SILENT KILLER
Beverly Barton
Zebra
Romantic Suspense
ISBN: 9781420100501
In Dunmore, Alabama, a community where secrets, lies and gossip vie for top honors, a deranged killer is on the loose, hell bent on exacting revenge against members of the clergy for their sins, real or imagined.
Cathy Cantrell, a once fragile and compliant wife and mother, returns to Dunmore, Alabama, after being hospitalized due to a mental breakdown after witnessing the horrifying (and unsolved) murder of her minister husband, Mark. Now mentally and physically strong, Cathy is determined to regain custody of her teenage son, Seth, whom she lost after being sent away. But her in-laws, the current legal guardians of the boy, don’t want to relinquish control. And to make matters worse, Cathy’s own mother sides with the in-laws against her. With nowhere else to turn, Cathy moves in with long-time friend Lorrie Hammonds. But not all is as it seems with Lorrie as she has been keeping some secrets from her old friend.
Also returning home to Dunmore is Jackson “Jack” Perdue, a war veteran, whose arrival is bittersweet as he has been badly wounded in battle. Jack, who has never forgotten or stopped loving Cathy, is hired by the local sheriff to work on the unsolved murder of Mark Cantrell. But Jack has his own problems to deal with after he moves back into his old family home, where he struggles to overcome battlefield scars and erase painful memories of his past. When attacks by the deranged killer escalate, Jack calls on his sister Maleah, an investigator with the Powell Agency, and former FBI profiler Derek Lawrence, for assistance. Even with outside expert help, the killer eludes capture and the murders continue.
Can Jack solve Mark’s murder, capture the twisted serial killer, and win back Cathy’s love?
Beverly Barton writes with a deft hand about small-town living and big-time secrets. SILENT KILLER is an engaging and romantic suspense novel filled with painful memories, graphic murders, vivid sex, hypocrisy, vengeance, and the destructive power of secrets. What is particularly satisfying about this book is that, while Barton portrays the power some clergy members have for the potential of abuse, she also shows their positive influence and the good works they do. She crafts an engaging story, one that has twists and surprises that will keep even the most astute readers guessing until the very end.
--- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt (dvolkenannt@charter.net)
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