The Fifth Victim

The Fifth Victim
BEVERLY BARTON

A brutal serial killer targets a succession of five unsuspecting female victims in this new spine-tingling thriller from the Sunday Times bestseller author, Beverly Barton.One by one he kills them…With every kill, his strength increases. But this time is different. This time he has found his perfect fifth victim…Deep in Tennessee's Smoky Mountains, the victim lies, sacrificed on a makeshift altar - the gruesome work of a killer who has evaded the authorities across the country. FBI agent Dallas Sloan knows the scene all too well - just as he knows the killings won't stop. Not until there are four more bodies…Genny Madoc's 'sixth sense' has bought many of the town's residents to her isolated log cabin, looking for help. But now it's Genny who needs help from the disturbing visions she sees - images that are getting stronger and more violent each day …Dallas and Genny must band together, searching the town's darkest hidden secrets, before a twisted killer can complete a sinister plan that will destroy one of them once and for all.Prepared to be petrified in this dark and gripping thriller, for fans of Karen Rose and P.J. Tracy.

BEVERLY BARTON

THE FIFTH

VICTIM

Copyright

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

AVON

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London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in the U.S.A by Kensington Publishing Corp.

New York, NY, 2003

Copyright © Beverly Barton 2003

Beverly Barton asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9781847560636

Ebook Edition © May 2012 ISBN: 9780007287413

Version: 2018-05-29

To my precious niece, Ja’ Net Horton, who is as beautiful inside as she is outside. I remember the first time I saw her when she was a little beauty of eight and I was dating her uncle. I knew then that I wanted a little girl who looked like her – blond curls, blue eyes, and a sweet smile.

Table of Contents

Cover (#u7ea0e929-2d3c-50a1-9c1d-f309ceabffe9)

Title Page (#ua57ac239-4340-5e58-8198-407859efb150)

Copyright (#u80b08e14-0ebc-51c5-8db3-9551a68e3412)

Dedication (#udcf96ec4-9abd-5d26-8804-5eb7f0ce1d3e)

Prologue (#u706d13db-6165-54c2-a41e-787e046d4701)

Chapter 1 (#ubd2f9a18-acbe-5498-914a-b3c225d6983a)

Chapter 2 (#u22d61afa-0cde-5195-a875-ed4b21c73a6e)

Chapter 3 (#uccd2da40-6e38-5e68-9a15-7b896833d024)

Chapter 4 (#u8741c966-c829-5f89-8844-5a30bd063361)

Chapter 5 (#u557a91e1-a16a-5d58-9d19-1885be3a9dd0)

Chapter 6 (#ua306fc67-8594-5364-b588-8d61ac3f36ee)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)