The Dead Place

by: Rebecca Drake

Published by: Pinnacle Books/ Kensington Publishing Group (August 26 release)

Reviewed by Kathy Perschmann

Rebecca Drake, author of The Next Killing and Don’t be Afraid, has created another chilling thriller. Kate and Ian Corbin have moved from Manhattan with their teen-age daughter Grace to the idyllic small college town of Wickfield. Ian is the new Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Kate is a successful painter in Manhattan who was finally talked into leaving New York after she was attacked and raped in her studio, fracturing her relationship with her husband, making her a recluse and stifling her painting. Grace, after entering high school, has become difficult, rebellious, distant, sullen and obsessed with a totally unsuitable older boy. The move to Wickfield should be beneficial for them all.

Instead, Kate becomes obsessed with her eccentric older neighbor, who she is convinced is behind the disappearance and murder of at least two local college girls. OOOH, she is embarrassed when the girl she sees him usher into his house in the middle of the night turns out to be his sister. The police have her pegged as an unstable busybody. So when Grace disappears, everyone assumes it is just more rebellion, and possibly she has run off with her Damien, who has been kicked out by his parents and is on his way to California. Kate is frantic, and when she receives her daughter’s piano charm necklace along with a taunting note in the mail, she thinks the police will finally take her seriously. But will they? What can she possibly do on her own? Does her husband also think she is crazy enough to make all this up?

NOTE: The rape and torture scenes, while short, are very graphic. I did skim over them as they were just too uncomfortable to read. The book is well written, full of spine-tingling psychological suspense.

Armchair Interviews says: Mystery, suspense and thrills designed to make the reader turn the pages quickly.

Author’s Web site: http://www.Rebecca-Drake.com