Silver Falls

March 23, 2009
Bestseller Stuart (Tangled Lies
) delivers fast-paced, dark thrills in this straightforward suspense novel. Professor David Middleton has whisked traveling photographer Rachel Chapman off to sleepy Silver Falls, a small college town in the Pacific Northwest, promising stability for her and her teen daughter, Sophie. Newlywed Rachel soon starts to feel smothered by the gloomy weather and David’s repressive personality, which Sophie finds creepy and disturbing. Then David’s incredibly sexy brother, Caleb, comes home, and young blonde women who resemble Sophie start turning up dead. Rachel is torn between irresistible attraction to her brother-in-law and impatience when he tries to warn her about the serial killer. Stuart breaks little new ground, and readers may be slightly annoyed by the early revelation of the murderer’s identity as well as by Sophie outclassing ostensible protagonist Rachel in both brains and sass.

May 1, 2009
Rachel stops her vagabond ways as a freelance photographer and marries calm, almost boring David Middleton to give her 13-year-old daughter, Sophie, a normal lifeafter her best friend is murdered. Davids hometown of Silver Falls, Washington, looks like the perfect place for Rachel to finish raising Sophie. But what does thissmall-town paradise turn out to bebuta dark, gloomy, rain-soaked hamletharboring a serial killer. Whatbitter irony: in her haste to protect Sophie, Rachel has unwittinglyplaced her childin the predators lair. Only Davids black-sheep brother, Caleb, knows whats going on, but Rachel wont listen to his warnings. Heart-stopping suspense, a pervasive air of danger, and a truly creepy villain make this a mysterytoread with all the lights up high. The multitalented Stuart (Fire and Ice, 2008;Ice Storm, 2008) has spun a goose-bump-inducing tale of terror that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)