Worm Paperback – May 27, 2004

I bought this book years ago and have read it several times. Coming from the town of New Milford and knowing all the settings of the story made it more fun and personal. I truly enjoyed the characters and the mysteries surrounding the murders. It was fun trying to figure out the who, what, why of it.

I had purchase this book along with several others to give as gifts to family friends. I should not write a review of the book as I would be very biased. the Auther is my Daughter. I thought the book was great. The several places I purchased the book from delivered exactly as promised.

This was written with much love & care. It keeps you in suspense throughout. I wish she were alive to write more books of this kind.

Cindy Glander, Worm (iUniverse, 2004)While plagued with the usual typos one expects from an iUniverse release, and something of an overenthusiastic back-cover blurb writer (also typical of iUniverse), there's a lot to be liked in this little tale of a New England serial killer. The young Worm, a typical social outcast (there are a few at every school), grows up transformed by a stint in the army into a devoted police officer, befriended by his partner, Hank. Hank's best friend Sam had died as the victim of a random crime, and Hank promised to keep watch over Sam's son Maggie as the man died. Maggie took over Sam's pet store after Sam's death, and now Maggie is torn between an attraction for Jake and one for Frank, part-timer at the pet store who also works at the hardware store down the street. Amidst all this, Hank and Jake are tracking a serial killer in New Milford, Connecticut.Yep, a serial killer in Connecticut, and one whose motives are (to say the least) deeply odd, seeming almost random at the beginning of the story. This adds to the confusion at the beginning, of which there is a great deal. Once you've gotten to the point where you know the characters, however, things progress more smoothly. The mystery angle here is pretty stock stuff, as is the romance angle, and both get relatively predictable about halfway through the book. The pleasure in Worm, however, is seeing how the late Glander gets from the point where you realize who the killer is and who Maggie will end up in love with to getting to the actual scenes, and what sorts of obstacles will get thrown in everyone's way while getting from point A to point B.Worm isn't likely to grab you by the throat and proclaim itself the best mystery you've ever come across, but it's certainly good reading for those times when you're in need of a good, predictable genre piece that'll keep you turning the pages. ***

Cindy Glander uses the art of profiling (as in FBI serial killer profiling) to create a monstrous character that will have you cringing. Each death is cleverly disguised as an accident or suicide, which leaves you thinking, "How will they ever catch this guy if they don't even know to look for him?"This is an excellent novel which I found intriguing and well worth reading. It is a mystery and a psycho-thriller combined. I have been reading a lot of James Patterson and Dan Brown lately, so it's good to find another writer of mystery and suspense on the horizon.

I picked up this book because my New Milford Book club was reading this as our March pick. We picked it because it took place in our hometown. I was pleasantly surprised by this suspense filled book! The story is about a serial killer in a small New England Town and there are twists and turns that keep the reader intrigued. Once I hit the middle of the book I couldn't put the book down. While predictable, I found the story to be very well thought out and a great story.

Worm is the type of book that once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down. With a fast pace, an engaging storyline, and plenty of surprises and plot twists, it kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end. Worm is the story of Jake Allen, a small-town detective with a disturbing past, who finds himself in the middle of a hunt for a serial killer that only he believes exists. Bizarre deaths have been occurring throughout the town, and though they appear to be nothing more than accidents, Jake suspects there is something more sinister beneath it all. Central to the story is Maggie McCarthy, the owner of the town's pet store, who is completely innocent and unaware that she is the inspiration behind these vicious acts of violence. Interweaved throughout the story, we delve into Jake's past, to a time when he was an abused boy who went by the name of "Worm", both because of the thick glasses and turtlenecked sweaters he wore to hide his bruises, and his ability to mentally "split himself into two" whenever he was threatened. Worm starts out like a horror novel, morphs into a murder mystery, then culminates into a psychological thriller. I pride myself in figuring out "whodunnit" in mystery novels well before it is revealed, but in this case, I was completely fooled. You will be, too.

Worm is a psycho-thriller murder mystery novel by Cindy Glander that I couldn't put down until the end. It skillfully tergiversates amongst the various characters, leading the reader from one suspect to another. Basically, it is the journey of a psychologically damaged boy called Worm, his parents and their circle of friends, all intertwined with a girl named Maggie. The writer is skilled at surprising twists. For example, when a rabid animal attacks Sheila to her death, I pictured a large rabid dog performing the vicious acts; but in the end, it turns out to be a small squirrel. The juxtaposition of opposites, such as the little squirrel after passages about large rabid dogs, makes the book all the more interesting to read. On the one hand, Worm is a bit of a psycho, while Maggie is the innocent. She is humane to all animals and even runs a pet shop named Critters. Worm is a book about caring for your pets, and at the same time, interleaved, there is a story about a pitiful serial murderer. Or is it the other way around? I heartedly recommend this book to people who enjoy reading this genre.