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HUSH
Penguin/NAL 2002
What's your greatest fear?
It's criminal profiler Ivy Dunlap's job to unravel the psyches of the most dangerous men alive. None haunts her dreams more than the killer who took her son's life sixteen years ago, then silently disappeared into the dark. Now an urgent request for help from the Chicago police has reawakened Ivy's greatest nightmare. The Madonna Murderer has returned to fulfill his calling. This time Ivy understands the killer and will face her greatest fear to stop him from killing again.
Publishers Weekly
Few serial killers penned by suspense writers today are as warped or as fully realized as the Madonna Murderer, who preys on newborn baby boys and their unwed mothers. As if the crime itself isn't bad enough, the killer leaves a musical snow globe that plays "Hush, Little Baby" in the infant's crib as his calling card. It has been nearly two decades since Ivy Dunlap and her infant son were victimized by the Madonna Murderer. Unbeknownst to the killer, Ivy survived the assault. Her baby didn't. Now a respected criminal psychologist, Ivy is called into service by the Chicago P.D. when the killer resurfaces after 16 years of dormancy. Her personal interest in the case takes on a sharper edge when she learns that her partner, Detective Max Irving, has a son named Ethan who is the same age her child would have been had he survived. When Ivy tries to rattle the Madonna Murderer by publishing a "dead-baby letter" in the newspaper, the killer becomes more daring; he befriends Ethan, sends Ivy a chunk of his skin bearing a tattoo and expands his profile of victims. Although some readers may be turned off by the novel's graphic nature, a wealth of procedural detail, a heart-thumping finale and two scarred but indelible protagonists make this a first-rate debut.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Publishers Weekly, April 15, 2002
...a wealth of procedural detail, a heart-thumping finale and two scarred but indelible protagonists make this a first-rate debut.
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SLEEP TIGHT
Penuin/NAL 2003
Wake up, little darling. Do you like what you see?
He's looking for the perfect woman. Someone who won't disappoint him, like so many have before. Someone who'll love him. Someone who won't have to die for her mistakes. Give up, little darling. FBI agent Mary Cantrell has been called to Minneapolis to hunt down a killer. It's shaking her to the core, and reviving dreadful memories. Years ago, her best friend was murdered. Now the man convicted of the crime, Gavin Hitchcock, is free -- and Mary's own sister Gillian, a local cop, has befriended him. No one can hear you scream but me. As each clue leads them closer to Hitchcock, Mary and Gillian set themselves up as the perfect target -- and the perfect trap. Unless Mary's own past is blinding her to an unimaginable truth....and plunging her into a waking nightmare.
Publishers Weekly
Women who dye their hair blonde may think twice before heading to the salon after reading Frasier's (Hush) enthralling thriller about a serial killer who plucks the eyes out of his young blonde victims and grafts rose stems onto their fingers-all in an effort to create the perfect woman. Minneapolis FBI agent Mary Cantrell has a personal interest in the latest string of murders taking place in her hometown. The killer may very well be an old high school classmate named Gavin Hitchcock, who was convicted of raping and murdering her best friend and then released after serving nine years in prison. But when the abductions persist even after Gavin is returned to custody, Mary's sister, Gillian, a local cop who's befriended Gavin and believes him to be innocent, goes undercover to trap the real killer. Some vivid autopsy scenes may turn the stomachs of the squeamish, but there's a lot more to this clever intrigue than graphic police procedures. Indeed, one of Frasier's many strengths is her ability create characters and relationships that are as compelling as the mystery itself. From the estranged Cantrell sisters and their broad-minded mother to Mary's handsome partner and the troubled Gavin, Frasier's well-rounded characters will linger with readers long after the killer is caught.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Publishers Weekly Reviews, March 17, 2003
"Frasier's well-rounded characters will linger with readers long after the killer is caught."
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PLAY DEAD
Penguin/NAL 2004
Her USA Today bestseller, SLEEP TIGHT, was called "compelling and real - a great read," by Andrea Kane. "Guaranteed to keep you awake at night," raved Lisa Jackson. With her newest novel, Anne Frasier will really take your breath away... Watch your back, Elise. No one understands the dark side of Savannah better than homicide detective Elise Sandburg. As an infant, she was thought to be the daughter of a famous root doctor-and was abandoned in an ancient Low Country cemetery. Growing up, she was haunted by her possible connection to the local Gullah culture-with its spells and voodoo. Now, however, there's a twisted killer on the loose, and the city is gripped by terror. Someone is using a substance that leaves its victims in a state that mimics death. As their bodies slip into an irreversible paralysis, their minds remain fully, shockingly awake. Before you wake up dead. Step by step, Elise's relentless chase for the killer draws her straight back into the world she most fears. And now, to stop a murderer, she must confront the truth about her own past in ways she never could have imagined...
