"Death Waits For You" by Donna Anders

DEATH WAITS FOR YOU, by Donna Anders, set in New York City opens with the murder of a young woman, an artist, by an unknown assailant, a serial killer the police never apprehend. The year is 1974. Fast forward into the present day with another young woman, Savannah Blum, also an artist, a writer, seeking to establish a career for herself in the big city.

She is staying with her grandmother Johanna in her apartment building, a security building that also houses one of New York’s established socialite families, the Hawthornes. It is through the relationship her grandmother has with the Hawthornes that Savannah is offered the job of writing the family history. It is a simple thing of recording the progression of the Von Pappen family as they emigrated from their native Germany, penniless, to arrive on the shores of America prior to World War I, building the family fortune known of today. Paul and Sue Hawthorne, the friends of Savannah’s grandmother, are offering her a substantial fee for this task, which Savannah looks upon as her ticket to a writing career and the freedom to then work upon her novel.

While the research on the Hawthorne family progresses, Savannah finds herself troubled in her personal life, as her new boyfriend Tom has not pressured her into a more intimate relationship; he has implied that is the direction he wants to see them go. Savannah, though, while inwardly believing Tom is a great catch for any girl, carries reservations.

Then there is Simon, a lawyer and member of the Hawthorne family – though only through Sue Hawthornes first marriage. He continually distracts Savannah from her interest in Tom, dividing her loyalties between whom she is trying to remain faithful to and to whom she is finding herself increasingly attracted.

When the serial killer from 1974, who killed the young artist, Tekla, a cousin to the Hawthornes by way of a child not permitted to enter the country, when he reemerges with new killings, and Savannah suspects herself being followed by a figure ensconced in a black cape, the vampire/wolf of thirty years ago is back.

The question of why the serial killer has resurfaced after nearly a generation of absence is, frankly, what drives DEATH WAITS FOR YOU. It creates a suspense that propels a reader forward to the next page and what awaits on the next chapter. Is this an actual ‘vampire’ like Savannah fears and the newspapers report? Surely not. Or is this some homicidal maniac mentally maladjusted into some sickly perverse vampire complex? One has to read to the end of the book to find out.

I must admit, I was surprised by the ending. I thought I had things figured out. Partly, I did; but on the whole, I was taken by surprise. That much said, I must unfortunately say this is the only part of the book I can recommend. The dialogue between the characters is weak. The triangular romance Savannah is experiencing with Tom and Simon sounds contrived. Both men come off sounding like they only want a relationship with her for sex. The research Savannah is supposed to do (and which I hoped to read) fizzled out into nothing beyond discovering a few mysterious items in an attic and asking a few empty questions to Hawthorne family members who were either ignorant, inept, or inconsequential when it came to anything of substance pertaining to their own family history.

In my opinion, DEATH WAITS FOR YOU is a great read for those long trips or extended moments of time where a person needs something to fill time and hold interest. It does that. Beyond such titular thrills though, there is little else to say.