Under the Beetle's Cellar

Starred review from July 31, 1995
Walker, whose The Red Scream won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of 1994, returns with a knockout novel that may send her back for another bow in '95. This time, Texas journalist Molly Cates is drawn into a headline-grabbing multiple kidnapping: religious fanatic and self-proclaimed prophet Samuel Mordecai has abducted 11 Austin elementary schoolchildren and their bus driver. The children and the driver, Walter Demming, are being held in another bus buried beneath a barn on the heavily protected compound of the Hearth (``earth with an h, which stands for heaven,'' says Mordecai) Nazarenes until the end of the world--a mere 50 days away, according to Mordecai's prophecy. Joining the action on day 45, Walker moves her story both forward and back, holding her readers with two narrative threads: one traces Demming's and the children's dark endurance under the earth; the other moves with Molly as she delves into Mordecai's past to help the feds and the cops (the latter of whom include her former husband, who is also her current lover) understand Mordecai's intentions. Readers quickly become attached to the private, utterly believable Demming, a Vietnam vet, and to the brave, alternately defeated and defiant, youngsters, one of whom suffers from severe asthma. Above ground, Molly bends her own rules to uncover the circumstances of Mordecai's birth and childhood, which figure prominently in his religious fantasies. With unerring pacing and a vivid supporting cast (including a frustrated FBI negotiator and a cunning killer operative who is a former nun), Walker leads up to her superbly orchestrated final act, which will leave readers cheering, weeping and gasping for breath. Mystery Guild selection; paperback rights to Bantam; author tour.

This psychological thriller will chill the listener to the bone. A group of fanatical, right-wing religious extremists kidnaps 11 children and their bus driver. Reporter Molly Cates races against time to find and rescue them. Judith Ivey performs this story with an incredible number of voices and accents, each carefully crafted for the appropriate character. Samuel Mordecai, the fanatics' leader, is particular strident. Ivey captures the New York City and Hispanic accents as easily as the Southern Texas twangs. Music dramatizes the performance and the horror of the situation. The story line is disturbing, but the performance is worthy of the best suspense novel. M.B.K. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine