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    Promise Not to Tell: A Novel
    Promise Not to Tell: A Novel
    Promise Not to Tell: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    Promise Not to Tell: A Novel

    Written by Jennifer McMahon

    Narrated by Karen White, Kathleen McInerney and Caitlin Davies

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    A woman’s past and present collide with unexpected results in this hauntingly beautiful debut novel set in rural Vermont.

    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 classmates as “Potato Girl”—was brutally slain. Del’s killer was never found, while the victim has since achieved immortality in local legends and ghost stories. Now, as this new murder investigation draws Kate irresistibly in, her past and present collide in terrifying, unexpected ways. Because nothing is quite what it seems . . . and the grim specters of her youth are far from forgotten.

    More than just a murder mystery, Jennifer McMahon’s extraordinary debut novel, Promise Not to Tell, is a story of friendship and family, devotion and betrayal—tautly written, deeply insightful, beautifully evocative, and utterly unforgettable.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateNov 29, 2016
    ISBN9780062568755
    Author

    Jennifer McMahon

    Jennifer McMahon is the author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Children on the Hill, Promise Not to Tell, and The Winter People. She lives in Florida with her partner, Drea. Visit her at Jennifer-McMahon.com or connect with her on Instagram @JenniferMcMahonWrites and Facebook @JenniferMcMahonBooks.

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    Reviews for Promise Not to Tell

