DONNA ANDERS
AFRAID OF THE DARK
Pocket Books
Pub. Date: December 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7434-2731-9

Jessie Cline was having a bad day. First she was attacked by a perp in an alleyway; then her son was threatened by gang members. The single mom, and San Francisco police officer, prayed for help — and a few paragraphs later those prayers were answered. She has inherited her ancestral home, Wind House, in a remote village on the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

But not so fast. Jessie’s mom has reservations about the move. After all, she fled Wind House with Jessie after her husband died under mysterious circumstances. Then there’s a stipulation — Jessie has to live in the house for a year before she can inherit it. And when Jessie arrives at the house, she discovers the life-sized portrait over the fireplace. Could it be? Yes; it’s the spitting image of Jessie.

At this point (and there’s still another 340 pages left) it’s obvious the clichés are going to fly. And fly they do in Donna Anders’ new thriller, AFRAID OF THE DARK.

Things get worse — vandals attack Jessie’s house, threatening letters are sent, things go bump in the night. Then there’s a weird cult that lives on the island, a weird old lady who lives on a boat, and a controversial political cartoonist who has a past with Jessie.

Anders works hard, too hard sometimes, but AFRAID OF THE DARK never delivers on the thrills.