Waking Hours

August 15, 2011
Forensic psychiatrist Dani Harris teams with former football star and aspiring PI Tommy Gunderson to investigate the ritualistic murder of a girl in picturesque and wealthy East Salem, a fictional town in Westchester County, N.Y. Nightly visions, sleepwalking, and a midnight visit from a deranged woman prophesying in Latin hint at supernatural complications, while expensive private schools and corrupt lawyers try to stonewall the investigation. The rekindling of Dani and Tommy’s mutual unrequited high school crush develops in a series of painful teen-romance passages, but doesn’t distract too much from the pacing of the mystery. The book is loaded with overdramatic short sentences (“He turned on his flashlight. Felt with his hand. Something”) and the descriptions of technology are both obsessively detailed and frequently puzzling, but a truly chilling predator and some great snappy, funny dialogue will keep readers engaged. The conclusion sets the stage for two planned sequels.

Starred review from November 15, 2011

Dani Harris, a forensic psychologist, and Tommy Gunderson, a former NFL linebacker, team up to investigate the strange occurrences that are shaking up their small town of East Salem, NY. A brutally murdered high school girl, erased memories, an elderly woman with superhuman strength, and troubling nightly dreams all figure into the mystery. Could something more demonic than human be at work? VERDICT Partnering with Nelson (I Thought You Were Dead), Wiehl, author of the "Triple Threat" series (Heart of Ice), launches an exciting faith-based series that skillfully blends romantic tension, gripping supernatural suspense, and a brutal crime. A sure bet for fans of Frank Peretti and Terri Blackstock.

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