    3.5/5

    472 ratings49 reviews

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    • 3/5
      As an audiobook the voice of the narrator is so important to me. I just could not stand the narrator reading kates part. I usually like McMahon a lot but this story was slow, the monotone of the reader did not help
    • 5/5
      I like books that keep to the point. They don't add a lot of sex to it They don't add a lot of gore to it they don't add a lot of curse words to it. This was a good story to read and listen to even in front of my kids.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this novel. The twist caught me by surprise.
    • 4/5
      Really fun paranormal thriller. This is the author's first book and not as good as the others I've read of hers but a great first novel. I usually don't like paranormal events in my murder thrillers but this worked for me as it was a side element and the killer was very much indeed a real person. I always enjoy the device of having a past crime and current one meshed together like this and it really kept me on my toes. I was able to figure out who the killer was but not until close to the reveal.
    • 4/5
      This one scared the pants off me, but despite the nightmares it was incredibly hard to put down and I finished it very quickly. This is the the story of the potato girl who is murdered and then turned into a rural legend after her death. Then someone else is murdered thirty years later in the exact same way and a small Vermont town is shook to its core and dirty little secrets from the past come tumbling out. Relationships, bullying, and questioning yourself in this well written, scary novel. Great book but shiver the potato girl haunted me to the very finish.
    • 1/5
      A ghost? Really? Lame. I was hoping for an actual explanation
    • 4/5
      Kate, who grew up somewhat unconventionally in a teepee within a small hippie-type community in rural Vermont, lives with the haunting memory of the unsolved murder of a childhood friend. Now, years later she returns to Vermont to attend to her aging mother, who has developed Alzheimer's. But shortly after arriving, another young girl is found murdered, the details of which are eerily similar to those that occurred when Kate's friend was killed all those years ago. McMahon has written several novels within the past 10+ years, but this was her debut. It's a fairly quick, easy read -- a thriller with a little bit of supernatural woven through. It was enjoyable enough, though I guessed the "whodunnit" fairly early, which I'm typically embarrassingly not known for. I've got most of her other novels on my TBR stack, and I did enjoy this one enough to want to read her others.
    • 4/5
      A pretty good thriller, and it takes place in VT. Is that why I picked it up at the used bookstore? I don't remember. But I enjoyed it. It's a fast and easy read, scary but not bad enough that I had nightmares. I'd read others by this author.
    • 3/5
      Told in past and present narratives. A murder of a young girl takes place in each era. There are some great characters in this story. I thought the character of Del was quite interesting. There is a ghost story aspect to this novel which I really liked, it brought more suspense to an otherwise somewhat ordinary story. This is a quick read for sure. I you are looking for a murder thriller, there are better ones out there.
    • 5/5
      Ohhhh what a good who-done-it / ghost story. I'd like to give it 4.5 stars, not sure why I won't give it 5...? Maybe bc it's yet another ghost story and I'm getting my fill of those lately. I'd recommend for sure if you like these sort of stories.
    • 3/5
      Closer to a 3.5--I keep wishing a half star were an option! This book is basically a story from the past and a story from the present with alternating chapters. Using that device pulls the reader through the book. I wasn't surprised by who the "bad guy" was in the ending, but I was surprised by the ending. A nice, quick mystery read with a touch of the supernatural and interesting characters and setting.
    • 1/5
      I might have liked the book better if the author would not have jumped round so much. It was difficult to follow the characters and the plot.It is a story of a young, poor girl who is murdered. Called the potato girl in nasty snide, taunting remarks, years after her murder, rumors still abound regarding the belief she returns to the woods where she was killed and haunts the area.She had few friends. The story is told from the perspective of one of her friends who betrayed her and jumped into the nasty fray of bullying before she was murdered. This haunts her friend who returns to the area to get her mother settled into a nursing homeThere is a stab at an attempted romance, a deaf man who is a tattoo artist, a mother afflicted with dementia, a school nurse who seems to have a lack luster life, and some left over hippies from a commune. All this is spread throughout the plot of who killed the potato girl.This is not a book I liked. I can't recommend it.
    • 4/5
      Promise Not to Tell was McMahon's debut?!!Once again McMahon nailed atmosphere and characters. She really gets adolescence, best friends, first loves, the turmoil of being an outcast, the burden of secrets. That intuition manifests a story filled with people not characters. And the seeming ease with which she elicits setting: a character I felt I knew immediately without an official introduction. All topped off with a mystery that refused to let me put it aside for too long.A true storyteller. I simply cannot wait to read more of McMahon's books.4 stars
    • 5/5
      Similar to "Dark Places" this book took a little time to get going but was well worth the effort. I bought this book for $4.00 at Powell's and it was better than most books costing four time this. Yes you figure out who the killer is before any of the characters in the book do, but the story continues with a god deal of suspense to keep you reading until the end. Time to go back to Powell's for other books by this author.
    • 4/5
      This book instantly hooked me. I loved the writing and the characters. It was a short read but I loved every second of it
    • 4/5
      Good, quick, enjoyable read. I like McMahon's writing style and the back in forth in time isn't hard to follow. She also does creepy very well. I don't think the characters all very well fleshed out in this story. Some of them seem like real creeps one moment, but I'm supposed to think they are normal and good the next. Maybe she did that to confuse the issue?
    • 4/5
