Divine Evil

Clare Kimball, an industrial artist on everyone's buy list in the New York art world, returns to her hometown and finds new love with the town's sheriff, Cameron Rafferty, once the high school rebel. If this sounds like a typical Nora Roberts romance, let me assure you that it is not. Kimberly Farr molds the characters who drive this story of childhood nightmares and the occult. Farr's presentation of satanic rituals is chilling, especially when juxtaposed with the everyday events and characters in the story, such as a small-town parade and the joyous Annie, a mentally challenged 60-year-old who serves Cherry Smash and Oreos to her guests. K.A.T. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

August 31, 1992
Clare Kimball, an accomplished sculptor, is troubled by depression and the return of childhood nightmares. So she takes a break from New York City and heads for her sleepy hometown in Maryland, despite its association with her beloved father's violent but apparently accidental death. Cameron Rafferty, formerly the town hellion, is now the sheriff and faced with a puzzle: the century-old grave of an infant has been dug up. In fact, the grave was robbed by Satan worshipers; Clare's dreams date from the night in her childhood when she saw them performing a coven ceremony--and they know she saw them. Cam's problems are compounded when the mutilated corpse of his hated stepfather is discovered in a field after the two have a public fistfight. Cam and Clare are an engaging couple, but by relying on the most obvious plot complications, Roberts has made her latest romantic mystery a virtually no-thrills thriller. (Is there a single reader who won't prediet that Clare will end up in the coven's clutches?) Also, while this tale is about ritual murders instead of a serial killer, the work's marked similarities to last year's Carnal Innocence give it the feeling of being a rerun.