DEAD SILENCE

Author: Brenda Novak ISBN: 0778323285 8/2006 SUSPENSE Publisher: MIRA

There's a body buried behind a Mississippi farmhouse... Grace Montgomery knows who it is, and she knows why. She was only thirteen the night everything went wrong. And now, like then, she has no choice but to keep her mouth shut. Grace left the town of Stillwater thirteen years ago, trying to forget, trying to make good. As an assistant D.A. in Jackson, she's finally achieved the success that was supposed to change her life. But it hasn't—and Grace realizes she has to defeat the past or the past will defeat her. So she's finally come back to face her own history. And to face the people of Stillwater, including Kennedy Archer, the boy who had everything. She's a different person now—tough, self-possessed, and completely uninterested in the people she'd once tried to please. Except for Kennedy... But Grace knows how dangerous loving Kennedy could be—to him and to her.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Well, at least DEAD SILENCE doesn't feature an unattractive hero or heroine like the other romantic suspense books I have been reading lately. However, it does lack a lot of the suspense element it is supposed to feature until it's nearly over. As for the romance, well, that one is so-so, too.

So what does DEAD SILENCE have to offer? Some self help, I guess, on how to obtain closure if you are a victim of abuse and decide to off your abuser. There are some cute moments featuring precocious kids and a pretty accurate depiction of what small towns with long memories are like. There is also the fact that it is the beginning of a trilogy that has the potential to get more interesting with each book.

Still, while this isn't my favorite book, it is a step up from what I have been reading lately.

Shannon Johnson