Product Description

When Bess Grady and her sister arrive in Mexico on vacation they are expecting paradise. Instead they find every person in the village is dead, killed in a bloodless carnage. The sisters are aided only by a mysterious agent who holds the key to stopping a vicious weapon aimed at America.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1007297 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 344 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Iris Johansen's thrillers are like really good potato chips: there's not much nutritional value, but there's more than enough flavour and crunch to have you finishing a whole bag in one sitting. We first meet photojournalist Bess Grady on assignment in a war-ravaged town in Croatia, where we quickly learn about her toughness and vulnerability. Then we zoom to Bess and her physician sister Emily on a holiday jaunt to a remote town in Mexico. Unfortunately, Tenajo turns out be even more dangerous than Croatia: a nasty army officer named Esteban is conducting some kind of biological experiment that has killed off most of the population. When Emily disappears, Bess and a surviving baby girl are left in the ambiguous care of Kaldak, Esteban's hulking colleague, who might be an American or Israeli intelligence agent or just a lone lunatic with a private agenda. As in her previous thrillers (Long After Midnight and The Ugly Duckling are available in paperback), Johansen shows off her enviable ability to create moving characters and intense situations that rapidly overcome any lingering disbelief.

Customer Reviews

An okay read, but certainly not her best
After reading a few of Iris Johansen's books, like many authors, they begin to take on a bit of a format. In Johansen's case you know before you start reading that the heroine will be hard as nails (think Sarah Connor from Terminator or Ripley from Aliens) and that the hero will have a heart of stone that is gradually melted as the book goes on. 'And Then you Die' is no exception to the rule and Bess Grady, a stubborn photojournalist, intent on exposing the horrors of the world, does little to elicit the readers sympathy, even after everything she goes through.

After discovering the inhabitants of a small Mexican village all dead, Bess reluctantly joins forces with the mysterious and calculating Kaldak - a man who brings new meaning to the word frigid - to first escape and then find a way to catch the man responsible for the atrocity.

There is not much description of either character, and except for learning that Bess has shortish blondish hair and that Kaldak looks a little like Frankenstein's monster (a romantic hero, hey?), it's difficult to lift either of them off the page. That said, the plot was interesting and moved along at a nice pace. If this is your first liaison with Johansen though, I'd recommend you instead choose her much superior 'Face of Deception'.

spys,disaster and love.
when photojournalist bess grady and her sister arrive in tenajo, mexico, they are expecting to find a piece of paradise.but they are greeted by a scene from hell: every single person in the small town is dead,victims of a bloodless carnage in the first stage of a plan to spread terror and destruction.
to stop the ruthless conspirators, bess must join forces with the intimidating stranger who leads her out of tenajo. a man whose motives are suspect and whose alliances are unclear. for she will do anything to save her sister, her family and untold thousands of innocent lives.
this is an exhilirating story from start to finish and so close to the truth at the moment it is quite frightening.this is a typical iris johansen as in that the book does not get into espionage, but rather delves into a compelling thriller with a little dose of love and compassion.a very enjoyable book, one that i am glad i had the chance to read.

i had to read other iris johansen books it was so good
I loved this book - the plot was so twisting and the characters so intense. The story of the love between Bess and Kaldak was very heart-rending and I couldn't put it down the whole time!!