cover image WHERE DARKNESS LIVES

WHERE DARKNESS LIVES

Robert Ross, . . Pinnacle, $6.99 (384pp) ISBN 978-0-7860-1481-1

Since Kate Colson was institutionalized at the age of 12 for claiming to see ghosts, she has learned to keep mum about her supernatural abilities. She certainly hasn't told her new hubby, handsome financier Russell Wright, whom she met and married in a matter of weeks. But when Russell's enigmatic twin sister returns from her travels in Europe and persuades him to visit his ailing Aunt in Wrightsbridge, his family's Connecticut estate, she fears she may have to come clean. Before leaving, spirits warn Kate and her friend Erik, a writer of books on the paranormal, that she should not enter "the house," but Kate, eager to connect with her husband and learn about his past, does anyway. It isn't long before she realizes that Russell's childhood home harbors many secrets and one very vengeful spirit. When Kate starts experiencing blackouts and growing physically weak, she finds herself struggling for more than just her sanity. Ross's debut borrows heavily from Jane Eyre and Psycho, but the familiarity of this tale won't keep readers from shivering at the chilling portrait the author paints of Wrightsbridge and Russell's childhood. The story's primary handicap is Kate, who is so blinded by love she often fails to see the obvious. (July)