The Shadow Hunter

Recluse Raymond Hickle has his sick sights set on Kris Barwood, the stunning Los Angeles news anchor. Meanwhile, freelance private detective Abby Sinclair is hired to stalk the stalker. She moves into Hickle's apartment building, befriends him, spies on him and draws out the deepest secrets from him--all in the hopes of stopping him from eventually killing Barwood. Hickle's secret informant, Barwood's cheating husband, Sinclair's suspicious lover and a botched stalker case from four months ago further complicate matters. The story appears as if it's going to climax near the three-quarters point of the book, but then Prescott (Comes the Dark) plants a series of twists and turns that keeps his novel going strong for more than 100 additional pages. In fact, so convincing is Prescott's prose that it's initially difficult to accept that the primary plot surprise isn't a bluff by one of the main characters. By the time all the shadows have been hunted, only two are captured and killed. But while a low body count may be uncommon in some modern-day thrillers, the technique works in Prescott's favor, enabling him to weave brilliant elements of psychological horror into the standard hunter-and-hunted story. Agent, Jane Dystel. (June)