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Sue Coletta
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Marred: Grafton County Series: #1 Kindle Edition

by Sue Coletta (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 216 ratings
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When a serial killer breaks into the home of bestselling author, Sage Quintano, she barely escapes with her life. Her husband, Niko, a homicide detective, insists they move to rural New Hampshire, where he accepts a position as Grafton County Sheriff. Sage buries secrets from that night—secrets she swears to take to her deathbed.

Three years of anguish and painful memories pass, and a grisly murder case lands on Niko’s desk. A strange caller begins tormenting Sage—she can’t outrun the past.

When Sage’s twin sister suddenly goes missing, Sage searches Niko’s case files and discovers similarities to the Boston killer. A sadistic psychopath is preying on innocent women, marring their bodies in unspeakable ways. And now, he has her sister.

Cryptic clues. Hidden messages. Is the killer hinting at his identity? Or is he trying to lure Sage into a deadly trap to end his reign of terror with a matching set of corpses?
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  1. Book 1 of 5
    Grafton County Series
  2. Print length
    266 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    November 11, 2015
  6. File size
    1374 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Marred is a nail-biting serial killer thriller that, once started, was hard to put down. You immediately feel drawn to the protagonist, Sage Quintano, who writes books about crime for a living and has experienced a horrendous crime herself. A vicious assault has left her struggling with everyday life. Her marriage to Niko, a homicide detective, is suffering as a result of the experience and because of secrets she has been keeping from him. Moving to a rural area in order to heal and rebuild their lives, Niko takes on the position of sheriff and becomes involved in the search for a serial killer who leaves his female victims' bodies marred and displayed in a gruesome manner. Then Sage's twin sister disappears, and everything suggests that Sage's assailant has followed her from Boston to New Hampshire to finish what he started years ago.

Told from Sage's first person point of view and alternating with chapters in the third person from Niko's and Frankie's (the deputy sheriff) viewpoints, Marred is an intense and suspenseful thriller. The vivid descriptions of the settings and the information on the forensics were fascinating. This author knows her stuff and has a very engaging style of writing and creating dialogue. I enjoyed the different points of view and particularly liked Frankie, Niko's deputy, whose viewpoint introduced a slightly lighter side to an otherwise very dark and scary story. I enjoy thrillers that surprise me and Sue Coletta has definitely managed that with the unpredictable turns and developments that I did not see coming. The ending left potential for a sequel, and I will certainly seek out future publications by this author." Petra Ayling for Readers' Favorite
"What I like best about this author is, she knows she has a job to do and doesn't shy away from everything that's required to terrify the reader, at the same time creating a puzzle that requires some serious brain power. The writing is sharp, funny, and at times tender. Marred is a chilling read that will leave you wanting more, once you've caught your breath." Steven Ramirez, bestselling horror author
"This is one of those rare books that one doesn't want to put down... The kind that make you feel life keeps getting in the way. Seriously, this is a superb read. The characters are full-on, well-developed, and credible. This is more than just a murder/mystery, it's a full-blown psychological thriller complete with alarming twists and turns. Very well written throughout, great storyline, brilliant ending, and original. A solid five-star work." Kevin Cooper, popular book blogger
"MARRED is a wonderful dark, disturbing ride from beginning to end. Her characters are people the reader can easily relate to, right down to the flaws and scars many of them carry. Perhaps that's why the story feels so intense--a roller-coaster ride of suspense as the reader becomes caught up in the looming presence of evil." Mae Clair, bestselling author of mystery & suspense
"When there is a serial killer on the loose targeting young women and seemingly no connection between them it's hard for a community to sleep at night. But when your twin sister suddenly goes missing and you answer the phone to an unfamiliar, sinister voice - that's when your life comes to a screeching halt. We are there when our heroine, Sage Quintano, comes to terms with her past, when she bursts out against those she loves, and when she decides to take back control. You won't have to wait for the action to start in this novel, so buckle up and prepare yourself for a dark ride through a dark tunnel with only Coletta to guide you out!" Beaux Cooper, bestselling author & book reviewer

