SILENT NIGHT

Author: Claudia Dain, Dee Davis and Evelyn Rogers ISBN: 0843954221 10/2004 CONTEMP/ANTHOLOGY Publisher: DORCHESTER

Snow falls, but this is no ordinary white Christmas. There's no festive cheer, no carolers, no mistletoe. Three women are running for their lives: a college student home on break, the wife of a murdered DEA agent, a Denver widow. They're frightened and alone. And Lindsay Gray, Jenny Fitzgerald and Tessa Hampton are in peril. A desperate snowmobile chase through the forest; a raspy, anonymous telephone call; a bloody stranger by the side of the road-every step seems to lead farther from safety...but toward what? Who waits in the darkness? Friends? Lovers? And on a cold, silent night, when do you call for help?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Nail-biting suspense and romance. I really enjoyed this anthology of short stories by Claudia Dain, Dee Davis, and Evelyn Rogers. Once I started reading, I just couldn’t put it down. All of the stories are well written and riveting.

The anthology begins with ‘Tracked’ by Claudia Dain. Lindsay Gray is a college student meeting her parents at their cabin in the woods, only things don’t go as planned and Lindsay must figure out how to get help before it’s too late. I really enjoyed this story and wasn’t ready for it to end! Lindsay has a lot of courage and determination and is a lot more self reliant than I would have been in her situation!

The second story in the anthology is ‘Still of the Night’ by Dee Davis. Jenny Fitzgerald is going through a really tough time in her life, and now someone’s after her! I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out who was the good guy and who was the bad guy. This story had a lot of drama, action, and romance. The ending couldn’t have been better.

The final story in the anthology is ‘Wounded’ by Evelyn Rogers. I was continually surprised throughout this story. Tessa Hampton is a bit of a recluse who enjoys her solitude until she finds a bloody, but living body on the side of the road. As the stranger tells Tessa how he came to be in his condition, things really begin to heat up between them...but is he her dream guy, or a felon on the run?

All of these stories had just the right amount of suspense and romance. I kept trying to guess how they would end, but the authors kept surprising me with twists in the plots! As far as anthologies go, this is one of the best ones that I have ever read.

Carrye Syma