Linda Ladd Head to Head

Head to Head

Linda Ladd

Pinnacle, March 2006, $6.99, 384 pp.

ISBN 0786017171

After working robbery/homicide in Los Angeles and undergoing a horrible tragedy homicide, detective Claire Morgan moves to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri where the biggest crimes are domestic disturbances someone stealing a lawn ornament, and x-rated phone calls. That all changes when a murder occurs at Cedar Bend Lodge which is owned and operated by the wealthy and charismatic Nicholas Black. The victim, a famous soap opera star, is found posed underwater sitting at a table covered with kitchen items as if she was waiting for a meal to be served.

At first Claire thinks Nick is the most likely suspect, especially when someone attacks her and puts her in the water to drown. She arrests Nick then and there, but he is released after cops prove with the security tapes he wasn't the person who attacked her. When she learns the relationship between the victim and Nick, she crosses him off her suspects list, and he begins helping them profile the serial killer. The medical examiner discovers that it is the victim's body but someone else's face attached to the body. When another victim wearing the first victim's face is found in the place where they tape the soaps in L.A. is found Claire's past is exposed. Her boss is so livid he suspends her, but she is later reinstated and finds herself in danger because she was the target all along.

Linda Ladd has written a riveting and chilling thriller that is really two stories in one. The second story is about a child called Brat who is the victim of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, who at the age of fourteen began a killing spree. He kills the victims and chops off their heads so they can keep his mother's head company. How this relates to the main storyline is an another great mystery, written by an author who knows how to create two separate but parallel stories. HEAD TO HEAD IS memorizing and exciting reading, and the sexual tension that exists between Claire and Nick adds an extra layer to this fantastic novel.