Quietus: 1. A finishing stroke
2. Discharge or release from life
3. The moment of Death
This huge novel begins on a chartered flight doomed to
crash one stormy evening somewhere in the White Mountains of New
Hampshire. Immediately, the terror inside that small airplane is
palpable. The shrieks and pleas scream from the pages. The moment
of impact spikes the pulse. Then comes the aftermath. Miraculously,
five of the passengers survive. But were they supposed to? That is
a question Kylie O'Rourke, spared from a fiery death, wrestles with
through the entire book.
Her memories of that horrible night could not possibly have
happened, although she insists they are real. Even Jack, her
husband, who lived through the crash with her, believes she is
suffering from a form of post traumatic stress. Two of the other
passengers who came through with less serious injuries, Kylie's
best friend Amelia and husband Dix, remember none of what Kylie
describes: Wandering the mountain with the other survivors,
exploring a deserted cottage in the blizzard, and a trio of
shrouded beings seemingly stalking them. She seeks the help of a
detective and a psychologist but she cannot accept the explanations
given to her. In the face of such doubt, she remains steadfast in
her conviction of what she recalls.
Back home again in Boston, in the midst of a large
interior-decorating project, Jack and Kylie struggle to put their
lives back in order. Their marriage falters, then recovers, only to
falter once more. Kylie's rantings about a dark figure following
her merely add to the couple's problems. An old murder case and the
accidental death of her brother at age five intertwine with the
present day. And then people close to Kylie start dying in odd
ways. Her panic has her firmly in its grip, a stranglehold that
threatens even the reader's stable