Hemlock Bay

Catherine Coulter

When the Warlocks go on a killing spree of young boys, FBI special agent Dillon Savich and his team track the Tuttle brothers down in Maryland. They are able to rescue two boys who were the latest victims and killed one of the Tuttles. The younger one, though, turned out to be a psychotic woman masquerading as a man. She goes to the hospital, where she escapes, vowing revenge on Savich. When the FBI sets up an apprehension, they learn she is not only psychotic, but apparently has psychic abilities as well, able to hide in plain site.

In California, Dillon's sister, Lily Frasier, is in the hospital after crashing her car into a tree. When he and Sherlock fly out to see her, she knows she didn't try to commit suicide. Lily believes someone is trying to kill her. Dillon believes her, especially after a man tries to mug her on a bus, with a knife to kill her. When they discover half of her valuable paintings are missing, they know her husband's family is dangerous to her. Dillon calls in an old friend, Simon Russo, an art dealer, to help Lily learn the truth and recover her stolen paintings. They don't know how deep the killer's story goes, though.

Hemlock Bay is predictable the whole way through. Even so, Catherine Coulter keeps the action fast paced and has some unpredictable scenes, especially with Tammy Tuttle. Lily and Simon's final encounter with the art thief also has unexpected twists although the reader knows what will ultimately happen.

The biggest problem with Hemlock Bay is both story lines are shorted as Coulter jumps back and forth between the two. Both are main story lines rather than one being secondary. The reader barely gets immersed in one before being tossed back to the other. It's off putting.

Fun, quick, and entertaining, Hemlock Bay is standard Coulter writing for her FBI series. Have fun.

Notice: Non-graphic violence, Strong indecent language

Sherlock and Savich:

The Cove
The Maze
The Target
The Edge
Riptide
Hemlock Bay
Eleventh Hour
Blind Side
Blow Out
Point Blank
Double Take
TailSpin
Knockout
Whiplash
Split Second
Backfire
Bombshell