HUNTING FEAR by Kay Hooper
The novel HUNTING FEAR opens with a woman being buried alive. On the heels of this murder comes a scene where a man is decapitated. So if your gore tolerance is low you might want to skip Kay Hooper's new book. But if you like stories which deal with psychic phenomena then you will want to stay tuned.
Lucas Jordan is an FBI Agent in a very select group. He is part of a psychic team that operates in virtual secrecy. It is this group that is called in when a series of murders occur across the country and lastly in North Carolina. But they are not the only ones who show up in Clayton County, North Carolina. So does Samantha Burke. Burke is also known as Madam Zorina, the fortuneteller from a traveling carnival.
No one is happy to see her arrive on the scene until she states she has had a vision and has seen the next victim. That gets everyone's interest, and also a lot of people's skepticism.
This book is full of psychics and it takes all of them to hunt down the madman who is killing people as part of a game. Each victim is held for ransom, and then is killed when the ransom is paid. Lucas and his team are obsessed with stopping the killing and ending the game.
The problem with HUNTING FEAR is you feel you have stumbled into the middle of a story. There are many references to an earlier time when Lucas and Samantha were involved in another case. It impacts on this one and if you aren't familiar with the book in which this case took place you might feel a little left out of the loop.
The second flaw is that when the murderer's identity is discovered it is anti-climactic. There is no major confrontation, just a finalization of the plot. It is a let down to a story that has been fast-paced and interesting up to this point.
The good news is that two thirds of the book is gripping and will have you racing through the pages. That was enough to make me interested in seeing what Hooper's next book will be like. But if it has a weak ending she will be off my list of must read authors.
HUNTING FEAR is published by Bantam Books. It contains 338 pages and sells for $25.00.