Lynn Abercrombie, Blind Fear

Blind Fear

Lynn Abercrombie

Pinnacle, December 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0786017287

Atlanta Police Detective MeChelle Deakes of the Cold Case Unit wakes up to find her eyelids super-glued shut, leaving her disoriented and clueless as to why she was abducted. The bewildered cop believes she is also in a soundproof room.

At the same time that MeChelle vanished, her new partner Cody Floss goes to her retired former partner Lieutenant Hank Gooch with his concerns about her. Cody explains that Lane Priest came to the precinct to talk to them about who killed and raped her mother because she was hiding under the bed at the time of the tragedy. However, Lane is blind, but insists she can identify the culprit from his voice. Hank and Deakes are given thirteen hours to track down the killer of Lane's mother, and find evidence that will convict the murderer in court, or MeChelle will die. Hank blackmails the mayor to bring him officially back on duty, and immediately afterward he and MeChelle investigate a strange serpentine trail of clues that seemingly lead to nowhere, but hopefully to a killer.

Though the murderer and the kidnapper seem impossible to figure out, this treasure hunt investigation is a fun Atlanta joyride, as the police duo struggle to uncover the identity of the rapist killer. The action-packed storyline grips the reader from the opening scene, in which the heroine cannot open her eyes, and never slows down as one clue leads to another. Lynn Abercrombie provides a strong suspense tale that will lead police procedural fans seeking out the Deakes-Gooch previous saga, The Body Box.