Violation

Raising her teenaged son in a remote Humboldt County, Calif., town, rape victim Althea Auben begins this involving novel of psychological suspense as a reclusive computer researcher hiding from her past. When her son runs away to Thea's Long Island hometown to try to discover his father's identity, Thea's landlord and neighbor, Jack Verrity, a sensitive ex-cop struggling with his own memories, joins her in going after the boy. Together they face the dark secrets in Thea's past and in the process uncover a deadly North Shore real estate scam. The reader easily stays a step ahead of the anxious mother and her detective friend, yet the narrative proves affecting as North (Thief of Souls) provides an empathetic portrait of a rape victim's continuing torment, especially when Thea discovers that her life is not the only one that was shattered, and that a tangled web of secrets still exists. Occasionally, the story defies reason. Why would the detective read a printout of Thea's erotic fantasies (shared in an online chat room) and not suspect trouble? Still, readers absorbed in Thea's transformation from terrified dropout to unswerving avenger won't care about a few lapses of logic. Rights: Aaron Priest Agency. (Sept.)