Cover Me in Darkness

October 24, 2016
In this disturbing suspense novel from Rendahl (Kernel of Truth, as Kristi Abbott), Lisa Framingham’s apparent suicide shocks her daughter, Amanda Sinclair, a lab tech at Chicago-based Bellefountaine Cosmetics. Years before, when Amanda was 17, she and her mother had been members of Patrick Collier’s cult, Children of the Greater God, until Lisa, who had mental health problems, killed Amanda’s three-year-old brother and was institutionalized. Meanwhile, Collier is now up for parole as he nears the end of a prison sentence for misuse of church funds. Among Lisa’s meager belongings, Amanda discovers items that make her think her mother was murdered. Threats starts to come in as her investigation deepens. Amanda finds solace in her job, doing product tests that could significantly boost Bellefountaine’s fortunes, until she uncovers a problem there as well. Pressure at work and home unexpectedly conjoin, driving emotionally fragile Amanda to the brink as the book builds to its melodramatic finish.

November 1, 2016

Amanda Sinclair thought she had left behind Patrick Collier and the Children of a Greater God cult after her mother killed her youngest brother and was institutionalized in Elgin, IL. But when her mother dies in an apparent suicide, Amanda's life begins to unravel. Someone breaks into her car and leaves behind a decapitated Spider-Man figurine; then she is shoved into traffic at a busy Chicago intersection. Even her quiet work life at a pharmaceutical company is no longer safe; Amanda believes someone is fudging data for a new drug and she is the perfect patsy. She teams up with her mother's psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Ashmore, to find out the truth of what really happened to her mother. VERDICT Better known for her lighthearted chick lit and paranormal series, Rendahl, who also writes romantic suspense under the Eileen Carr pseudonym and cozies as Kristi Abbott, has penned a hard-to-put-down psychological thriller that also offers a nuanced look at a damaged woman. Fans of Abigail Padgett's Blue McCarron series will add this one to their to-read list.

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