Out of Her Mind: A Sawyer Brooks Thriller

Early in Ragan’s melodramatic sequel to Don’t Make a Sound, Sawyer Brooks, a rookie crime reporter for a Sacramento, Calif., newspaper, gets on the story of a child’s skeleton unearthed in a local park. When Sawyer later learns that 12-year-old Riley Addison has gone missing, she pursues that story as well. Sawyer’s own history of family trauma has made her particularly keen to help abused children. Meanwhile, not just children are victims of crimes in the area. Sawyer’s older sister Harper is trying to overcome her own psychological traumas, and unbeknownst to Sawyer has joined five other rape survivors to take revenge on their assailants. They have cut off one attacker’s penis, kidnapped another man, and are planning to kidnap three former high school footballers, all fodder for Sawyer’s crime coverage. Stilted dialogue, a trite psychopathic villain, and a surfeit of nasty physical torments make this a well-intentioned but pedestrian outing. Those looking for nuance will have to look elsewhere. Agent: Amy Tannenbaum, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Nov.)