      Kate was just a kid growing up on a commune in Vermont when her best friend Del, "the potato girl" was murdered. Impoverished and from a terrible home, Kate had refused to acknowledge Del as her friend as a kid, as that would have caused social ostracization at a crucial time when Kate needed to fit in. After Del's murder, legends of the Potato Girl haunting the area had taken over. Years later, at age 41,Kate is summoned back to the commune to take care of her ailing mother, whose Alzheimer's has led her to require 24 hour care. Upon her return, however, another young girl is found murdered, in an almost identical manner to the way that Del was found. As Kate tries to get to the bottom of some strange events that begin to happen, she begins to revisit her past and those who were around when Del was murdered. In doing so, Kate can't help but believe that Del's spirit is the one guiding her to find the murderer.This novel was spooky and twisted, with an overlap of supernatural. I thought it was pretty enjoyable and a quick read. The author did a good job of creating suspence and integrating local cultural phenomena.
    • 2/5
      Kate Cypher, a 41-year-old, returns home to take care of business regarding her mother's care. There is a murder upon her arrival, and it brings up questions regarding an unsolved murder that took place when Kate lived there as a child.There was very little I liked about this book. Although, I did enjoy all the parts regarding the commune in which Kate lived as a child - that saved the book for me. All the rest - just didn't hit me the right way. After looking forward to reading this since it came out, I was quite disappointed.Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy
    • 4/5
      Finished it last Wednesday December 2nd and I did enjoy it although i was quick to know who the killer was. Easy to figure out but all in all an enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      For the most part, it was an interesting and well-written mystery about murdered children. But the supernatural element was not my cup of tea. At first, I thought (hoped) that the 'ghost' would be explained and would turn out to be just a case of mistaken identity or an optical illusion, but when it turned into a full-blown case of a woman's body taken over by the ghost of a dead child, I was quite disappointed. A good read if you like ghost stories...
    • 5/5
      Because of this book, I promptly went out and got all her other novels. Warning, her books cannot be put down so plan your day...or night accordingly.
    • 5/5
      excellent read--very suspenseful. I admired the way that the author gives you details in just the right places--never too much, never too little. It builds from a story into a mystery before you realize it. I will be looking forward to her next book.
    • 3/5
      This short little thriller was just not my cup of tea. I see I am in the minority here so by all means check it out. The story is about middle aged Kate who returns to the town she grew up in Vermont to take care of her ailing mother. The town is also the sight of her fifth grade friend's murder and thirty years later it seems the murderer is striking again. Sound familiar?, yeah it did to me too. Too many rehashed old plot points. I have heard this referred to as a "creepy" read but it was just a boring one for me. As soon as Kate hit the cabin in the woods and read the message on the floor I had it the murderer figured out. The rest was rather predictable while the supernatural element seemed like it was tacked on. I like a little more suspense in my thrillers. Check out Jennifer McMahon's guest post at my friend's book blog Stephanie's Written Word. Stephanie had a more favorable review of the book than I did.
    • 4/5
      A compelling mystery that keeps you guessing right until the end.
    • 4/5
      I must admit the potato girl was creepy. This story was a good mix, suspense, mystery, drama, ghosts. There were so many possible answers to "who did it", that I didn't have it all figured out. I enjoyed the way that the two stories were tied together. A new favorite author of mine!
    • 5/5
      This is a story about a woman whose friend was murdered when they were very young. The killer was never caught. When she returns home to help with her mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, another girl is murdered in the same way. It seems as though it is the first victim, the Potato Girl, who has grown to local urban legend status. And it seems that the Potato Girl is trying to set up Kate, the woman who just returned home.I found this book to be very engrossing. I just could not seem to put the book down. It is such a great read, and I would highly recommend this book to mystery and thriller lovers.
    • 3/5
      Decent enough debut thriller with supernatureal overtones. McMahon's writing follows a pretty straight and narrow path, but books of this type are typically not read for their scintillating prose. The use of a rural "urban" legend to set up the premise hooks the reader and the character of the Potato Girl is definitely chilling. However, the remaining characters didn't strike me as memorable nor sympathetic. I found some actions the characters take, particularly the tattooing scene, to be implausible.In the end, I was engaged enough to want to find out what happened, but I can't recommend the book any more enthusiastically. There are lots of other authors writing in the same genre doing it better. Perhaps Ms. McMahon's output improves from here.
    • 3/5
      Kate Cypher, 41, is an elementary-school nurse living in Seattle. As the books opens, Kate has gone back to the small town she grew up in to take care of her Alzheimer's-inflicted mother, Jean. The day Kate returns, a 13-year-old girl is murdered in the woods near the run-down commune where Kate grew up and where her mother still lives. This is a copycat murder to one 30 years earlier when Kate's friend Del was killed. The book has a good start with a lot of back story about Kate and Del but then turns fairly ordinary with a too-quick ending.
    • 4/5
      A murder mystery that surprised me by turning into a ghost story. I was looking for a scary, creepy book to read, and I definitely found it with this novel. I'm sad to admit I had to finish this book in the morning because I got too creeped out reading it at night!
    • 3/5
      I don't usually enjoy mysteries, but as this book has such excellent reviews, decided to give it a try.Kate has returned to the small Vermont town where she grew up to deal with her mother's worsening Alzheimer's. While there, a killing chillingly similar to the one that happened when she was 12 yrs old occurs. And then other odd things begin to happen as well. Spooky!The book pulled me in right away. I really loved the "alternate" chapter format with the past and the present.That said, the book sort of lost me around 3/4 of it. I was surprised that I figured it out, and found it didn't continue its wonderful pull and promise that it showed in the beginning.It was well written, however, and I found her descriptions and character development to be excellent. Was amazed that this was a debut novel. Great promise from Ms Mcmahon.