Publishers Weekly
Frasier (Sleep Tight, etc.) has perfected the art of making a reader's skin crawl, which is evident from this book's very first scene, in which a medical examiner discovers in the midst of an autopsy that the cadaver he's working on is really a live person. Set in Savannah, Ga., this exceptional thriller follows the hunt for the deranged person who's drugging people so that their minds remain wide awake even as their bodies resemble death. The creepiness factor increases when Frasier introduces homicide detective Elise Sandburg, who was abandoned in a cemetery as a baby and who knows Gullah spells and culture. Elise's partner, anti-social David Gould, is equally strange; his past holds secrets so dark he should be under psychiatric care. Formerly with the FBI, Gould currently lives in a rundown, foul-smelling apartment and sleeps with a prostitute who works for a voodoo priestess. As the two detectives follow leads to the priestess and the former college professor who researched the drug, they forge a tentative bond and come to terms with their own troubled pasts. Frasier's characters are not only fully realized, but fascinating to boot, and she evokes the dark, mystical side of Savannah with precision and skill. Appropriately, this unsettling tale closes with a grim children's rhyme and a spell for "Elise's Follow-Me-Boy Mojo."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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BEFORE I WAKE
Penguin/NAL 2005
Caught between dreams and reality... A madman murdered her family, leaving her a shadow of the woman she once was. So one-time criminal profiler Arden Davis did the only thing she could: She volunteered for an experiment to wipe out the horrific memories that haunted her every waking moment. But the experiment wasn’t quite the success they predicted—and now Arden is left sifting through random memories, trying to distinguish dreams from reality. Then one night, Special Agent Nathan Fury shows up on her doorstep with an urgent appeal for help. She awakes to a living nightmare... The murderer, it turns out, is still on the streets. This time, Arden will risk everything—even her own sanity—to lure the killer out of hiding. Even if it means the killer is closer than she thought. Even if she herself becomes the number-one suspect…
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PALE IMMORTAL
Penguin/NAL 2006
The sleepy town of Tuonela, Wisconsin, is known for one thing: the killer who stalked its streets one hundred years ago, drinking the blood of his victims. And when the drained corpse of a young girl is found, the citizens fear their past has risen from the grave -- and point their fingers at one man.... Evan Stroud can never see the light of day. The prisoner of a strange and terrible disease, he lives in tragic solitude, taunted for being a "vampire" --until the son he never knew he had shows up in Tuonela, and is drawn into its depraved, vampire-obsessed underworld. Then Evan must rely on his childhood friend, coroner Rachel Burton, for help. But the evil that they face is powerful and elusive -- and about to take them to the very edge of madness.
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GARDEN OF DARKNESS
Penguin/NAL 2007
Return to the haunted town of Tuonela, Wisconsin, with the USA Today bestselling author of Pale Immortal. And find out if the rumors are true.
Rachel Burton tried to leave, but the killing brought her back. The skinned body was found in the woods, just as Rachel—the town medical examiner—was driving out of Tuonela for good, or so she thought. Now her baby will be born here, and the betrayal of Evan Stroud—the man she’s always loved, the man who can never see the light of day—will continue to haunt her waking and sleeping hours…
Others are coming to Tuonela, drawn to the legend of the Pale Immortal, the so-called vampire whose exhumed body is now on display. And others will die. As Evan succumbs to madness, those around him will suspect the worst of him. But everything he is rumored to be will pale in comparison to the one who has been awakened…
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one-line plot descriptions
THE PUBLIC DISPLAY OF A MUMMIFIED VAMPIRE AND THE DISCOVERY OF A MASS GRAVE COMBINE TO AWAKEN DARK ELEMENTS IN THE TOWN OF TUONELA, WISCONSIN.
2007
PALE IMMORTAL
A BODY IS FOUND DRAINED OF BLOOD AND RESIDENTS OF TUONELA, WISCONSIN, FEAR THE RETURN OF THE PALE IMMORTAL, A VAMPIRE WHO HAS BEEN DEAD A HUNDRED YEARS.
2006
HUSH
A WOMAN HELPS TRACK DOWN THE CHICAGO SERIAL KILLER WHO MURDERED HER INFANT SIXTEEN YEARS EARLIER.
2002
SLEEP TIGHT
ESTRANGED SISTERS REUNITE TO CATCH A MINNEAPOLIS KILLER.
2003
PLAY DEAD
SOMEONE IS DRUGGING SAVANNAH RESIDENTS WITH A SUBSTANCE THAT MIMICS DEATH.
2004
BEFORE I WAKE
AN EX CRIMINAL PROFILER UNDERGOES A DANGEROUS EXPERIMENT TO RESTORE HER BLEACHED MEMORY IN ORDER TO CATCH THE MAN WHO MURDERED HER FAMILY.
2005
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