Synopsis
With his signature mix of brooding atmosphere, unforgettable villains, and mile-a-second action, James W. Hall takes readers on an electrifying journey of suspense in Forests of the Night…
ALL IT TAKES IS ONE LOOK…
Policewoman Charlotte Monroe has an ability that borders on psychic—to read people's faces and body language, sizing up their intentions and acting before they do. It's a real ability that the FBI is trying to teach to its agents. But Charlotte's a natural with God-given skills, and the Feds want her in the worst way, maybe even to the point of blackmail.
FOR HER TO RECOGNIZE…
But Charlotte's gift fails to prepare her for the stranger who shows up on her doorstep with a chilling warning for her husband Parker, a mysterious note scrawled in Cherokee hieroglyphics: "You're next." The threat becomes more ominous as Charlotte and Parker discover the man is on the FBI Most Wanted list.
THE FACE OF A MURDERER…
When Charlotte's deeply troubled teenage daughter runs away to join the charismatic outlaw, she follows the two of them into the spectral mists of the Great Smoky Mountains—and to the beating heart of a 150-year-old blood feud that will endanger everything she loves and challenge everything she believes.
"Compelling."
—Publishers Weekly
"A page-turning thriller."
—Tampa Tribune
Publishers Weekly
Police detective Charlotte Monroe arrives home in Coral Gables, Fla., one evening to find her lawyer husband, Parker, and their teenage daughter, Gracey, chatting amiably with a man she's never met, Jacob Bright Sky Panther, the Cherokee nephew of one of Parker's old friends. The always observant Charlotte recognizes Panther's face-he's number eight on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Before the SWAT team can arrive, Panther has fled with Gracey in tow, and this fast-paced, entertaining thriller has kicked into high gear, taking the reader to the mountains of North Carolina and deep into the pasts of Panther, Parker and the entire Cherokee Nation. The plot linking these characters is, predictably, convoluted and over the top, but it's compelling, with action scenes that bristle with visceral intensity. But Hall's real strength is characterization. Charlotte is a fascinating protagonist with an unusually valuable gift-an unparalleled ability to interpret facial expressions-but her role is more that of concerned parent and troubled wife (one hopes her investigative prowess will be a future novel's focus). Nearly everyone has real depth, and the author's appreciation for history and its reverberations adds further complexity. Agent, Richard Pine. (Jan. 19) Forecast: Blurbs from Russell Banks and Reynolds Price will help attract readers of literary fiction who usually avoid genre titles. Author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.