From the Author

I write what I love to read, what fascinates me and the things I fear the most. As a reader, I love to be kept in suspense while at the same time matching wits against the main character. Fast-paced, lots of action, endearing characters, and a vicarious experience I can't find anywhere else.
As such, I offer the same thrill-ride to you. I spend countless hours of research before I write one word. Read the acknowledgements in my books and you'll see it takes a village to create a world worth spending time in. Chatting with experts and living the scenes myself in order to feel my characters' terror, sadness, pain, is one of my favorite parts of the process. Forensics, criminal investigations, witnessing what happens to the body after death, and delving into the mind of serial killers is what intrigues me most.
My focus, however, is always on you. I hope you'll enjoy reading my stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them. Because if it weren't for you, dear reader, I wouldn't get to live my dream. Thank you for your interest in my work.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B015OTRZXQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tirgearr Publishing (November 11, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 11, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1374 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 266 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 216 ratings

About the author

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Sue Coletta

Sue Coletta

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Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog as “Best 100 Crime Blogs on the Net.” She also blogs at the Kill Zone (Writer’s Digest “101 Best Websites for Writers”) and is a Resident Writing Coach at Writers Helping Writers.

Sue lives with her husband in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. Her backlist includes psychological thrillers, the Mayhem Series books 1-3, psychological thriller/mysteries, Grafton County Series, and true crime/narrative nonfiction, Pretty Evil New England. Now, she exclusively writes eco-thrillers, the Mayhem Series books 4-7 and continuing.

Sue’s appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion, and three episodes of A Time to Kill on Investigation Discovery. Learn more about Sue and her books at https://suecoletta.com.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
216 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Caleb Pirtle
5.0 out of 5 stars A woman's worst nightmare
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015
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SUE COLETTA LOVES MYSTERIES that keep readers on the edge of their seats. She has written one. Sue Coletta loves mysteries where readers are dared to solve complex puzzles about grisly murders. She has written one. Don’t doubt it for a moment.Her debut novel is is a brilliant and compelling journey through the dark streets of a woman’s worst nightmare. Her husband is a homicide detective. But can he save her? Or will he be forced to investigate her death as well?

The mystery is haunting. The suspense is suffocating. The secrets have been buried deep, secrets left behind by a serial killer who threatens to come back and uncover them, an act that may potentially destroy them all.

Sue Coletta has burst on the scene with one of the most disturbing and unforgettable novels of the year. Her writing is strong and powerful. It prickles your skin, then sears it. It embeds fear deep in your mind. You are no longer the reader. You are in the story yourself. And you see every mysterious moment through the eyes of a best-selling author, Sage Quintano, whose past is stalking her, whose past threatens to expose her, whose past threatens to kill her, whose memories haven’t let her sleep well in years.

Sue writes: Adrenaline masked my pain, and I sprinted from room to room, closed and secured all the windows and double-checked the locks on the front and back doors, bolted upstairs, and pressed my foot on the sliders’ security bar. Colt and Ruger watched me zip around the house, not knowing what was wrong. Ruger gave up and laid his head on crossed paws while Colt bounded over and stayed on my heels.

When I returned to the kitchen table, the phone rang again. My gaze locked on the handset, and I froze. Colt’s face ping-ponged between me and the phone. He put the pieces together in his mind, trotted over, and knocked the receiver off the cradle, gently clasped the handset in his lips and carried it to me. By using his training to aid me, he was trying to help, but at that moment, it was the last thing I wanted him to do . . . I slapped a hand over my mouth and held back screams, refusing to give him the satisfaction of terrifying me. I also couldn’t hang up. His breath held me hostage. My fingers lost feeling around the handset, knuckles white from lack of blood flow. Unable to move, I was in his thrall.

“Do you want to live forever?”

A serial killer is on the lose. He’s been preying on innocent women, and he’s looking for Sage Quintano. He’s found her. She escaped him once and fled to the rural countryside of New Hampshire. What will be her fate this time?

Sue Coletta’s writing style is bold. It’s riveting. Her words carry the impact of pistol shots. Her dialogue would make Raymond Chandler proud. Her story touches your heart, then threatens to rip it out. Been sleeping good lately? You won’t after reading Marred.
3 people found this helpful
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Larry K
4.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't Put It Down
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018
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I read She's blog's at the Kill one blog site and wanted to give her work a try. Also, I used it as a study in story structure, something I've been doing lately.

