"Exciting paranormal police procedural"

FBI agent Quentin Hayes belongs to the Special Crime Unit where all the members have at lease one psychic skill used as an additional tool in their arsenal against criminals. Quentin has been haunted for twenty years by the death of Missy, his playmate at the Lodge, a secluded resort that caters to clients who want their privacy. Every so often, Quentin returns to try to solve Missy's murder; this time he has a real chance of doing so because Diana Brisco is there too.

Diana has believed all her life she is insane because she hears voices, suffers blackouts and sees things that aren't there. When Quentin meets her he knows immediately that she is a medium and her years in a drug stupor to cure her condition were a waste of time. Gradually Diana begins to believe and trust Quentin especially when the ghost of a child that disappeared at the Lodge leads her to his bones allowing him to pass on. Missy and others prepare Diana to fight the evil that has lived on at The Lodge for over a century and to send it to a place where it can't come back.

In Kay Hooper's universe evil is a tangible force that can be reincarnated or if it is strong enough possess the living being who has a medium psychic ability. Recurring characters from previous books gives readers a sense of continuity while treating them to an exciting paranormal police procedural that gives new meaning to the word dead. The author draws the reader into the storyline and once there they can't leave because they want to see what happens next in this thrill a minute chilling fantastic reading experience

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 17, 2005

Summary

New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper turns up the heat even as she chills readers to the bone with a new suspense novel that distills the essence of fear itself. In this relentless thriller, two psychics put more than their lives on the line to stop a killer darker and more evil than they could ever imagine. . . .

FBI agent Quentin Hayes always knew he had an unusual talent, even before he was recruited by Noah Bishop for the controversial Special Crimes Unit. But, as gifted as he is, for twenty years he's been haunted by a heartbreaking unsolved murder that took place at The Lodge, a secluded Victorian-era resort in Tennessee. Now he's returned one final time, determined to put the mystery to rest.

Diana Brisco has come there hoping to unlock the mystery of her troubled past. Instead, she is assailed by nightmares and the vision of a child who vanished from The Lodge years ago. And an FBI agent is trying to convince her that she isn't crazy but that she has a rare gift, a gift that could catch a killer.

Quentin knows that this is his last chance to solve a case that has become a dangerous obsession. But can he persuade Diana to help him, knowing what it could cost her? For something cold and dark and pure evil is stalking the grounds of The Lodge. Something Diana may not survive. Something Quentin never felt before: the chill of fear.