cover image Sleeping with Fear

Sleeping with Fear

Kay Hooper, . . Bantam, $25 (292pp) ISBN 978-0-553-80318-1

Psychic FBI agent Riley Crane wakes up one afternoon covered in blood (not her own), with a pounding headache and no memory of the last three weeks—or her clairvoyant sense. In this third fast-paced installation of Hooper's Fear trilogy (after Chill of Fear ), Riley is on assignment on Opal Island off the coast of South Carolina, summoned there by her ex-army friend, Gordon Skinner, to investigate possible occult activity. Despite her haziness on the investigation's details to date—including her apparent romantic involvement with Sheriff Jake Ballard—she persuades her boss, Noah Bishop, chief of the FBI Special Crimes Unit, to let her stay to "stabilize" the situation, which just got bloodier with another brutal murder. Vulnerable and unable to trust herself or those around her, Riley perseveres in an investigation that could prove deadly. Hooper keeps the suspense dialed up as Riley experiences brief flashes of memory, visions of satanic rites and continued blackouts. Regardless of their appetite for the paranormal, readers will be mesmerized by a plot that moves quickly to a chilling conclusion. (July)