cover image Hold Back the Dark

Hold Back the Dark

Eileen Carr, . . Pocket, $6.99 (352pp) ISBN 978-1-4165-8794-1

Carr’s romantic suspense debut starts off like a rocket as teenager Taylor Dawkin is accused of gruesomely murdering her parents. Despite the evidence pointing to Taylor, psychologist Aimee Gannon is certain the traumatized, nearly catatonic girl is a victim. Sacramento Police detectives Josh Wolf and Elise Jacobs share Aimee’s hunch that the killer is a man, and their suspicions fall on the Dawkins’ business partners, the handsome, powerful and enigmatic father and son, Carl and Sean Walter. Attraction flares between Aimee and Josh as they tackle the case, unaware that Aimee is being stalked by someone completely different. Anyone familiar with children will find the central mystery an easy guess, but the characters are engaging and distinct, with complex motivations, and the pacing of the thriller is so inexorable it almost overshadows the romance. (Mar.)