New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Joy Fielding tells the story of an ambitious journalist whose foray into the mind of a killer puts her own family in jeopardy. Charley Webb is a beautiful single mother who writes a successful and controversial column for the Palm Beach Post. She's spent years building an emotional wall against scathing critics, snooty neighbors, and her disapproving family. But when she receives a letter from Jill Rohmer, a young woman serving time on death row for the murders of three small children, her boundaries slowly begin to fade. Jill wants Charley to write her biography so that she can share the many hidden truths about the case that failed to surface during her trial. Seeing this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Charley begins her jour-ney into the mind of this deeply troubled woman. Her path takes a twisted turn, however, when the anonymous letters she's recently received from an angry reader evolve into threats, targeting her son and daughter. As Charley races against time to save her family, she begins to understand the value of her seemingly intru-sive neighbors, friends, and relatives. As she discovers, this network of flawed but loving people might just be her only hope of getting out alive. Filled with complex characters and a plot rich with intrigue, Charley's Web is Joy Fielding at her heart-skipping, mesmerizing best. Fresh off the solid thriller Heartstopper (2007), prolific, perennially best-selling Fielding delivers another suspenseful tale. Feisty Charley Webb is forever stirring up controversy with her popular column for the Palm Beach Post. But while her career is going great guns, her personal life is something of a struggle. She’s raising two children on her own, her satirical columns about her neighbors’ hobbies and opinions have not made her very popular in her residential community, and she has only recently reestablished a relationship with her mother, who abandoned the family when Charley was eight. When she is asked to write a biography of notorious female serial killer Jill Rohmer, whose victims were children, she sees it as a chance to take her career to the next level. However, she is unprepared for the emotional toll that her interviews with the wily felon will exact, and she begins to receive a series of e-mails threatening harm to her own children. Despite the repetitive and, at times, inane dialogue, Fielding turns her latest page-turner into a chillingly tense read while creating another winning lead in the smart-mouthed Charley. --Joanne Wilkinson Joy Fielding is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Still Life , Charley's Web , Heartstopper , See Jane Run , and other acclaimed novels. She divides her time between Toronto and Palm Beach, Florida. Visit her website at www.JoyFielding.com. Charley's Web A Novel By Joy Fielding Atria Copyright ©2008 Joy Fielding All right reserved. ISBN: 9780743296014 Chapter 1 FROM: Irate Reader TO: Charley@Charley'sWeb.com SUBJECT: YOU ARE THE WORST COLUMNIST EVER!!! Date: Mon. 22 Jan. 2007, 07:59:47-0500 Hey, Charley: Just a brief note to let you know that aside from being THE WORST COLUMNIST WHO EVER LIVED!!! you are quite possibly THE MOST SELF-ABSORBED WOMAN ON THE PLANET!!! It's obvious from your photograph -- the long, wavy, blond hair, the knowing glance from large, downcast eyes, the subtle smirk on those no doubt Restylane-enhanced lips -- that you think the sun rises and sets on your lovely shoulders. Your insipid columns about shopping for the perfect stilettos, searching for just the right shade of blush, and coping with the demands of a new personal trainer have only solidified my assessment. But what on earth would make you think there is anyone who is even moderately interested in learning about your latest foray into the world of the sublimely shallow -- a Brazilian wax?!!! Before your graphic and unnecessarily lurid description regarding the denuding of your nether region in Sunday's paper -- (WEBB SITE, Sunday, January 21) -- I actually had no idea there even was such a thing, let alone that any grown woman -- I know from a previous column that you celebrated your thirtieth birthday last March -- would willingly consent to such a barbaric procedure. I wonder how your poor father reacted when he read about his Harvard-educated daughter infantilizing her body in such a demeaning way. I wonder how your mother manages to hold her head up in front of her friends with the constant public airing of such private -- dare I say, pubic? -- matters. (At least they have two other daughters to keep their spirits buoyed!!! Kudos to Anne, incidentally, for the stunning success of her latest novel, Remember Love -- number 9 on the New York Times bestseller list, and climbing!!! And to Emily, who made such a lovely impression when she subbed for Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America last month!!!) Those are truly daughters to make any parent proud. An