Chill of Fear by Kay Hooper Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Chill of Fear
Book Review: No Romance, No Detecting, No Common Sense
Summary: 2 Stars
Some people complain that this book has no romance. Others complain that the mystery is too dark. My complaint is that I don't know what world Kay Hooper's characters are operating in but it isn't our world. Never mind the fact that the major premise of this series is that there is a special unit of FBI agents who have psychic powers. I can live with that. I can live with them facing a host of otherworld nasties. What I can't put up with is the failure of basic common sense.
For instance. There is a maid at a fancy resort who is pregnant by one of the guests. She is worried about her pregnancy showing because she knows she is going to be fired. What!?! Then what will she do to support herself? What!?! First, if they fire her because she is pregnant she gets a lawyer and sues their money out of their pocket. She also notifies the father that he has another mouth to feed and had better get ready to hand over child support.
I've seen this nonesense in romance novels so often that I kind of expect it there, but this is not supposed to be a romance.
Now, as to the mystery part: this special FBI unit would be far better off if they would stop depending on their psychic abilities so much and do a little gum shoeing. A child is kidnapped and taken far from the place where she was last seen to a cabin in the mountains. Our dauntless FBI agents find her by psychic means (This isn't a spoiler, it's part of the back story) and 1) do not take the child to the hospital for examination; 2) do not call in forensic people to search and process the cabin for evidence of the identity of the abductor; and 3) do not seem to follow up at all in a rational, FBI sort of way.
So if you want no romance with all the romance nonsense about the way the world works, a mystery that could have been solved briskly with a little digging into the circumstances and characters that are paper thin at best, then grab this book at once.
Book Review: Not as Good
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a big Kay Hooper fan and have been looking forward to this installment since the day I finished the last one, last year. I am very dissappointed in this one, it wasn't quite worth the wait. I did enjoy it, but it doesn't have the grip her stories usually do. The characters didn't have the strong connections of most, they seemed to be lacking a little bit. The ending was unsatisfying for me. The interaction between Bishop and the other characters was almost nonexistant, and that was a little let down as well. In her other books he has always taken a big roll in the story even if it was behind the scenes. To see him left to minor mentions left the story out of balance to me. I will continue to read this series, but may not rush out on release day and drive around town to find it.Book Review: Paranormal thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
The Lodge, a Victorian-era resort set in remote Leisure, Tennessee is home to many secrets. FBI agent Quentin Hayes is a member of Noah Bishop's Special Crimes Unit. He has been coming to the The Lodge for over twenty years trying to unlock the secret to a murder that took place while he was visiting The Lodge as a young boy. Eight-year old Missy Turner was found strangled by Quentin twenty-five years ago. He is haunted by her death.
Diana Brisco has always thought she was on the verge of mental illness. Her family kept her medicated for most of her life. Finally in control of her own life and off all medication, she is at The Lodge trying to make peace with her abilities as a medium. At The Lodge, nightmares and blackouts involving a child plague Diana. After Quentin sees a drawing Diana drew, he realizes it is Missy. Together Quentin and Diana try to unlock the mystery surrounding several missing children and strange deaths surrounding The Lodge.
Kay Hooper's books are based on the paranormal.Quentin and Diana have wonderful chemistry and are engaging characters. The tertiary cast is comprised of spirits, which is rather unusual. The story is well paced with eerie suspense. This book is not for more pragmatic readers, but I found it an engaging story.
Book Review: Scatter Brained
Summary: 1 Stars
Normally I enjoy Hooper's books, particularily the SCU series. However, this book was a major disappointment. It was not in the least bit chilling or eerie - that was taken away by the writer's over-emphasis on trying to make the reader believe the 'science' of it. The characters didn't click and I found it very hard to be sympathetic towards any of them, as none were very detailed or real. The plot was thin, at best, and downright trite and coincidental at worst.
One reviewer likened it to the Shining - it lacks the power of that book - but is also very similar to Rose Red and she even has an eerily parellel phrase from IT towards the end. She also spattered in some 'Sixth Sense' and a few other well known books and movies. While it is true that all works can be likened to some other... this one is pretty obvious about it.
In the end, it was a motley mix in which she tried to pull off suspense/mystery/supernatural/thriller/romance and in trying to do all of it - failed at doing any of it well.
I do hope that she finds considerable more focus on her next work.
Book Review: She sees dead people.
Summary: 4 Stars
Kay Hooper's new thriller, "Chill of Fear," is a mystery with a paranormal twist. The book is set in Leisure, Tennessee, at a secluded resort called "The Lodge." This location has been the scene of numerous murders and disappearances over the years. One crime in particular has obsessed Quentin Hayes, a psychic and a member of the FBI's Special Crimes Unit, whose members use their extrasensory abilities as investigative tools. Hayes has spent a great deal of time over the years trying to find the killer of an eight-year-old girl named Missy; Quentin was a guest at the resort when Missy was murdered, twenty-five years ago.
Diana Brisco has recently arrived at the Lodge. She is a troubled thirty-three year old woman who had been taking a variety of sedatives, antianxiety drugs, and antidepressants for over twenty years. Her mother died when Diana was a young girl, and her father was alarmed by Diana's strange behavior, her blackouts, and her inability to concentrate. However, Diana's doctor weaned her off all drugs a year ago, and after meeting with and talking to Quentin, Diana realizes that she has never been mentally ill. She is a medium who can see and talk to the dead. Fate brought her to the Lodge at the same time as Quentin because she is the only one who can speak for those who have already passed over to "the other side." With Quentin's help, Diana may be able to stop a vicious murderer from claiming any more victims.
Hooper's simple and straightforward writing style contrasts nicely with the bizarre occurrences that gradually unfold throughout the book. The author makes her fanciful plot work by underplaying the melodrama and presenting far out events in a matter-of-fact way. She uses flashbacks and foreshadowing liberally to hint at the dangerous being that inhabits the Lodge, and she includes a number of red herrings to keep the reader in suspense. Diana is a sympathetic character and her relationship with Quentin develops gradually and realistically. The book's ending is both spooky and satisfying. "Chill of Fear" is an engrossing novel that will hook readers who enjoy an unusual story and a good scare.