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Silent Killer

Review

Silent Killer

In Dunmore, Alabama, a community where secrets, lies and gossip
vie for top honors, a deranged killer is on the loose, hell bent on
exacting revenge against members of the clergy for their sins,
real or imagined.

Cathy Cantrell, a once fragile and compliant wife and mother,
returns to Dunmore, Alabama, after being hospitalized due to a
mental breakdown after witnessing the horrifying (and unsolved)
murder of her minister husband, Mark. Now mentally and physically
strong, Cathy is determined to regain custody of her teenage son,
Seth, whom she lost after being sent away. But her in-laws, the
current legal guardians of the boy, don’t want to relinquish
control. And to make matters worse, Cathy’s own mother
sides with the in-laws against her. With nowhere else to turn,
Cathy moves in with long-time friend Lorrie Hammonds. But not all
is as it seems with Lorrie as she has been keeping some secrets
from her old friend.

Also returning home to Dunmore is Jackson “Jack”
Perdue, a war veteran, whose arrival is bittersweet as he has been
badly wounded in battle. Jack, who has never forgotten or stopped
loving Cathy, is hired by the local sheriff to work on the unsolved
murder of Mark Cantrell. But Jack has his own problems to deal with
after he moves back into his old family home, where he struggles to
overcome battlefield scars and erase painful memories of his past.
When attacks by the deranged killer escalate, Jack calls on his
sister Maleah, an investigator with the Powell Agency, and former
FBI profiler Derek Lawrence, for assistance. Even with outside
expert help, the killer eludes capture and the murders
continue.

Can Jack solve Mark’s murder, capture the twisted serial
killer, and win back Cathy’s love?

Beverly Barton writes with a deft hand about small-town living
and big-time secrets. SILENT KILLER is an engaging and romantic
suspense novel filled with painful memories, graphic murders,
vivid sex, hypocrisy, vengeance, and the destructive power of
secrets. What is particularly satisfying about this book is that,
while Barton portrays the power some clergy members have for
the potential of abuse, she also shows their positive influence and
the good works they do. She crafts an engaging story, one that has
twists and surprises that will keep even the most astute readers
guessing until the very end.

Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt ([email protected]) on January 23, 2011

Silent Killer
by Beverly Barton

  • Publication Date: September 1, 2009
  • Genres: Fiction
  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Zebra
  • ISBN-10: 1420100505
  • ISBN-13: 9781420100501