Following a vicious attack, a woman solves her own murder in Holly Jackson novel

“Not Quite Dead Yet” by Holly Jackson (Bantam)

After the shattering conclusion of “Not Quite Dead Yet,” author Holly Jackson addresses her readers this way: “… and breathe. Sorry. I know that was intense.”

This is the first adult suspense novel by Jackson, the author of popular young-adult fiction including “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” and it is emotionally wrenching from start to finish.

The unforgettable protagonist is Jet Mason, a 27-year-old woman still living with her parents in Woodstock, Vermont. She’s can’t seem to get her life started — has never finished anything including law school. “I’ll do it later,” she always says. “I have plenty of time.”

But she doesn’t.

Returning home after a Halloween party, she is attacked, her skull smashed with a hammer. When she wakes up in the hospital, she receives shocking news. Her surgeon was unable to remove a tiny bone fragment resting against a major blood vessel in her brain. If it remains there, it will cause a fatal brain aneurysm within seven days. If they try to remove it, they must act now, but she has only a remote chance of survival.

Her doctor tells her that she must choose.

Jet decides against surgery. With just seven days left, she is determined to finally finish something. Before she dies, she will solve her own murder.

Leaving home to escape her mother’s constant pleas to have the surgery, Jet teams up with Billy, a sweet young man who has loved her since they were children, and together they set out to unmask the killer.

Jet never imagined that she had enemies, but before long the police have arrested JJ, a former boyfriend who had never gotten over her. All but sure the police got it wrong, Jet persists, uncovering a series of family and small-town secrets that reveal an abundance of motives and suspects.

The result is a fast-paced, intensely suspenseful race against time populated by an impressive collection of well-drawn characters. And in the end, the young woman who never finished anything emerges as a model of intelligence, courage, resilience and decency. Bruce DeSilva, MDT/AP