A town shrouded in the occult. An evil that lurks in the dark. The SCU returns in a hair-raising novel from New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper. Nellie Cavendish has very good reasons to seek out her roots, and not only because she has no memory of her mother and hardly knew the father who left her upbringing to paid caregivers. In the eight years since her twenty-first birthday, very … twenty-first birthday, very odd things have begun to happen. Crows gather near her wherever she goes, electronics short out when she touches them, and when she’s upset, really upset, it storms. At first, she chalked up the unusual happenings to coincidence, but that explanation doesn’t begin to cover the vivid nightmares that torment her. She can no longer pretend to ignore them. She has to find out the truth. And the only starting point she has is a mysterious letter from her father delivered ten years after his death, insisting she go to a town called Salem and risk her life to stop some unnamed evil. Before her thirtieth birthday.
As a longtime member of the FBI’s Special Crimes Unit, Grayson Sheridan has learned not to be surprised by the unusual and the macabre–but Salem is different. Evidence of Satanic activities and the disappearance of three strangers to the town are what brought Salem to the attention of the SCU, and when Gray arrives to find his undercover partner vanished, he knows that whatever’s hiding in the seemingly peaceful little town is deadly. But what actually hides in the shadows and secrets of Salem is unlike anything the agents have ever encountered.
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I adore these characters. The special abilities that the author has created is amazing. Some or these abilities are extremely unique and straight out of science fiction! The story is entertaining and interesting, it had me captured from the first chapter to the last. I hope to see more of Nellie and definitely Leo! This can be read as a stand alone, but the series is amazing from book 1 to the latest. I am excited to read book 20 in December 2021!!
Two members of the FBI Special Crimes Unit go undercover in Salem off the Appalachian Trail. Geneva Raynor is posing as a photographer working on her latest book and Grayson Sheridan is posing as a hiker taking a break from the Trail. Someone has called the Unit telling them that recently three hikers have died mysteriously in the area so they are there to investigate. A reclusive psychic Nellie Cavendish has been directed to Salem by a letter from her deceased father telling that she must go to Salem to destroy an evil that is destroying the town and its citizens. There are many twists and turns to this story and interesting character development.
I enjoy books by Kay Hooper and the twist of psychic investigators. Having said that, this was not a favorite book in the series. The majority of the book felt repetitious with the characters talking about what they would do. I found the ending very anti-climatic, especially for a Kay Hooper novel. At least this book had some new characters, Geneva and Grayson. I wish there was more of a back story about Nellie and life in Salem before these investigators arrived. Not a bad book, just not my favorite.
The small town of Salem near the Appalachian Trail is surrounded by mountains and shrouded in evil. Nellie Cavendish never knew anything about the town until she received a letter from her long-dead father. Now she’s going back to search for answers about her roots and her uncanny abilities. She’s also supposed to fight some evil force but doesn’t know how or just whom she can trust.
There are members of the FBI’s SCU team in place, put there unofficially by Bishop. This includes Grayson Sheridan. But Salem is unlike anything that they have come across before, it’s not the peaceful little town it appears to be. Can they get with those who will help and defeat the forces smothering this town?
I love Kay Hooper’s Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series and I was thrilled with this book. Full of intrigue it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. It was well-written with well-rounded characters, some of whom you’ll like and others you won’t. I was hooked from beginning to end. I’m very eager to read the next book. I highly recommend both book and series. There are sets of books within the series that need to be read together although reading the entire series in order would be great.
Bishop’s team descend upon this town that holds a big mystery. I got a bit confused with all the players in this book but they finally came together and we could see their place in the story. The story was evil, the town almost a cult. The ending was awfully fast and over with a flash…literally. I still enjoyed it, but I do love the earlier ones better.
Wow, another amazing book by Kay Hooper she definitely knows how to show you an amazing book filled with suspense and a dark side of the paranormal.
Nellie thought she knew her past that is until she received a letter from her father that throws everything upside down. Now going back to Salem is her only hope to figure out what her dad was talking about and to finally know where she belongs, but will everything come together in time or will it be to late? With the help of Bishop putting his 2 agent’s in, Grayson Sheridan and Geneva Raynor she may be able to stop all this evil that hovers over this little town but they must hurry before another body is found.
Not one of her best Bishop stories, but still entertaining.
Spellbinding. I couldn’t put it down & didn’t want it to end! My new favorite in one of my most favorite series.
Salem, a very rural, remote small town that was started by five families, where generations of the same families still reside. On the outside, the townspeople are friendly and polite, but underneath lurks evil.
Bishop at someone’s request sends in two agents, Geneva Raynor & Grayson Sheridan, to investigate three disappearances. Geneva is sent in undercover as a photographer. She knows, she’s being watched and someone has gone through her things. While waiting for her partner to show up, she lets herself get distracted and ends up missing herself. Grayson arrives as an experienced hiker, but after Geneva does a no show, Grayson starts to think like Geneva, and finds a message in the newspaper. He ignores the direct command to go in search of Geneva.
Nellie Cavendish is about to turn 30, and she is compelled to go to Salem. She knows nothing about her mother, and her father was distant, but has been dead for ten years, when she receives a letter from him telling her to trust one family member. She’s supposed to do something, but has no idea what. She sets out with her dog, Leo, who comforts her when her emotions get out of control.
Strange things are going on, the townspeople seem oblivious even towards one of their own, and wherever one looks there are crows, who seem to be keeping watch for good intentions or evil intentions, no one is quite sure until Grayson develops a new ability. Time is running out, and the evil is growing and needs to be stopped. Nellie will have to embrace everything she’s kept bottled up, but she’ll have to trust her instincts.
I’m a long time reader of the Special Crimes Unit series. This last book presents Nellie, who has an unusual talent among other abilities. I love how several others were able to connect with Leo, and what they picked up from him.
I received an ARC from NetGalley via Berkley Publishing Group and I voluntarily have reviewed this book.
I was shocked when I realized this was the 19th “Bishop” book, but each one gets better, it really does.
While most of the menace and gore is kept off the pages, this is still a thriller of a book.
Geneva and Grayson, emissaries of Bishops’ FBI team, are sent to Salem, a little, spooky town off the Appalachean trail. As usual, they are not told what the end game of their assignment is. Suffice it to say the entire town reeks with psychic energy – dark and menacing energy.
Nellie Cavandish will be 30 in just a few days and has been called to Salem, her family birthplace, to stop evil from spreading. Her special gifts and talents have always been a chore for her. But she’s made to realize the gift they are, esp. in stopping the impending doom to come.
As always, this was a character driven book in more ways than a plot driven one – but make no mistake, the story line is excellent.
4 stars for another great read.
Thanks to Netgalley for giving me a sneak peek.