Book ~ "Freak" (2012) Jennifer Hillier

From Goodreads ~ Sitting alone in a maximum-security prison cell, Abby Maddox is a celebrity. Her claim to fame is the envy of every freak on the outside: she’s the former lover of Ethan Wolfe, the killer who left more than a dozen dead women in his wake and nearly added Puget Sound State professor Sheila Tao to the tally. Now Abby, serving a nine-year sentence for slashing a police officer’s throat in a moment of rage, has little human contact - save for the letters that pour in from demented fans, lunatics, and creeps. But a new wave of murders has given Abby a possible chance for a plea bargain - because this killer has been sending her love letters, and carving a message on the bodies of the victims: Free Abby Maddox.

Jerry Isaac will never forget the attack - or his attacker. The hideous scarring and tortured speech are daily reminders that the one-time Seattle PD officer, now a private investigator, is just lucky to be alive. Abby Maddox deserves to rot in jail - forever, as far as Jerry’s concerned. But she alone may possess crucial evidence - letters from this newest killer - that could crack open the disturbing case. With the help of Professor Sheila Tao, seasoned police detective Mike Torrance, and intuitive criminology student Danny Mercy, Jerry must coax the shattering truth from isolated, dangerous Abby Maddox. Can he put the pieces together before Abby’s number one fan takes another life in the name of a killer’s perverted idea of justice?

Ethan had been a teaching assistant to Sheila, a professor, and they had an affair. When she broke up with him, he didn't take it well and he kidnapped her. They were eventually found and Ethan was killed. Ethan had apparently killed many women and it is suspected that Abby, his girlfriend, was also involved, though she denies it. She is serving a nine year sentence in prison for slashing the throat of Jerry, a private detective, so she could escape when it was discovered what Ethan had done.

A year later, women who look like Abby are murdered and "Free Abby Maddox" is carved into their backs. Abby agrees to help catch the murderer if she is moved into a minimum security prison. As much as Jerry despises Abby for what she did to him, he agrees to help Mike, his ex-partner police officer, in doing what he has to do to save women's lives.

I've liked other books by this author and thought this one was ridiculous. It is written in third person perspective with a focus on where the action was. It was unbelievable how Abby was able to manipulate everyone just so she could get revenge on Sheila. It was gross how Jerry kept scratching at is scar. Though it is second in the Creep series, it works as a stand alone but I would suggest you read the first one first so you get the full background. As a head's up, there is swearing and extreme violence.