Can't Find My Way Home

Starred review from December 15, 2014
Those looking for romantic-thriller nirvana will find it in this standalone from Thompson (To the Grave). When Brynn Wilder and Mark, her brother, were in their teens, their father was murdered and posthumously declared Maryland’s infamous Genessa Point Killer. Brynn managed to move on and become a novelist, but Mark remained mired in the shame and blame . Eighteen years later, Mark has decided to return to Genessa Point, his deceptively pastoral Chesapeake Bay hometown, determined to clear his father’s name. Brynn, now living in Miami, is sufficiently worried about Mark to follow him to Genessa Point, where she learns that he’s suddenly disappeared. Reluctantly, she turns to Sheriff Garrett Dane, son of the sheriff who convinced the locals of her father’s guilt. Sinister voice-distorted phone calls and threats ensue, driving Brynn and Garrett into each other’s arms. A kid, a dog, and Steve Winwood’s plaintive eponymous song round out an excellent read. Agent: Pamela Ahearn, Ahearn Agency.

January 1, 2015
Eighteen years ago, Brynn Wilder's father died after apparently trying to murder teenager Tessa Cavanaugh. Since Tessa's near murder followed a string of killings of local youngsters, Jonah was dubbed the Genessa Point Killer. Brynn and her brother, Mark, always believed their father was innocent, but with so much evidence against him, there was little they could do but move away and try to rebuild their lives. Then Brynn receives a call from Mark, who says he's found new evidence and is returning to Genessa Point. When Mark disappears, Brynn knows that she, too, must go back to Genessa Point. Once she's there, a series of increasingly creepy incidents convince her that she's being threatened, perhaps because Mark learned something. With the help of Sheriff Garrett Dane, Brynn tries to unravel the increasingly terrifying truth. What she finds is as horrifying as it is deadly. Despite the satisfying conclusion, readers are likely to leave the lights on and the doors locked after finishing this suspenseful blend of horror and thriller genres.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

December 15, 2014
Returning to her Chesapeake hometown 18 years after her father was posthumously identified as the Genessa Point Killer, a daughter who's coped with her demons by writing supernatural fantasy novels finds there's plenty of malice left in the old Point.Nobody believes Brynn Wilder when she tells them that her brother, Mark, is in trouble. And why should they, when her only evidence is a caller from Mark's cellphone who plays the song "Can't Find My Way Home" to the end and then hangs up? It's not as if Brynn has much credit with the local law, who, on the basis of forensic evidence Brynn's never accepted, decided that middle school principal Jonah Wilder was the monster who'd killed eight children and brutally attacked a ninth, Tessa Cavanaugh, moments before he died himself of stab wounds. Though she's resolved never to go back, Brynn can't bear the thought of letting Mark down. So she follows his trail to the place that's tormented her dreams, and all hell promptly breaks loose. Even though the Genessa Point Killer has been dormant all these years, Jonah's old friend realtor Sam Fenney is stabbed to death, and Rhonda Sanford, the smugly self-described lover of Brynn's old crush, Sheriff Garrett Dane, is fed a lethal dose of cocaine laced with strychnine. The only sign of Mark is a series of increasingly alarming phone calls to Brynn. And all the people Brynn most treasures-her best friend, Cassie Hutton; Garrett; his worshipful teenage daughter, Savannah-seem to be wearing targets on their backs. The solution, requiring an extended confession to the obligatory hostages and some additional explanation afterward, may tax fans of imperiled heroines. Along the way, though, Thompson (To the Grave, 2012, etc.) produces enough blood and thunder to satisfy the most demanding of them.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.