About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

DESPERATE SILENCE, A
by Sarah Lovett
Villard Books, February 1998
306 pages
$24.00
ISBN: 0679435611


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Forensic psychologist Dr. Sylvia Strange gets a call in the middle of the night to go to the hospital right away and check the welfare on a 10-year-old child. The girl was found on an accident scene on the railroad tracks in which it appears that she drove the car. She is shaken and bruised but otherwise seems fine. The problem is that she cannot speak whether out of fear or some physical disorder. Dr. Strange feels that she is way over her head. She knows how to deal with psychopaths and serial killers but she has never worked with a child before. It will take everything in her power to find out what the girl, known as Serena, can tell her and whether she witnessed a gangland execution.

Complicating manners is that there is evidence that Serena might be the daughter of Cash Wheeler, who is about to be executed for the murder of Serena's mother Elena Cruz. Noelle Harding is Cash's sister. For the last several years she has been working on the charity circuit and trying to use her influence in getting her brother out of Death Row. If Serena is her niece, she will do everything she can to help her, but Sylvia cannot help but wonder if Noelle has another agenda.

Complicating things is Renzo Santos, a hitman with a one-track mind. He has been hired by an unknown party to kill Serena and her guardian, Paco Fortuna and nothing is going to stop him. He does not care that Paco is related to Amado Fortuna, a powerful Mexican drug lord, or that Serena is just a child. He is careful, meticulous and ruthless. If he fails, he tries again. Nothing is going to stop him. If Dr. Strange wants to interfere, that's fine. More target practice.

The book is filled with a lot of heart and suspense. Sylvia is trying to learn everything she can about Serena, even though she will not speak. She manages to communicate with Serena in other ways and vows to protect her. What she does not realize is how much of an impact this ten-year-old is having on this psychologist, who has been having issues with her family for several years. The suspense comes in the form of Renzo, the terminator-type killer, who does not take no for an answer who will kill his quarry all the way to a showdown on the Mexican border. The action keeps on going and it does not stop until the surprising conclusion.

A Desperate Silence is the third book in the series featuring Dr. Sylvia Strange. This character has been compared with Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta and that is quite unfair. Sarah Lovett's heroine stands well on her own and needs no comparison. As the series progresses, people will start comparing other characters with Strange and that will be the greatest compliment. If you have not tried this series ñ what is stopping you? You are missing a great read.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, November 2002

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]