Jeremy Cavalon and Lucy Walsh have been through hell during their lives with pasts that are the stuff nightmares are made of. Having grown up together, it wasn't that much of a stretch that they would suddenly realize that they're in love with each other. That realization led to their marriage and the beginning of their own family. Even that wasn't as happy as it should have been. Lucy has had two miscarriages and that has cast a bit of a damper on their life together.

Things start to look up when Lucy once again finds herself pregnant and has managed to make it through her seventh month. She and Jeremy both have to work, though he wants her to be able to quit and stay off of her feet. But Christmas is looming near and Lucy wants to keep working as long as she can. Things aren't perfect, but they're pretty good.

Then, almost simultaneously, they receive an eviction notice out of nowhere as well as the news that Jeremy's wealthy grandmother has apparently slipped and fallen in her bathroom,resulting in her death. This is sad news but also an answer as to where they'll live for a while. So they settle into the luxurious New York apartment in time for the holidays.

Lucy's brother, Ryan, has started a new relationship with a mystery woman that has promised to meet his family at Christmas. Even though Lucy finds it odd that the woman is so hesitant to meet Ryan's family, she accepts that her brother is finally happy with someone.

In the midst of all of these things, a murderer is methodically taking care of all the sinners in her life. This is a very dangerous person who sees Lucy and Jeremy as people that have taken something very precious from her; something only SHE was meant to have. She's taken her time in setting her plan in motion and it seems to be going well. Everyone that has ever "wronged" her will get what's coming to them as she takes her vengeance.

Will her diabolical plan reach its conclusion or will she be stopped in time to save Lucy, Jeremy and their baby?

I personally have been a Wendi Corsi Staub fan for years. I've probably read close to everything she's published and I can't recommend her enough to those that like suspenseful novels. HELL TO PAY is no exception. Ms. Staub has, once again, crafted a nerve jangling book that is really hard to put down until the last page.

Book Summary

And so it begins . . . again.

Survivors of a serial killer who invaded their childhood, Lucy Walsh and Jeremy Cavalon are married now, replacing nightmares of their terrifying past with joyful dreams of the upcoming birth of their first child. Fiercely determined to protect the fragile balance of their lives, Lucy doesn’t know that her new husband guards a deadly secret . . . or that an Act of God is about to unleash a vengeful fury.

For shell-shocked Lucy and Jeremy, the horrible death of a loved one is a tragic accident. But for a shadowy predator, it’s the first step toward completing a deadly mission that was interrupted so long ago. Now, at last, the members of the Walsh and Cavalon families will pay for their sins, one by one . . .