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There are supernatural deaths, untried psychics, and a famous hotel haunted by the ghosts of children, so I'm going to get the inevitable THE SHINING parallel out of the way up front. I liked this book much more than THE SHINING. Now that that's out of the way, on with the plot. Every year Quentin Hayes observes a depressing anniversary, returning to The Lodge where a childhood friend had been murdered two decades previously. Hayes is a special agent -- a particularly special agent, as his department of the FBI is staffed by psychics and sensitives. He meets Diana Brisco, who has spent most of her life medicated to deal with her hallucinations. She thought she was cured and could come off the drugs, but her relaxing celebratory vacation is marred by conversations with children that no one else can see. No one except that intense Mr Hayes, who claims to recognize the views that she draws and also claims that her 'hallucinations' were the marks of great talent. She's half convinced he's crazy and she's certifiable, but she can't resist the children as they plead with her to help them move on before "it comes back." But it is already there, lying in wait for her, as it has been for years . . . I went in expecting a King knock-off and got a fast-moving, atmospheric read that actually lives up to the name thriller. I cared about the characters, I jumped when things went bump in the night, and I didn't find the psychic angle silly or overused. This was my first of the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit novels, so I was slightly surprised to find that Bishop is little more than a distant advisor, with the cast of the assorted books being pooled from the larger SCU, the story told from their points of view. (The blurb for the next book focuses on a completely different character.) There are eight other Bishop books, loosely organized into trilogies. CHILL OF FEAR is in the middle between HUNTING FEAR and SLEEPING WITH FEAR, although it stands alone just fine. CHILL OF FEAR is for those who like ghost stories, X-Files, and horror/adventure plots.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, September 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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