Touching Evil

June 18, 2001
The first installment of Hooper's "Evil" series capitalizes on the popularity of her gothic "Shadows" thrillers (Out of the Shadows; Stealing Shadows) but will disappoint readers who are longing for more than a simple retelling of a familiar plot. When two seers, an empath and a ghost join forces to rid Seattle of a monster, two predictable things occur: the characters spend more time trying to convince skeptics of their powers than solving the case, and the heroine, Maggie Barnes, becomes one of the fiend's next targets. Maggie is a talented police sketch artist and a troubled empath. Although her ability to experience another's pain enables her to sketch an uncanny likeness of a perpetrator's face, she's unable to draw the face of a rapist who removes his victims' eyes, wears a mask and covers his natural odor with Ivory soap. Frustrated by the police's lack of progress, John Garrett, the wealthy and well-connected brother of one of the victims, recruits two FBI agents who possess special psychic abilities. The lack of communication between the police, John's team and Maggie is frustrating, and for all the novel's buildup, the final unmasking of evil is anticlimactic. A romantic interlude between Maggie and John lends the story a degree of warmth, but not enough to lift this paranormal thriller above the tepid. (Aug. 28)Forecast:National radio and print advertising will buoy the sales of this lackluster title, but it won't match the success of Hooper's acclaimed Shadows series.

A serial rapist has Seattle in a panic. Maggie Barnes, empathic sketch artist for the police, is usually able to draw accurate composites from the details she garners by entering the victims' minds and "seeing" what they saw. This time, however, the rapist blinds his victims before brutally assaulting them, leaving Maggie at a loss. Alyssa Bresnahan's tone and tempo provide subtle shading to Hooper's terrifying tale. Bresnahan brings credibility to John Garrett, whose sister was attacked; to the FBI's Psychic Task Force; and to the physically and emotionally scarred victims. The violence may be excessively graphic and the conclusion too contrived, but the combination of a monstrous villain, suspense, romance, and a touch of the paranormal and Alyssa Bresnahan's spot-on performance makes this a chilling listening experience. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine