Carla Cassidy Are You Afraid?

Are You Afraid?

Carla Cassidy

Signet, Mar 2006, $6.99, 368 pp.

ISBN: 045121806X

In Kansas City, therapist Jessica Langford runs a two hour evening radio show, Are You Afraid of the Dark? That provides advice to those with phobias. However, a caller states that Jessica fears cemeteries. Her producer Chris Mathison asks if she is okay as Jessica goes pale. She thinks back to eighteen years ago as a teenager when the T&B serial killer buried her alive at Hillside Cemetery at Camerson Jackson' grave site, but she was rescued; the perpetrator was never caught.

Detective Jake Merridan investigates several recent homicides of young females. His failure to make progress, as a serial killer surfaces, frustrates him. Jessica knows who stalked her on the air as he is back, but this time she plans to confront her fear and the T&B killer. Her efforts take her into the midst of Jake's inquiries, and he soon sees a tie with the physical looks of the victims and the radio therapist. As they fall in love, he vows to keep her safe from a serial killer who is either a copy cat or the return of the T&B.

ARE YOU AFRAID? is an intriguing serial killer police procedural romance. Jake is a fascinating lead, as he struggles with a case going nowhere until he meets Jessica, and his frustration changes as he needs to keep his beloved safe. Jessica has come a long way from the frightened sixteen year old near victim, but answers affirmative to the title question. Though how T&B kept his obsession in check for so long yet now is obsessed to finish the job seems odd, fans of suspense thrillers will want to read Carla Cassidy's captivating novel.