Twisted Whispers

In Wohl’s forgettable second Reluctant Psychic paranormal (after Twisted Echoes), Lorna Dutton wants to focus quietly on her home on the Washington coast and her relationship with her girlfriend, Renee, but her newfound fame as a psychic mystery solver brings her to the attention of her old friend Thea Lane, whose twin sister, Alida, has disappeared. Deputy Sheriff Katie Carlisle, frustrated by the misogyny of her peers in the department, tries to do her best to keep focused on finding Alida without indulging her attraction to distraught Thea. A vaguely described ancient spirit called the Watcher wrings his hands, while Alida’s abductor becomes more and more agitated as his rituals become disturbed. The emotional connections between the characters feel consistently weak. Neither the lukewarm, sappy romances nor the implausibly neat plot with a flat, stereotyped evildoer will catch the reader’s attention, and the Watcher story line yields no new understanding of Lorna’s psychic gift. (Oct.)