Product Description
Makedde Vanderwall, part-time model and forensic psychology student always attracts the wrong type of man. When she travels to Sydney on assignment and finds her best friend murdered, she soon discovers a deadly puzzle of suspicious photographers, hired thugs, mysterious lovers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Not Worth It
FETISH is the first novel by Tara Moss, who was a 25-year old fashion model at the time of its publication.According to her website, Ms. Moss is apparently Australia's top selling crime writer, which is what led me to give her work a try.

This novel is readable, but it's pretty unoriginal.This is a typical serial killer story, and many of the scenes in this book are familiar and predictable.The characterization is pretty cardboard and much of the dialogue is pretty flat.I read a lot of crime fiction, and you can do much better than this -- early Patricia Cornwell, Kathy Reichs, Harlan Coben, James Patterson, and Michael Connelly are all far superior choices.

What makes this novel interesting is that it takes place in Australia and provides some insight into the world of fashion modeling.If either of those subjects interest you, then you may want to give this novel a try.Otherwise, my advice is to skip FETISH, since there are far better books out there worth your time.

Impressive beginning
Mak, a model for the past 11 years (although not the waifish kind - Mak often has inner dialogues with herself about feeling almost guilty about the fact that she actually has curves) and a student of forensic psychology, has arrived in Australia to model for a few months and visit her friend Cat.Unfortunately, things don't work out quite as she has planned - Cat has been the victim of a serial killer who has now focused on Mak as his next victim.

This is a refreshing new idea and Mak is a different kind of heroine; I'm interested to see where Tara Moss takes Makedde Vanderwall.

Fetish
Beautiful model and forensic psych student Makedde "Mak" Vanderwall travels to Australia for a photo shoot and to visit her best friend Catherine. When she arrives Catherine has been brutally murdered by the Stiletto Murderer - a sadistic killer with a penchant for stiletto shoes.Suspects are thin on the ground and Mak, the daughter of a cop, finds herself drawn into the case, and soon becomes the killer's next target...
Fetish is an excellent debut novel written by 25 year old Moss, who has gone on to become Australia's number one selling crime writer and has won a number of awards for her writing.Her style is pacy, sexy and modern, painting an authentic backdrop of both police investigation and the sometimes unglamorous world of modeling.Recommended.

Wanting more.
Whether you are into Sherlock Holmes, Montaillou, metaphysics, library design or "The thing from the Crypt" - you will love it. The central character finds herself in frightening events and behind the crimes lie mystery which will leave you wanting more.

A very smart thriller!
I could not put this book down. Moss has created an amazing and fast-paced debut novel that is full of suspense, mystery, romance, and blood, and it is funny at times too! This is not your typical serial killer story. I hope Moss keeps writing well-researched thrillers like this, because I want to keep reading them. ... Read more

Product Description
Mak Vanderwall - a beautiful, street-smart daughter of a cop, graduate in forensic psychology, and now PI - is hired by a frantic, widowed mother to track down her missing nineteen-year-old son. Is it really possible that he has run off with a shady and bizarre troupe of French cabaret artistes?Has the dark beauty and magic of the burlesque beguiled him? Or has he been seduced by the mysterious and amoral older woman, who has a terrifying starring role in the troupe's modern performances of the Grand Guignol 'Theatre of Fear'? And what of the rumours of violence and tragedy that has plagued the troupe for the last ten years? Are these stories of their horrifying past fact or fiction?Meanwhile, Mak is increasingly obsessed with the powerful and ruthless Cavanagh family. And it seems their security advisor Mr White and his hitman, Luther Hand, may not have forgotten about her either. ... Read more

Product Description
Two and a half years after her ordeal at the hands of the 'Stiletto Murderer', Ed Brown, Makedde Vanderwall must face her demons once again as she flies into Sydney for Brown's trial - and faces her one-time lover, the jaded Sydney detective Andy Flynn. But days before the trial is set to commence, the unthinkable happens - Ed Brown makes a daring escape, aided and abetted by one of his warders. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

fascinating crime thriller
It has been eighteen months since Ed Brown the "Stiletto Killer" of nine women was caught after he kidnapped and tortured Canadian model Makedde Vanderwall.All the women he butchered wore stiletto heels like his mother used to before the incident he caused that put her in a wheelchair because she no longer had legs.Mak is leaving Canada and heading to Australia to be the star witness for the prosecution since she was the only victim who survived Ed's torture.

She testifies on the first day of the trial but in the middle of her testimony Ed Brown confesses that he is guilty on all counts of murder.In exchange for certain privileges, he leads the police to a place where he says a victim lies that the police never discovered.It is a trap and when an incendiary device explodes, Ed escapes.Makedde is scared out of her wits because she knows Brown is fixated on her. She hops on the first plane to Hong Kong for a modeling assignment.Ed, with the help of the prison guard he befriended, follows her and the two come together in a confrontation in which only one of them is left standing.

