Thursday, June 4, 2015

In The Air Tonight - Lori Handeland

In The Air Tonight
Lori Handeland
St. Martin’s, Jun 2 2015, $7.99
ISBN: 9781250020123

Four hundred years ago in Scotland, King James’ Chief Witch Hunter Roland McHugh and two of his Venatore Mali subordinates accuse Prudence and Henry Taggert of sacrificing innocent people in order to birth the devil’s spawn.  Pious people know that multiple births like the Taggert triplets can only happen if the devil enables evil.  As the parents face their funeral pyre, they cast one last spell that leaves three men holding empty blankets that a moment earlier contained their female babies.

An investigation into a murder by an apparent serial killer sends New Orleans homicide detective Bobby Doucet to New Bergin, Wisconsin where a similar killing occurred.  He soon finds an obsessed lunatic who wants to kill schoolteacher Raye Larsen.  Bobby wants to know why Raye, whose dark hair and eyes make her look like an outsider amidst the blonde-blue Scandinavian community.  Already concealing her unique ability to communicate with ghosts after overhearing her adopted father’s concerns when she was a child, Raye begins to learn that her unknown heritage leaves her and two previously unaware of siblings at risk.

The first Sisters of the Craft romantic urban fantasy is a thrilling opening act as Lori Handeland deftly merges ghosts, serial killer, detecting, love and much more into an exhilarating storyline.  Although Bobby’s role takes too long to gel, readers will relish this suspenseful thriller due to the bewildered heroine struggling to accept each new revelation that drains her emotionally at a time when she needs diligent alertness to stay alive.


Harriet Klausner

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