Chill of Fear

Twenty-five years ago in Leisure, Tennessee at The Lodge where a young girl is hiding in a closet and hears something evil coming but can't tell if it is inside her or outside the door. From the light coming in under the door, she sees two feet and basically that is all we know from that past. Advance 20 years, FBI agent Quentin Hayes in on vacation and in the police station conference room in Leisure. He is working as he has for the past ten years to try and solve a very cold case of 20 years ago when he was 12 that a young girl (Missy) was found murdered. Noah Bishop has just formed his Special Crimes Unit nicknames the Spooky Crimes Unit and has come to try to persuade Quentin to join. Quentin is a "seer." This story, and Ms. show more Hooper's writing only gets better and better with each turn of the page. As I moved from one chapter to another, I found myself clutching this intense story with a kind of fervor I hadn't felt in a long time. I simply couldn't wait for the next secret to be revealed, and then the next. Soon, the story becomes real. Now that's an excellent ghost story! show less

At a secluded private resort "The Lodge," there has been a long history of unexplained and under investigated deaths and disappearances over the course of many decades. The murder of 8-year old Missy haunts Quentin Hayes, a psychic and a member of the FBI's Special Crimes Unit, who was there as a 12-year old when it happened. A troubled Diana Brisco is now at the Lodge, trying a holistic solution to her behavioral problems: blackouts, weird dreams, and a wandering mind. Quentin works to convince her that her "problems" are merely that she is a medium and Diana then uses her abilities to speak to dead victims and help bring the killer to justice.

Chill of Fear
3.5 Stars

I had put this series on the back burner for a while, but dusted it off for a challenge.

This installment focuses on an exclusive resort known only as The Lodge, which has a long history of unexplained disappearances and strange deaths. For several years, SCU agent Quentin Hayes has been investigating the unsolved murder of Missy Turner, who died at the hotel when they were children. Now, he joins forces with Diana Brisco, a medium with the rare ability to walk with the dead. Can the two stop the malevolent force stalking The Lodge before it strikes again?

To begin with, unlike some of the earlier SCU books, Chill of Fear is a paranormal mystery with some very minor (virtually non-existent) romance elements. Readers show more looking for romantic suspense will be disappointed.

The mystery itself is very good with strong overtones of Stephen King's It and Dean Koontz's Phantoms, but without the gruesome descriptions. It is relatively easy to figure out the culprit although the investigative process is engaging.

Despite some overly descriptive sections, the narrative flows and the characters are very appealing.

In sum, Chill of Fear is a solid addition to Hooper's series and I'm glad that I've returned to it. show less

This was interesting in many ways. The main character, Diana Brisco, was heavily medicated for years because she "saw things" but what if what she saw were real? This deals well with this issue.
Diana goes to the Lodge to do some Art Therapy to try to deal with some of her issues and to try to escape heavy medication to make her "sane". At the Lodge she finds Quentin Hayes who is haunted by the death that's happened at the lodge and keeps coming back to see if he can solve the mystery.
There's enough paranormal action to keep me happy without being too strange. Then again I like paranormal action in books so my baseline is sometimes not other people's good read. For me this was a satisfying mystery and the twist right at the end took me show more completely by surprise. show less

FBI agent Quentin Hayes always knew he had an unusual talent, even before he was recruited by Noah Bishop for the controversial Special Crimes Unit. But, as gifted as he is, for twenty years he’s been haunted by a heartbreaking unsolved murder that took place at The Lodge, a secluded Victorian-era resort in Tennessee. Now he’s returned one final time, determined to put the mystery to rest.

Diana Brisco has come there hoping to unlock the mystery of her troubled past. Instead, she is assailed by nightmares and the vision of a child who vanished from The Lodge years ago. And an FBI agent is trying to convince her that she isn’t crazy but that she has a rare gift, a gift that could catch a killer.

Quentin knows that this is his last show more chance to solve a case that has become a dangerous obsession. But can he persuade Diana to help him, knowing what it could cost her? For something cold and dark and pure evil is stalking the grounds of The Lodge. Something Diana may not survive. Something Quentin never felt before: the chill of fear. show less

A great book with wonderful, believable characters. It moves at a good pace and has twists in it that makes you wonder where it is going at points and causes you to realize that no one can be trusted. At part of it, you suspect everyone. I found it funny that this book was classified by the store as a romance novel, but there isn't even a single instance of sex in it.

However, the last quarter of the book is rushed and several questions go unanswered. The more I think about it, the more plot holes I find. The solution to the mystery is almost anticlimatic. It's a good solid read, but I wasn't satisfied that the end was sufficient when I put it down.

FBI agent Quentin Hayes always knew he had an unusual talent, even before he was recruited by Noah Bishop for the controversial Special Crimes Unit. But, as gifted as he is, for twenty years he's been haunted by a heartbreaking unsolved murder that took place at The Lodge, a secluded Victorian-era resort in Tennessee. Now he's returned one final time, determined to put the mystery to rest.

Diana Brisco has come there hoping to unlock the mystery of her troubled past. Instead, she is assailed by nightmares and the vision of a child who vanished from The Lodge years ago. And an FBI agent is trying to convince her that she isn't crazy but that she has a rare gift, a gift that could catch a killer.

Quentin knows that this is his last chance show more to solve a case that has become a dangerous obsession. But can he persuade Diana to help him, knowing what it could cost her? For something cold and dark and pure evil is stalking the grounds of The Lodge. Something Diana may not survive. Something Quentin never felt before: the chill of fear. show less