About the Author

Laurie R. King is the New York Times bestselling author of thirteen Mary Russell mysteries, five contemporary novels featuring Kate Martinelli, the Stuyvesant & Grey novels Touchstone and The Bones of Paris, and the acclaimed A Darker Place, Folly, and Keeping Watch. She lives in Northern California.

Reviews

"A nail-biter thriller."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Laurie R. King once again astonishes with her skills in A Darker Place....Superb."
--The Washington Times

"Casts a spell of psychological terror more visceral than any serial killer melodrama and that, for the thoughtful reader, offers intellectual rewards as well."
--The San Diego Union-Tribune

"A literary thriller to end all literary thrillers."
--Booknews from The Poisoned Pen

"A nail-biter thriller."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Laurie R. King once again astonishes with her skills in A Darker Place....Superb."
--The Washington Times

"Casts a spell of psychological terror more visceral than any serial killer melodrama and that, for the thoughtful reader, offers intellectual rewards as well."
--The San Diego Union-Tribune

"A literary thriller to end all literary thrillers."
--Booknews from The Poisoned Pen

YA-A suspense novel with another of King's strong, unique, fully formed heroines. Anne Waverly, aka spiritual-seeker Ana Wakefield, a theology professor and sometime FBI agent, has been called to what she hopes is her final assignment. Once a free-spirited cultist who belonged to a group that engaged in a mass suicide shortly after she left, Anne now works undercover to investigate such groups. This time the FBI is suspicious of a group with branches in Arizona, England, and Japan. When Anne becomes Ana, she is usually able to return to her initial seeker's intensity, belying her academic expertise in cults and their personalities. However, she is unable to detach completely for this assignment, bringing an increased emotional vulnerability and subsequent danger to her work. Ana's objectivity is compromised when she is compelled to protect some children involved in the case, including a girl who looks uncomfortably like her daughter. A scholarly tone is set by "excerpts" from Anne's notes and lectures, and the characters, even the "villains," are multifaceted. Much different from The Beekeeper's Apprentice (St. Martin's, 1994) and her other books about Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell, and possibly more thought-provoking, this story will not disappoint King's fans.-Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

King leaves behind the familiar haunts of Mary Russell (The Moor, LJ 12/97) and Kate Martinelli, her two series detectives, to explore the uncharted territory of religious cults with yet another compelling female protagonist, Professor Anne Waverly. For 18 years, Waverly has divided her time between teaching theology and working as an undercover operative for the FBI. This novel takes Anne inside a religious community called Change for what she vows will be her last investigative assignment. At its Arizona outpost she confronts not only the distorted goals and values of the community but the phantoms that lurk in her own past. King's theological background serves her well in this stand-alone thriller. Anne Waverly is competent and believable in each of her dual roles, and her vulnerability makes her an accessible narrator. King's facility for creating one-of-a-kind characters continues to expand. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/98.]‘Nancy McNicol, Hagaman Memorial Lib., East Haven, CT