Terrific read that was difficult to put down. While I'm not a serial killer fan, I found this story exciting and realistic.

Sage and Niko were intriguing to watch as the story progressed. Their personal struggles in dealing with the crimes against Sage 3 years prior is thought provoking and probably more realistic than most men would like to believe.

As for the structure aspect, it plays out pretty much as to what I've studying and learning. It's a great "workbook" for someone like learning the craft.

Definitely recommend this book to others. It's an adventure that makes shows one or a couple can't always escape the past!
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Kathleen Rowland
5.0 out of 5 stars I barely survived along with the heroine, Sage Quintana! Great read!
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2015
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For three years mystery author Sage Quintano and her sheriff husband, Niko, are shells of their former selves. A brutal knife attack against Sage caused a miscarriage, a permanent scar on her jugular and knee damage. When Niko went after the assailant, he caught a bullet to the shoulder which flairs up, but his biggest problem is like hers, the emotional devastation. They moved from Boston to a small town in New Hampshire and did not leave a forwarding address. Sage answers the phone and recognizes the voice of the masked man who attacked her and guesses that leaving a phone number with a hospital led him to her. The brute asks her if she wants to live forever.
In their new town Sheriff Niko Quintano investigates a murder in a barn. He has to put up with associates and underlings of the country bumpkin variety. His partner Frankie has no professionalism, but his ex-military new addition, Ben Matthews, takes orders. The MO is similar with cigarette burns to an eighteen-year-old’s feet. Breasts and eyes were removed with black threads in X’s sewn in skin. A pulley system was used to hang the bloody, decomposed body as if she is a flying angel in the barn. The killer does not necessarily have to be strong because the pulley system offers a mechanical advantage.
Sage recognizes the clues when “her husband’s heart breaks” and decides to snoop in his briefcase. Confronted by Niko who sees papers from his file strewn about, Sage offers to help. They joke about “the kids” not telling. The kids are their dogs, a mastiff and Rottweiler. During that morning Sage and Niko bond over the case, but he doesn’t want her involved. When Sage receives a phone call from the serial killer telling her he has her twin sister, Chloe, she draws upon every shred of strength. The killer wants fifty thousand dollars and commands her to write a book about him. Sage immediately drives to Boston to meet and share her dilemma with her agent, Jess, who agrees to give her an advance.
What clues does the killer spill? Once I started reading Marred, I couldn’t put it down. I worried about the trap being set for Sage, the angel that got away. I highly recommend Marred to all my friends, particularly those who love mysteries. I admire talented Sue Colletta’s fast paced writing, complicated plot, and likeable characters, Sage and Niko.
4 people found this helpful
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victoria
3.0 out of 5 stars Ok read
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2018
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I read most of this and skipped around to the end. Usually I read through but I’m torn on this one. Can’t decide what about it that didn't grip me. Not sure if I would read the second in series. Felt it was okay but couldn’t really get into it. It had good reviews so others may see something I didn’t.
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Top reviews from other countries

Gerard Spicer
4.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to put this book down
Reviewed in Australia on May 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
Once I began reading book one of the series of five I was drawn to binging them all. Not once did the author lose my attention.

It is fascinating to be able to experience the mind, habits and thought processes of someone who lives in a wholly different environment to me.

I found complex, flawed characters which took me through a story that was difficult to put down.

