Kindle Edition Amazon Amazon.com Facebook.com Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: createspace ISBN-10:  B00T3T3P1A Type: Fiction Pages: 380 Copyright: may 20, 2012 Price: $3.15 (eBook) A maturing beauty fighting to survive a delusional killer's fantasy, not once, but twice. Mary Elizabeth Grange, also known as Beth to her friends, is little more than a child when she is noticed. Her lanky, developing body and her childlike ways do nothing to dissuade his hungry eyes and his needy imagination. She glides through life happily but to him she becomes everything. Every flip of her long curly ebony hair, every smile, every gesture speaks to him as he quietly moves in the shadows. His small, inconsequential world narrows even further. Real life recedes and fantasy, like a blazing fire, consumes him. Then their worlds collide in one brutal and obscene act as he brazenly flings reality aside and allows the delusions to totally devour him. Her world destroyed, Beth must fight for her very sanity. Then at the farthest end of her nightmare and many miles away, happiness and love are finally within her reach. Much to her bemusement, she starts to receive flowers from a secret admirer. Things start to take on a darker tone and she senses anything but affection from the gifts being left to her. But how can this be related in anyway to the vicious serial killer in her home state who is killing women that look so much like her? The answers will only be attained if she dares to fight the biggest battle of her life.    Excerpt Sweat, mixed with hot tears, made fresh tracks through the blood on her face. She bravely fought the hysteria that was crawling from her belly to her throat, leaving waves of nausea in its wake. The staleness of the room was overwhelming and the meager light wafting through the tiny windows did nothing to dispel the gloom. Dust filled her nostrils and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She felt her body quaking from head to toe with shock and fear. She licked her lips frantically, and was horrified to taste blood. Her heart ached as the enormity of the loss shook her to the very core, but there was no time to mourn. The room reeked of the unique, heavy tang of sweat, blood and madness. She forced herself to look at the monster that had them. She knew that he was going to do unspeakable things to them before he killed them and her heart pounded like a giant gong inside her chest, sending reverberations through her body making her hands feel numb. He was crazed as he cursed and argued with someone only he could see. His shirt, once clean before forcing them into the car, was now spattered with precious blood, which had left a delicate pattern across his chest. He didn’t notice, as he terrorized them. Gradually, through the horror, she realized that she was bound to the chair with scarves. She sensed that he was trying to be gentle and the hateful growls were not directed towards her. He kept saying that he was trying to save her for God’s sake. Moaning, she started to work the binds and her heart gave a sudden leap when she realized that the scarves were bound around her high top sneakers, not her ankles. "Leave her alone, you bastard!" she screamed with all the strength that her frozen vocal cords would allow. It came out like a squeaky wheel that desperately needed oil, but it got his attention. He stopped raving, mid-sentence, and stared at her disbelievingly, his eyes bulging from their sockets. "What?" His voice was deceptively soft, as though he was one of her teachers, coaxing a shy student to take part in class. The sickening irony of it filled her with disgust and she struggled to calm herself, to get his attention. "Please, she’s a good person. Please leave her alone!" she begged. He snorted foully, bending towards her and she forced herself not to gag at his loathsome breath which blanketed her face. "Ah Mary Elizabeth, you’re so innocent, so very innocent.” He nodded his head like an indulgent parent talking to a dim-witted child. She gritted her teeth in frustration and furiously worked the scarves that bound her, back and forth, and a burst of adrenaline spurted through her bloodstream when she felt them loosening. "Don’t you see?" His face was at once very serious and patient and kind in a grotesque parody of the terror that he was causing. "She has corrupted you! I must save you! We have to be together!" Abruptly, he turned, and Beth’s heart lurched with panic and despair when she heard the piteous screams. Frantically she worked off the scarves from her wrists and pulled her sneakers off as one last shot of adrenaline pushed her to free herself. Reaching for the pins in her blouse, she faced the monster, at last ready for the fight of her life.

VERY Suspenseful!!!!
Mary Elizabeth is stalked and kidnapped, witnesses something horrendous, and rescued just in time. Years pass, and just as she begins to believe life can go on, she begins to receive notes and roses. This leads her, and all those she cares about, into the path of a serial killer. Is it somehow tied to the previous incident, or is she just a magnet for pyschos?
This book was a very emotional read. You feel everything that Mary Elizabeth feels, and you can't wait to find out what happens next. I stayed up all night reading as I couldn't bring myself to put it down.
Look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

Great Read
This book is a very emotional read and the characters are very real. The story goes from a happy, normal time to a horrific tragedy and then back to normal again but not for long. No happy ending at this point. There is a touch of romance entangled into the story as well as graphic violence. The ending is a real surprise. You think you know who is behind the terror and then..... I highly recommended it to all thriller readers.

Visceral and impactful
This is a book that makes you want to keep your children close. JM Brown paints a very descriptive and disturbing picture of the mind of a killer. I was impressed with the level of detail so easily written into each character, from teachers to parents to friends the author has a skill of coloring the world inside the story. Pretty Maidens all in a Row follows the trials and horrors young Beth faces as she is stalked and taken by her obsessed captor. Though she escapes, the story is far from over and I sat on the edge of my seat almost not wanting to read what surely came next.
A talented new author with potential to bring us many more harrowing tales. This is not a book for the faint of heart, but if it is a genre you enjoy reading then Ms. Brown delivers an impactful tale.