Cait London Silence the Whisperers

Silence the Whisperers

Cait London

Avon, Jul 2006, $5.99

ISBN: 0060790881

Eleven days ago near Mimosa, Oklahoma someone kidnapped six years old Cammie Somerton, heir to millions; her mother paid the ransom of two million immediately, but the child was not returned. The police question the gardener Paul Olson as a prime suspect. Desperate, Cammie's mother Katherine, a noted balloonist, takes to the air only to have her balloon explode. Not long afterward Paul's ten years old son H.J. finds his dad dead, a bullet in his head and a note saying he was sorry; $500k was near him. When a dazed Cammie comes out of the woods safe, the police close the tragic case.

Twenty-eight years later, Hayden Olson tells his mother he needs to know the truth as he does not believe his dad committed the atrocity that ran the family out of town; Hayden thinks Cammie's stepfather Robert is behind the kidnapping and the deaths. He heads to Mimosa where he plans to find the missing $1.5 ransom million. He sees Cameron in a caf , but she does not recognize him though they were close friends as preadolescents. He is even more stunned to see the plants in her truck as she was an asthmatic who could not be near foliage. As he finds other anomalies, Hayden and Cameron fall in love, but he knows that it will end once she learns who he is.

This is a terrific romantic suspense that has readers joining the hero wondering what is going on then and now. That relationship makes for an intriguing subplot as each keeps an inner secret from the other. The mystery is handled cleverly and deftly though the ending feels abrupt and off kilter. Still Cait London provides a fascinating thriller with a strong romance and plenty of suspense.

Harriet Klausner