It contains deep insights into pathology and forensics and graphic scenes of violence.
I found it difficult to accept that the central character couldn’t speak to her police an husband about her most pressing concerns and the dangers she is facing, but I guess that is down to flawed characters.
Loved it.
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Kirsty Southwell
5.0 out of 5 stars Vivid characters and environment descriptions make this book so easy to "live"
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2016
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Where to start? Vivid characters and environment descriptions make this book so easy to "live". A truly gripping storyline, heart racing, scary, intriguing, informative but with a sense of humour that adds to the completeness of this novel.
The first book I have read by Sue, but I'm now hooked. If you want a read that keeps you on your toes, whilst looking over your shoulder at the same time this is one for you. Looking forward to reading her other books. Highly recommend this talented lady!
One person found this helpful
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Garry Rodgers
5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliantly-Told Psychological Thriller
Reviewed in Canada on November 12, 2015
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Lock your door. Turn up your lights. And prepare to thoroughly engross in one of the best reading rides you'll ever have. Sue Coletta's brilliantly told crime thriller, Marred, is the emotional, gut-tearing story of Sage Quintano's physical and psychological survival'first from a vicious sexual assault, then from the taunting stalk by a deranged serial killer who's abducted Sage's twin sister, Chloe.
Marred suspends you into a terrifying world through an incredibly well-structured plot. The characters are superbly developed. The dialogue is fast, sharp, and thoroughly convincing. The twists, turns, and hidden clues keep you immersed in pure story right from the heartbreaking prologue to an end you'll never see coming.
But what impressed me most'and this is coming from a person who spent a lifetime as a real-life homicide detective and forensic coroner'is the accuracy of detail in the crime scenes and how well woven the forensic evidence is.
If there were a six-star rating, I'd give it to Marred. And I'm predicting that Sue Coletta is going to be a household name in the crime thriller genre. She's just that good a writer!
~ Garry Rodgers, Retired homicide detective, forensic coroner, and bestselling crime writer.
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Gwen Saubak
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing read!
Reviewed in Canada on July 19, 2020
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It had me hooked from start to finish. Great details! Easy to follow. Very suspenseful. Had me on the edge of my seat. Couldn’t put it down. Highly recommend!
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R. Clarke
4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended rollercoaster read but beware blood.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2019
Verified Purchase
Review 4.4 stars

I was looking forward to reading this novel as I follow the author’s blog on crime. This was my genre and it’s a well-written and crafted novel. But I’m not sure I can take more graphic details though - even with the promise of corvids in the rest of the Grafton County series.

However, there was so much excellent elements that stood out and swept me along – most of the time.

The characters were memorable and complex. At the novel’s heart, bestselling author, Sage Quintano, who is living with the painful memories and secrets from three years earlier when a serial killer broke into her home. A past that drives her to resolve things for herself and to keep things from her husband.

Not easy when her husband, Niko is a homicide detective and Grafton County Sheriff. So, when a strange caller threatens her, she doesn’t tell Niko everything – enough to disturb me as the caller made rules about who to tell. I asked, ‘Will he ignore them too?’

Anyway, with a sadistic psychopath preying on innocent women, Niko has his own concerns – as do his team. The investigation with its clever introduction of forensics explores the evidence and the other officers.

The dynamic between the deputies is realistic, especially as promotion is at stake. I was rooting for Frankie, despite her ability to rub people up the wrong way. She was my kind of detective and I wanted more of her.

But we get more bodies marred in horrific ways instead. And more graphic detail which to me felt excessive. But that’s me and most readers will lap it up. It’s realistic and Sue Coletta’s knowledge of forensics and pathology is outstanding – and why I follow her blog.

It makes for a rollercoaster read, but I get scared on some rides and even in bloody movies. The other extreme from cringe cute cozies.

Back to Niko with all his problems – a sadistic psychopath, competing deputies, and Sage…
Despite his troubles, my reaction was, ‘Why are men so difficult?’ – we struggle to multi-task unlike women. I understood his frustration but wished he could do some lateral thinking.

Unlike Sage who joins the dots between the caller and the psychopath. And now, he has her twin sister, Chloe. Sage gets a clue to Chloe’s location and, as all mystery writers do, follows down the rabbit hole. But why? Distracted Sheriff husband? Her own secrets? The killer’s rules perhaps?
But I hesitated from reading on – like that moment in the horror movie when the teenager wanders off. Who was braver Sage or me? I eventually had to keep reading.

And the plot twists kept coming – in ways I never saw coming. The tension builds. The resolution and revelation of the psychopath are unexpected – and ingenious.

There is so much to look forward to in the ongoing Grafton County series with superb characters to savour. So, I would recommend this novel from an author that researches crime meticulously – even if I felt too swamped to tackle more gore for now.

Story – four stars
Setting/World-building – five stars
Characters – five stars
Authenticity – five stars
Structure – four stars
Readability – four stars
Editing – four stars
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