#8: Double Blind: Hannah Alexander, Steeple Hill, 01/2008

Score: 5

Sheila Metcalf leaves her nursing job and her unsaved boyfriend, Preston, in Hideaway to return to the Navaho Reservation and the mission school where she spent the early years of her life.  Her mother died there in the Arizona desert, and Sheila needs some answers, both about the missing time in her own memory as well as why her father will not discuss what happened to her mother. Somehow, the school and her mother are all tied up with Sheila’s nightmares of the Navaho wolf, and now she has received word that two more of her childhood school friends are also dead.  Sheila joins Canaan, another childhood friend who is interim principal at the school, in trying to discover why their friends are dying, why the children are terrified, and what the mystery is surrounding the school.  Fans of the previous Hideaway books will be delighted by the significant role that Blaze, the troubled teen of  Hideaway, plays in this story.

Hannah Alexander, past winner of the Christy award for Hideaway, Book One of the Hideaway series, is a husband and wife writing team by the names of Cheryl and Mel Hodde. Double Blind is their 6th novel in this Inspirational Medical Suspense series. While all the books in the series are highly recommended, this book can stand alone and does not require the other books to be read first.

Alexander’s books just seem to be getting better and better. Several connected subplots are fully explored and her characters are vivid and multi-faceted. The underlying Christian message is there, and Blaze, Canaan and Sheila all depend on the Power of God to help them as they battle the unknown. Alexander gives the readers a terrifying glimpse into the disturbed mind of the villain by means of first person narrative chapters by said villain sprinkled throughout the novel.  This significantly increases the suspense and tension of the story and was very effectively done, inviting and teasing the reader to try to solve the mystery of who the villain is before Sheila can.  Mel Hodde once again puts his real-life medical expertise as an ER doctor to good use, realistically portraying the medical scenarios enacted throughout this work. While a trade sized novel of just under 400 pages, this is a fast paced story that will not fail to delight all readers.

Highly, Highly Recommend.

Harlequin Imprints: 4    Other Publishers: 4

 This review is courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques

Crystal
100,000 Books Blog: crystalrclass