Publication Date: March 4, 2025
I have one thing to do before I die.
And time is running out.
I had it all: a fantastic husband, two great kids, an exciting career. And then, at the age of forty-three, I found out I would be dead before my next birthday.
My mother also died young. I was seventeen, and she warned me that women would flock to my suddenly single father like stray cats to an overturned milk truck. They did. And one absolutely evil woman practically destroyed his life, mine, and my sister’s.
I am not letting that happen to my family.
I have three months, and I plan to spend every waking minute searching for the perfect woman to take my place as Alex’s wife, and mother to Kevin and Katie.
You’re probably thinking, She’ll never do it. Did I mention that in high school I was voted “Most Likely to Kill Someone to Get What She Wants”?
From thriller writer Marshall Karp (cocreator with James Patterson of the #1 New York Times bestselling NYPD Red series), and rich with Karp’s deft array of three-dimensional characters and his signature biting humor, Don’t Tell Me How to Die has so many twists and turns, you’d swear he wrote it with a corkscrew.
The Novels Alive site showcases books of all shapes and sizes rated on a five-point scale. When you hit that top category, the only real way to distinguish what level of greatness the book falls in is to read beyond the rating scale. It’s rare, but there are times when I will come across a title that deserves a mark even higher than our standard scale.
Don’t Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp is one of those books. The plot is quite innovative. Maggie Dunn has spent more than 25 years knowing that she could contract the same blood disease that killed her mother. When she gets the news at age 43, she is determined to learn from her mother’s mistakes and ensure that her beloved husband and family are taken care of. In fact, she is planning to select her successor before she dies.
We don’t have to take Maggie’s word regarding her mother’s lack of planning. Instead, the storyline takes us back in time as witnesses to the impact losing her mother had on the family. Women came out of the woodwork to console Maggie’s father, who, unfortunately, made a dreadful choice.
The storyline itself flows smoothly, incorporating plenty of irony as it unfolds. However, the author adds some rather unexpected twists that push the story into unexpected territory. The result is a rich blend of suspense and psychological intensity as Maggie realizes her carefully controlled life is a source of chaos.
Taking an unexpected direction puts weight on the various characters to maintain the momentum, which they do incredibly well. Rather than considering the past and present separately, the author skillfully intertwines them with a secret that finally comes to light.
Don’t Tell Me How to Die delivers a divine reading experience equivalent to a meal that hits the spot at a Michelin-rated restaurant.
MARSHALL KARP is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, TV and screenwriter, documentarian, and playwright. Teaming up with James Patterson, Marshall cocreated and cowrote the NYPD Red series. After six bestsellers, Marshall has carried the series forward on his own, beginning with NYPD Red 7: The Murder Sorority (starred review Publishers Weekly). He is also the author of the critically acclaimed Lomax and Biggs Mysteries and the thriller Snowstorm in August. In 2024, Marshall wrote and directed a documentary, Bipolar Within, the story of one man’s harrowing but inspiring journey from the depths of depression to a life brimming with creative energy and promise. The film is available as a message of hope for all those whose lives have been touched by bipolar disorder (https://tinyurl.com/
