Stella Cameron, Target

Target

Stella Cameron

Mira, Apr 2007, $7.99

ISBN: 0778324257

Near San Francisco, high in a remote, mountainous area Colin controls the members of the isolated commune Refuge. In spite of his strict rule, people join to escape from American materialism in order to return to nature. However, the egomaniacal and avaricious leader has a different plan for his followers than a simpler lifestyle. He turns The Refuge into a giant cemetery, killing everyone except three children, Nick and two sisters Sarah and Aurelie.

Trying to forget the tragedy, the three survivors live quiet lives in Point Judah, Louisiana. However, the mass graves hidden by their remoteness for nearly two decades have just been found. The threesome realizes they will not be able to stay concealed much longer as names are tied to corpses. They also know Colin still waits for their surfacing so he can finish the job he started as he wants no survivors testifying about what he did to his cult followers.

The eerie opening sequence stays with readers throughout sort of the way the mass suicides and murders at the Jonesville compound orchestrated by Reverend Jones still haunt people. Thus the plot provides an interesting look at the impact a cult has on escapees long after they have left the compound. Although, why the avaricious Colin needed to come after the three survivors, why his targets surface, and how the small town Bayou residents ignore strangers in their midst seem a bit nebulous, Stella Cameron provides her fans with a tense and exciting suspenseful cat-and-mouse thriller.

Harriet Klausner