Tara Moss is Australia's answer to Patricia Cornwell.Her characters are multi-faceted and run the gamut from pure good to pure evil.The scenes in which Ed Brown is the prime player are the most interesting because readers get to see how his twisted mind thinks.Makedde is a beautiful amazon with a high IQ who runs from danger that makes her even more believable than the rest of the characters because she knows Ed Brown is too dangerous for her to be on the same continent with.This is a fascinating crime thriller that contains a feeling of ever spreading danger.

Harriet Klausner

An enthusiastically recommended addition for community library audiobook and mystery/suspense collections.
Eighteen months after her ordeal at the hands of the sadistic 'Stiletto Murderer', fashion model and forensic psychology student Makedde Vanderwall must confront her demons when she returns to Sydney for the trial. But just as the verdict is handed down, the unthinkable happens - the homicidal maniac escapes and Makedde is his target once again. This is the basic plot of a truly riveting suspense novel by award-winning mystery writer Tara Moss who draws upon her own expertise as a former international model to craft a well-honed romantic thriller that will engage the listeners's total attention from beginning to end. This flawlessly recorded, 9 hour 45 minute, 10 CD audiobook features the author's own narration and is an enthusiastically recommended addition for community library audiobook and mystery/suspense collections. ... Read more

Product Description
Makedde Vanderwall has her PhD and is ready to begin her new life in Australia with her detective boyfriend Andy Flynn. Hoping to scrape together some extra cash to start her own forensic psychology practice, Mak begins working part-time for an infamous Sydney private investigator. With a knack of investigation and bending the law, she might just have stumbled across her true calling - and the career choice that could break up her relationship once and for all.Then Mak is hired by a mysterious client to investigate the murder of A-list PA Meaghan Wallace. The police believe it's an open and shut case but Mak discovers that it's a lot more complicated, uncovering a dangerous web of deceit, killers for hire and the sleazy underworld of the powerful and dabauched rich. ... Read more

Product Description
Following her ordeal with a serial psychopath in Fetish, femme fatale Makedde Vanderwall picks herself up and heads back to Canada with her father. She returns to her studies in forensic psychology, gets some therapy and thinks her life is back to normal...Then girls start disappearing from her class and her ex from Australia turns up... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Not much there...
I'll start with the good: the plot was reasonably interesting, and it certainly held my attention at times. Some of the characters were unusual and quirky, which was nice. Throughout most of the book I wanted to keep reading and find out what happened next.

However, Split broke down in a lot of ways. The characterization was inconsistent; sometimes I had trouble believing someone was the same person from scene to scene. The internal monologues were overlong and tedious, drawing out the various characters' moping and wallowing until I just wanted to tell them to get over it and move the hell on.

There was a distinct lack of chemistry between characters who needed it. I had difficulty believing that Mak and Andy were so irresistibly drawn to each other (not helped by the fact that Andy was a very one-dimensional character), and had almost as much difficulty believing that Mak and her new boyfriend were getting on so well. Side characters came and went with little reason. Mak's lesbian friend appeared partway through the book (after enough time had passed, frankly, that by the time she showed up I was shocked to find out Mak had any friends) and only stayed long enough to serve as the requisite shocking, funny, sex-crazed gay friend.

The interminable interior monologues marred the book in other ways as well. For one, they hid the fact that when you strip them away, there really isn't a huge amount of plot to this book and very little mystery either. For another, they derailed the pacing at ever opportunity, even during the climax of the book. Yes, the climax of this thriller/mystery got derailed by interior monologue. That's about the worst thing you can do to a book of this genre; after all, you can commit many other sins, but you'll be forgiven if you have a gripping climax. If not... Well.

This isn't a horrid book, certainly not one of the worst I've read, but I don't particularly recommend it either. Nothing about it is particularly interesting or gripping, and parts of it are downright boring--one of the last things you want to hear about a `thriller.'

A decent follow-up
The sequel to "Fetish," "Split" was a decent story, although it didn't dazzle me the way the debut story did.Makedde is back in Vacouver, BC and a year has passed since the tramautic events in Australia - she is trying to put them behind her, but she continues to have nightmares, and is suffering from insomnia.Being a student of forensic psychology and with plans to work with law enforcement officers with help them with PTSD, among other things, does she seek professional help herself?Nope - she denies she even has a problem to everyone.*rolling eyes*This is pretty much what bugged me about this book - her self-denial of the problem and reluctance to seek assistance for her issues after what happened to her in the previous book.Not only that, but her attitude toward Andy really bothered me - but that is just me.To reduce my rating by a full star because the attitude of the main character bothered me is strange, I know, but it did reduce the enjoyment of the book for me.

