cover image QUIETUS

QUIETUS

Vivian Schilling, . . Hannover House, $24.95 (596pp) ISBN 978-0-9637846-1-2

A plane crash in the White Mountains of New Hampshire sets in motion this ambitious though woefully overlong ghost story by screenwriter/novelist Schilling (Sacred Prey). Interior designer Kylie O'Rourke and her husband, Jack, are among the few survivors of the doomed flight. While still in the air, Kylie glimpses a raven on the wing of the plane, a sight that is followed by a series of ever stranger events. Though rescuers discover the survivors trapped in the wreckage, Kylie recalls wandering the icy mountainside along with other passengers—including Jack and her best friend, Amelia—after the crash, but they were not alone. Kylie is convinced her memories are real, yet neither Amelia nor Jack share them, and her psychologist attributes the frightening visions to post-traumatic stress and morphine-induced hallucinations. As Kylie tries to resume a normal life in Boston, the tragedy continues to plague her. She keeps seeing a raven with human eyes and she believes she's being followed by the awful presences that she first glimpsed on the mountain. An old murder case and some ancient mythology are thrown in for good measure. To top it off, her relationship with Jack starts faltering, and the people closest to her are dropping dead. Schilling has crafted a complex and creepy thriller, but it contains too many digressions—medical, psychological, religious—to make it a real page-turner. National print, radio and cable TV advertising; multicity author tour. (Jan. 22)

Forecast:The publisher appears willing to put a lot of marketing muscle behind what is basically an Anne Rice novel with fewer goth trappings, so it could find a good-size audience despite its daunting length.