author Jennifer Hillier’s debut novel, Creep, a Thriller of Deadly Attraction, is presented as a psychological thriller. Readers will agree it is a scary and horrifying thriller. The story takes place at a fictional university in Seattle, where the lead character is a professor of psychology,  makes the mistake of having an affair with one of her student-assistants. Each character posesses psychological twists such as addictions, personality disorders, and outright psychosis, providing a strong thread. So well done are those characterizations that the people seem real.

The writing flows at a steady pace throughout this frightful story. I was careful not to read the book at night, as I would never have gotten to sleep. The namesake song “Creep”, by Radiohead, embodies the atmosphere of the book, Creep. I would recommend this book for anyone who is fond of the thriller genre. I personally would have enjoyed it more had it been a little less graphic in its descriptions. Without giving away any part of the story, I can tell you that the book’s surprising ending could easily be an introduction to a sequel.

Rosalie West