The Ridge

Megan Stokes, the heroine of this tepid science-based thriller from Rector (Ruthless), has reluctantly moved from Chicago to Willow Ridge, where her husband, Tyler, has taken a job at the Institute, the research center that’s the community’s major employer. When Megan calls on Rachel Addison, a neighbor who has been flirting with Tyler, the visit ends with Megan throwing a tantrum and Rachel falling, breaking her neck, and dying. Megan tells Tyler what happened, but, when he goes to see for himself, Rachel answers the door. Megan knows Rachel was dead, and other strange things bother her. Neighbor David Mercer lends her a sympathetic ear while feeding her suspicions and talking about vague experiments and some documents related to them that he’s hidden. Megan tries to find someone to trust as she wrestles with the bizarre world of Willow Ridge, but Rector fails to make her struggles particularly horrifying or the experiments convincing. (Apr.)