I have read almost all of Kay Hooper's work over the years and always found her Bishop series to be almost "hauntingly" perfect. It's been sometime since I read the last one so picked up one I hadn't read before. Maybe it's because it was the 15th book in this series but I found along with the start of a wonderful ghost/murder/mystery there was an unusual amount of background about the abilities of each character and things that had happened in the past. I gave it 4 stars because when the author got around to it...the actual story was still excellent and chilling...not to mention a great added character...Braden...the dog that was a lot more than just a dog. ( )

Kay Hooper in her 15th book of the Bishop/SCU series continues to mix mystery, paranormal, romance and suspense.

Solitude, a small town in the Georgia mountains is reeling. A man is hung in his locked bedroom. Melanie James calls her brother Deacon, a member of the SCU, because she is afraid she is the prime suspect and he comes to help her.

Hollis Templeton and Reese DeMarco, also if the SCU, come to Solitude at the request of the Chief of Police Trinity Nichols, when a 2nd local man dies in a truly gruesome way.

Now this group of FBI agents and local law enforcement will join together to find out what has come to Solitude.

The story and characters keep evolving with this new edition to the series featuring Hollis Templeton, a medium who keeps gaining new talents.. ( )

This thriller is one of the Bishop/ Special Crimes Unit series. The Special Crimes Unit is a group of FBI agents with paranormal abilities who hunt down the true monsters in this world that the regular cops cannot find or handle. This one is the technically fifth book involving Samuel, a charismatic psychic leader that they fought and killed in the trilogy Blood Dreams, Blood Sins, and Blood Ties, but sort of returns in Haven and now in Hostage, for hopefully the finally time. Bishop, a touch telepath, precog, with extra-sensory abilities is the leader of the group. This book has Hollis Templeton, a medium, healer, and some other interesting abilities that pop up during stressful periods of time. She is constantly evolving and may become one of the strongest members yet. Reese DeMarco, her partner who is ex-military, is an open telepath, able to read a variety of people, can tell if a gun is pointed at him from any direction, and has a double shield that he can use to protect others in his vicinity from psychic attacks. Deacon James is an empath who senses the emotions of others and is the brother of one of the townspeople in this book.

In the Blue Ridge Mountains, there is a killer stalking girls and brutally killing them and dumping them. Hollis and Reese are first sent down there to investigate that, but after a month, when a strange killing about a hundred miles away in Sociable, Georgia happens and the sheriff, Trinity Nichols, who knows Bishop, calls him in for this investigation. A man is found with his spinal cord severed at the neck, but no signs of trauma on the body. His apartment is spotless and he is left in a locked bedroom that they easily find a key to. Trinity doesn't tell anyone at first, but she learned about the body from her dog, Braden, a pit bull mix, who has unexplainable abilities and who pulls on her arm while she is driving to lead her to the apartment.

The town has a group of thirtysomethings who all hang out together. The first victim was one of them and Deacon's sister Melanie is another one, who also has latent psychic abilities, which she refuses to believe in, but is worried enough to call in her brother. The next killing is much more brutal and the body is found in front of the old church, which it and the parsonage are said to be haunted. So, now there is a serial killer working close by in the mountains and one in Sociable and soon, Hollis realizes Samuel has taken possession of a body of one of the group and is killing off members of it. But his real goal is to get back at Hollis for destroying him and stopping him in Haven.

This book, though part of a series, is pretty easy to read without having read all the books, but I do recommend reading the Samuel books first, just to get an idea of who he is, but you don't have to, as a lot is explained in this book. I really love this series. It has many twists and turns and the evil is so dark you cannot wait to discover who it is and how they are hopefully going to destroy it. It's also a joy to read the books with Hollis since she keeps coming up with new abilities every time she goes in the field. The added bonus of a psychic dog was really nice. I cannot recommend these books enough. I have read them more than once over the years and absolutely enjoyed each and every one. ( )

From Amazon:

How do you make peace with the dead if the dead aren't ready to forgive? In New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper’s new novel, the answer lies in the twisting shadows of a small town, and its secrets yet unearthed. When Deacon James’s younger sister Melanie calls him, terrified, he goes to her aid in the small Georgia town of Sociable. What he finds is a scared young woman in the grip of what she insists is a paranormal nightmare—and murder. Two local men have been killed under mysterious circumstances. And Melanie is the prime suspect. Trinity Nichols left a high-stress job for quiet, small-town life. But news of the murders has left her—and the town—on edge, especially when there is nothing remotely ordinary about how the men died. And her investigation is yielding more than she bargained for, including a group of strangers who have descended on Sociable, some with abilities Trinity finds hard to believe, and agendas she refuses to trust. For some reason, they know a lot more than they should about what’s happening in town. And what’s happening is growing stranger by the minute. Now Trinity, Deacon, and this odd band of FBI agents must work together to solve a series of disturbances so incredible that Trinity, and the town of Sociable, will be changed forever.

My Thoughts:

Another excellent installment in the Special Crimes Unit series! Enough surprises to maintain interest along with a few new characters. Love the epilogue about Braden and other rescue animals. If you like mysteries and thrillers, have a taste for the paranormal, and love shows like CSI and NCIS, then you will have found a new favorite in this series. ( )

not really my cup of tea, slow, not dramatic enough, no action ( )