Her Darkest Nightmare

Starred review from August 1, 2016
Ever since her high-school boyfriend, Jasper Moore, kidnapped, sexually assaulted, tortured, and killed Evelyn Talbot's three best friends and then tried to do the same thing to her, the mystery of why some people kill without remorse has haunted Evelyn. Now 20 years later, as the psychiatrist in charge of Hanover House, she has dedicated her life to finding out exactly what turns people into psychopaths. Of course, not everyone in the small Alaskan town of Hilltop is thrilled with living near a prison full of serial killers, especially Sergeant Amorak, the sole law-enforcement official. But when a local woman is brutally murdered, Evelyn and Amorak know they must put aside their professional and personal differences and work closely together to stop a cold-blooded killer. With plenty of white-knuckle plot twists that rival those seen on Criminal Minds, a sharply etched cast of characters, and a strong sensual thread woven throughout the story, the first in the new Dr. Evelyn Talbot series proves that best-selling Novak, author of the popular Whiskey Creek series, is as equally adept at crafting dark, intense suspense novels as she is at writing emotionally compelling love stories.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)