Pitch Black

Suspenseful page turner you will not be able to put down! Will definitely read more from this author.

After Madison Wade adopted a teenager, she left Philadelphia and moved to a quiet town in Tennessee and became an editor of the Buckeye Daily Herald. Her son Ethan, had a rough life and their new surroundings promised to contrast sharply with the city life he had known. But Madison and Ethan were not exactly welcomed in the small town since they were from the north. It was not long before Sheriff Gabe and Madison developed a mutual attraction, but any thought of establishing a relationship had to stay on hold. Mr. McPhereson took Ethan and three other boys on a camping trip up the mountain. Madison was concerned when Ethan hadn't come home. He was overdue, and it was getting late into the afternoon. She called Gabe and together they rode to the foothills to see if Mr. McPherson's truck was parked where he usually left it. It was, so they waited. Soon, the four boys came down the hill without Mr. McPherson. It was raining heavily and the boys looked a mess and cold, and they were without their jackets. Their lips were darkened by the cold, and their faces looked pasty. Jordan's arms were slung around Ethan' neck and his head was slumped down, and he was dragging his feet. Gabe and Madison went out to greet the boys and Gabe asked where Mr. McPherson was. Ethan said: "He's dead." Gabe was anxious to get a first-hand read of the situation. He had no reason to believe McPherson's death was more than a tragic accident. It was his job to investigate every death. The rain had cleared. He went up to the mountain with the Search and Rescue Team and the Medical Examiner, Dr. Zinn. The next day, Dr Zinn met with Gabe and told him that she had sent Steven McPherson's body to the Forensic Pathologist in Knoxville. A few days later, Gabe received a report of the autopsy. It seems as though McPherson was murdered. Now, he has to investigate and figure out which one of the four boys murdered Mr. McPherson. I really liked the relationship between Ethan and his adopted Mom. They had so much trust and love between them. Ethan was very protective of his M. Ethan called his adopted Mom "M". Pitch Black kept me up all night until I finished the book. Half-way through the book, you get a good feel as to whom it is. Susan Crandall again has written a great suspense thriller. I highly recommend!

I've always been a fan of Susan Crandall's books and while all of them have always had suspense in them, this is her first full 'romantic suspense' and boy, she didn't disappoint! There's plenty of nail-biting suspense to keep the most die-hard suspense fans satisfied. But what sets Pitch Black apart is Ms. Crandall's ability to create three-dimensional characters you care about and want to root for. Maddie, Gabe and Ethan become real to the reader, real enough that you're even more terrified when the unknown villain decides to make life difficult for them. This is a great read for readers of women's fiction, romance and suspense--a book that will make you sigh with contentment when you turn that last page and then race over to Ms. Crandall's website to find out when her next book is coming out!

Susan Crandall's Pitch Black takes a reader on a pulse pounding tale of suspense. Madison Wade left the big city of Philadelphia to be the editor of The Buckeye Daily Herald. Maddie wanted to give her adopted teenage son a fresh start. Ethan hadn't had the easiest life until she took him into her home. Maddie wants Ethan to fit in and make friends in town so she agrees to let him go camping with a group of friends. When one the boys stepdad is killed on the camping trip, Maddie turns to new friend Sheriff Gabe Wyatt for help. Gabe Wyatt has been pursuing Maddie for months. Just when he is making some headway with her, her son is the prime suspect in a murder. Gabe doesn't want to believe where the evidence is leading him but with Ethan keeping secrets, Gabe must look into all evidence. Maddie takes matters into her own hands and hires an investigator. This cause the killer to up the ante and puts her and her son in grave danger Pitch Black will keep you on the edge and wondering who is behind all the terror. The suspense is fined tuned and chilling. Gabe and Maddie's slow moving romance is funny and sensual. Susan Crandall has another gem on her hands.

I can't think of enough good things to say about Susan Crandall's romantic suspense, Pitch Black. The plotting was tight and the story fast-paced; I could tell I was in good hands from the opening sentences! But I think Crandall's greatest strength is her ability to create satisfyingly complex characters with deep feelings, realistic relationships, and compelling motivations. I didn't so much 'read' this book as inhale it! And I think I may already be hungry for more of what Susan Crandall writes so well.

In Mississippi, when Mr. McPherson, the stepfather of one of her son's friends Jordon Gray, dies on a camping trip, Buckeye Daily Herald reporter Maddy Wade is worried about the effect on her adopted teenage son Ethan. Attracted to former Philadelphian Maddy, Sheriff Gabe Wyatt wants to help the mother and son become part of the community, but he steps back when he realizes the victim was murdered during the campout. The four boys who went with McPherson are the suspects. When one the foursome dies in what appears at first to be a tragic coincidental accident, some evidence surfaces that makes Ethan the prime person of interest. Maddy believes her son is innocent and determined to prove it while she wonders if Gabe will help or hang Ethan. The key to this deep regional romantic mystery is that the homicide investigation (mostly amateur sleuth, but some police procedural) takes front and center over the romance. Thus Gabe and Maddy may be in love, but the murders intrude on their relationship as he finds increasingly growing proof that the wild northern teenage transplant is a dangerous hood while she believes her Ethan is innocent. Susan Crandall provides a strong suspense tale as bias pays a key role on how everyone including his adopted mom decides Ethan's guilt or innocence. Harriet Klausner