cover image Lost Souls

Lost Souls

Lisa Jackson. Brilliance Corporation, $38.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-4233-1525-4

Reader Joyce Bean, who has also directed many audiobooks, does her best to add some subtlety and strength to Jackson's latest, but it's basically an uphill effort. The author's plotting and prose style remain workmanlike, and no amount of vocal skill can change that. Fans of Jackson's previous bestselling suspense novels will find her new effort more of the same. Kristi Bentz, a wounded 27-year-old who has already survived attacks by a serial killer, returns to her New Orleans college to find out why some of the current female students have gone missing. Kristi is determined to succeed as a true crime writer, although her father, a New Orleans police detective, warns her against it. Bean gives Kristi and the All Saints students understated Southern accents that help listeners easily identify various characters. Simultaneous release with the Kensington hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 25).