Novels
Peculiar Politics
Originally published in hardcover by Marion Boyars Publishers, Ltd.
Now available in paperback from the Authors Guild Backinprint program.
“Wonderfully funny and terribly true.” –Fay Weldon
"In this deliciously amusing, multi-barbed novel, condom-carrying New York City yuppies assess one another…with hilarious intensity. Hank Lowe, a rising star in his law firm, swings between love for and disgust with Christine Lustgarden, who has browbeaten him into marriage because she’s pregnant. Hank’s client Mike Blitsky (aka Mike Mauvais), a transvestite pimp who runs a ‘call boy’ services, is writing an autobiography that Hank’s ex-fiancée Dawn (whom he still loves) is editing. Dawn enlists her friend Katherine—an English lit scholar whose entangled love life makes the N.Y.C. subway map look simple—to dig up information on Mike’s dark, sordid childhood. The finale, a wedding ceremony, is laugh-aloud funny.” --Publishers Weekly
Soul Catcher
Originally published in hardcover by Marion Boyars Publishers, Ltd.
Now available in paperback from the Authors Guild Backinprint program.
Soul Catcher is the story of a teenage love affair that flourishes in idealism and perishes in addiction. Thetime is the mid-1970’s, the place a progressive East Coast boarding school. Some students crash, others survive in the struggle to grow up in a society lost to a free-for-all of drugs, sex and psychological faddism; lost in a detached decade between the idealistic 60’s and the cynical 80’s; lost to a lonely search for self in a world of shattered families.
“Spiegelman has created a realistic, believable boarding school, where adolescent angst and the trauma of growing up at a breakneck pace is presented…as the difficult transition it is.” –Small Press Magazine
Here She Lies
Onyx (Penguin) paperback, 2007
When she discovers e-mail evidence of her husband's infidelity, Annie Milliken is shattered. Dismissing his pleas of innocence, she takes their baby daughter and goes to the one person she has always trusted: her twin sister, Julie. Annie and her sister soon become as close as they were growing up, spending their days together, dressing the same, sharing the baby. But when Annie applies for a job, everything comes undone. Her credit cards are stolen just as she's arrested for grand larceny. The police realize she is the victim of identity theft, but she has yet to understand the true scale of the crime. For when Annie turns to Julie for help, she finds that her twin sister has disappeared...along with her baby. Now, with her daughter--and her own life--on the line, Annie is going to fight for what is hers.
"Besides being a great thriller, HERE SHE LIES gives readers an incredible look at the consequences of identity theft and how it impacts the victims. Annie’s love for her sterile twin is so strong and so deep that thinking bad thoughts about her sibling feels like a betrayal of the person she loves most next to her daughter. Bobby is a great character willing to be dominated by a stronger woman. Kate Pepper rolls up the tension in this cleverly written suspense laden urban crime thriller."
-–Harriet Klausner, Amazon’s #1 reviewer
"If you love Alfred Hitchcock classic mysteries, then do not hesitate to buy this book. Just when you think you know what is going on, a new twist springs a fresh revelation on you. Not until the very last page do the shocks end. This is a fascinating read, plain and simple." --Amanda Killgore, Huntress Reviews
One Cold Night
Onyx (Penguin) paperback, 2006
New York Police detective Dave Strauss is haunted by the one case he couldn't solve. A schoolgirl vanished off the streets of New York, with only a trail of blood and a series of untraceable phone calls from ''the groom'' hinting at her fate. Now the cold dark night has engulfed another young girl...but this time she is part of Dave's family. He and his wife, Susan, know fourteen year old Lisa has not run away, and they know her disappearance is not just a tragic coincidence. And once the first phone call comes, they know she's not alone....
"Fast pacing, shocking twists, and startling revelations and an exciting storyline are only some of the reasons the audience will enjoy this chilling thriller."
--Harriet Klausner, Amazon's #1 reviewer
"ONE COLD NIGHT is one of those fast-paced weekend reads, with some wonderful law enforcement characters...a great common-man deconstruction of Nabokov’s LOLITA, and – at its core – a heart that cares about the people within its pages."
--Mark Rose, Bookgasm.com
Seven Minutes to Noon
Signet (Penguin) paperback, 2005
On a day that seems perfectly ordinary, Alice Halpern waits for her best friend at the playground where they always meet with their children in their comfortable Brooklyn neighborhood. But when Lauren doesn't come, and then fails to pick her son up from school, a normal day turns into a nightmare--and Alice begins to realize that nothing will ever be ordinary again.
"Kate Pepper was quite a hit with her debut suspenser Five Days in Summer and she keeps up the pace with Seven Minutes to Noon...Nail-biting stuff. "
--Mystery Lovers.com
"In this highly suspenseful domestic mystery, readers are treated to the terrifying aftermath of secure and cozy lives gone chillingly wrong. Likable characters, plenty of suspects, and a relatively shocking ending that stuns and thrills..." --Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader
Seven Minutes to Noon starts off running, and never stops until the end. A tightly woven plot keeps the story flowing...You'll startle at every strange sound as you read Kate Pepper's second book. Best not to be alone when turning the pages..." --Mary Ann Smyth, BookLoons.com
Hear an author interview about Seven Minutes to Noon at Written Voices.com
Five Days in Summer
Onyx (Penguin) paperback, 2004
Before the long drive home from vacation, Emily Parker made a quick run to the grocery store...and disappeared. When her car is found abandoned in the parking lot, her husband, Will, turns to a retired FBI profiler named John Geary for help. As her family scours the Cape for her, Emily's thoughts are not on her own safety. Kept helpless in a madman's lair, she watches him prepare a five-day countdown that will bring him to his real victim -- her seven-year-old son....
USA Today Bestseller
Barnes & Noble Staff Pick: Top 10 Thrillers of 2004
#1 Paperback Bestseller in Germany
"Taut, clean storytelling."--Publishers Weekly
"A gripping, poignant portrait of an innocent family caught in a nightmare of evil."--Anne Frasier, Author of Play Dead
"Mesmerizing...Your heart will be pounding long after you've turned the final page."--Lisa Gardner, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Killing Hour
"A new force to reckon with in...suspense. Strikes terror into a lazy summer day."--Donna Anders, Author of Night Stalker
"I put Five Days in Summer aside only once...to make sure my doors were locked."--Barbara Parker, New York Times Bestselling Author of Suspicion of Madness
"Five Days in Summer has it all--an attractive female detective, a crusty FBI profiler, and the scariest killer you'll never want to meet." --Leslie Glass, Author of The Killing Gift