However, the story is good - a serial killer is stalking the college campus; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discover shallow graves containing three bodies, all shot through the back of the head.It doesn't seem to be quite execution style - one officer suggests that it almost seems like hunting.The action heats up when Andy arrives with his mentor from Quantico to attend a panel about psychopaths and they are asked to assist.

I hope that this series is continued.I think that there is a lot of promise here.

Split
In the second bestseller by young crime writer Tara Moss, her heroine Mak Vanderwall is back at uni to get her Forensic Psychology PhD at the University of Vancouver and to try to move on from the dramatic events in the first novel Fetish. She suffers insomnia and paranoia which eventually ends up being more than warranted as her 'psycho magnet' qualities draws her into the path of another killer.The dark forests on the outskirts of Vancouver make for a frightening setting as the killer grabs his victims and sets them out into the woods to be hunted like animals. Mak must use her wits and strength to survive his terrible game...


Mak is a wonderful, feisty female protaganist and a pleasure to read.I enjoyed this novel and look forward to the next one in the series.Recommended.

Split
In the second bestseller by young crime writer Tara Moss, her heroine Mak Vanderwall is back at uni to get her Forensic Psychology PhD at the University of Vancouver and to try to move on from the dramatic events in the first novel Fetish. She suffers insomnia and paranoia which eventually ends up being more than warranted as her 'psycho magnet' qualities draws her into the path of another killer.The dark forests on the outskirts of Vancouver make for a frightening setting as the killer grabs his victims and sets them out into the woods to be hunted like animals. Mak must use her wits and strength to survive his terrible game...


Mak is a wonderful, feisty female protaganist and a pleasure to read.I enjoyed this novel and look forward to the next one in the series.Recommended.

One to watch.
The follow up to 'Fetish' only reinforces this author's credibility as a crime writer of note- and "one to watch".
Mystery and crime are woven together as a thriller which keeps the pace up and won't let you put the book down. A great read. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Meaghan Waller, Noot Seear, Liskula Cohen, Tara Moss, Jesse Capelli, Alice Panikian, Yasmin Warsame, Malgosia Majewska, Christina Schmidt, Tijana Arnautović, Lisa Cant, Heather Marks, Rachel Roberts, Melissa Wolf, Saira Mohan, Neelam Verma, Amanda Mackay, Rebecca Hardy, Tasha Tilberg, Inga Skaya, Lily Kwan, Nancy Anne Sakovich, Lynne Kushnirenko, Kelly Craig, Sara Ghulam, Julia Voth, Cara Wakelin, Tammy Plante, Kim Cloutier, Pamela Gordon, Leanne Baird, Julia Dunstall, Venessa Fisher, Tracy Tweed, Danielle House, Gary Archibald, Juliana Thiessen Day, Vanessa Perron, Andrew Stetson, Danielle de Vabre, Sylvie Garant, Tailor James, Karen Dianne Baldwin, Ashley Hart, Kristine Winder, Marla Boehr, Sherylynn Butt, Cameron Shore, Kimberley Stanfield, Virve Reid, Eleonora Dimakos, Ehrinn Cummings, Chelah Horsdal, Christine Demeter, Brittany Leigh. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Meaghan DeWarrenne-Waller (born October 16, 1989) best known as Meaghan Waller, is a Canadian fashion model, best known for winning Canada's Next Top Model, Cycle 3. Meaghan was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At two years old, she moved, and was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She attended Oak Park High School in Winnipeg and was an architecture student at the University of Manitoba before appearing on Canada's Next Top Model Meaghan has a septum piercing and collarbone piercings. She has also worked at American Apparel and currently works at Swank Boutique. Meaghan got scouted when she was working retail in Winnipeg. A model agent came in and asked to meet up. At first, she said "no" but she called back and Meaghan finally went in for some pictures and they sent them to Top Model. Because they held no Canada's Next Top Model auditions in Winnipeg, she boarded an early morning fli...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=25326149 ... Read more

Product Description
Makedde Vanderwall es atractiva inteligente y ejerce de modelo para pagarse sus estudios de Psicologia Forense. Pero detras de su ingenio y de su encantadora sonrisa se esconde una mujer asustada acosada por terribles pesadillas y por el recuerdo del detective Andy Flynn el ex amante que la salvo de un asesino en serie en Sidney. Al regresar a su hogar en Vancouver se encuentra una ciudad presa del panico: un psicopata esta matando a las estudiantes del campus y Mak puede ser la proxima victima. ... Read more