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Promise Not to Tell
Promise Not to Tell
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered -- a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del -- shunned and derided by cla...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780061143311
ISBN-10: 0061143316
Publication Date: 2007
Pages: 272
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 561

3.8 stars, based on 561 ratings
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Audio CD
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

iluvlibros avatar reviewed Promise Not to Tell on + 73 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 28
This book was in a word . . haunting. It was a whodunnit, but it was unlike anything I had ever read before. I never thought a book could give me the chills. I loved it.
Chicaroo avatar reviewed Promise Not to Tell on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 24
This book had more twists and turns than an amusement park ride. Just when you thought you had a handle on what was going on, and how things were going down, they'd take a twist and off it would go in another direction. It keeps you guessing right down to the last chapter. Although the early setting is unconventional, a commune, the essence of the story could have happened anywhere or anytime. It's about trying to fit in with the crowd, finding acceptance with the "ner' do-wells", even grudingly admiring them, but refusing to acknowledge a kinship with them or stand up for them. Then trying to live with the regret when you know you've committed a horrible wrong. This book will stay with you for a long time after the last page is read.
nana23 avatar reviewed Promise Not to Tell on + 243 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 19
I am glad that I didn't have any responsibilities yesterday, because I read this book in one sitting, stopping only for necessary breaks. It was a great and memorable book.
reviewed Promise Not to Tell on + 145 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 14
I was drawn to buy the book because of the cover and the blurb on the back and I was able to read this book in a day. But.....I was a little disappointed in where the story went and the entire storyline. It wasn't quite what it was cracked up to be. Still an enjoyable read, and I at no point wanted to throw the book down and not finish it, it was just a bit of a let down.
reviewed Promise Not to Tell on
Helpful Score: 9
I'm surprised by how many people loved this book. I thought it wasn't scary at all and I had to force myself to finish it. It was hokey and implausible (but I guess ghost stories are by their nature implausible). I did enjoy its unique qualities, such as the hippie commune setting, the realistic bullying scenes by school children, and the very entertaining Del character.
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nantuckerin avatar reviewed Promise Not to Tell on + 158 more book reviews
Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon is my favorite type of thriller: a dark mystery that dances between the present and the past, with just a sprinkling of the supernatural dusted in. It's a rare formula, and one McMahon nails in her debut novel.

Promise Not to Tell follows Kate, a 41-year-old school nurse, through the murders of two young girls in her hometown. The first, her childhood friend Del, has haunted Kate -- and the community -- for thirty years. The most recent death coincides with Kate's return to town to care for her ailing, commune-living mother, and bears suspicious similarities to Del's grisly killing many years before.

The mystery is managed masterfully by McMahon -- especially considering this is a first novel. The storytelling is superb, and alternates seamlessly between present and past. Both mysteries are compelling, with characters that aren't always likeable in the traditional sense, but intriguing nonetheless. I found the ending very surprising, with a resolution that is satisfying even if it isn't wrapped up with a pretty red bow.

I liked Promise Not to Tell even more than Island of Lost Girls. It cements my assumption that McMahon would soon be one of my new favorite authors. I'm off to seek out another of her books now.
reviewed Promise Not to Tell on + 22 more book reviews
I would consider this a thriller. The story is about a woman who when she was a girl was an outsider. Her mom was a "hippy" type person who drug her around and lived in a very unconventional way. She meets another couple of "outsider" kids. One was a girl named Del. Del was murdered when she was about 10 years old. Guilt and regret have filled her life regarding Del. Now her mom has early dementia and she has returned to help figure out what to do with her mom. She is haunted by Del's death. Also, now another girl has been murdered just like Del was. You will devour this book. You might figure it all out. You might jump from suspect to suspect. One thing is you wont forget Del.
reviewed Promise Not to Tell on + 2 more book reviews
A page-turner with well-developed, interesting characters. I stayed up too late to finish it and was satisfied with the interesting ending.


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