Face Off

Fourteen year old Jessie Matthews is frantic to find someone to help her find her missing sister, Amy, presumed murdered by by the Kansas City Butcher. The desperate Jessie is the only person who believes her sibling still lives. She rides a bus from Pueblo to Kansas City in an attempt to enlist the aid of renowned psychic Suzanne Richards. However, Suzanne does not want to become involved because she is still reeling from a recent case in which her interference led to the freeing of a killer (on a legal technicality) who killed again. Initially, Suzanne refuses to get involved, but she changes her mind when she realizes that Jessie has psychic abilities. To learn if the suspect being held by the police is the Kansas City Butcher, Suzanne must touch her quarry. She poses as a nun and substantiates that the police, in deed, hold the killer, but she also feels that there is a second murderer. When the killing spree continues even with the prime suspect behind the bars, it appears as if the police will have to free the man. This leaves it up to Suzanne to locate and rescue Amy before the killer is released and finishes his ugly task. FACE OFF is an exciting terrifying thriller that grabs the reader from the start and never lets go until the epilogue. Suzanne is a reluctant heroine, brilliantly described by Emma Brookes and the support cast adds to the aura of a well written, very refreshing blending of psychic abilities with a serial killer chiller. Harriet Klausner

Jessie trusts Suzanne's psychic talents because Jessie has experienced visions too and convinces Suzanne to help her track down the serial killer who has kidnapped her sister. Together they form a bond strong enough to convince the police they are on the right track, a bond which saves Jessie's sister from the Kansas City Butcher.