"Not Quite Dead Yet" by Holly Jackson. Bantam via AP

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

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