“Chill of Fear”, the second installment in Hooper’s new series of mysteries with a paranormal twist, details the continuing adventures of Noah Bishop’s FBI Special Crimes Unit (SCU) – a unique hand-selected team of mediums, seers, clairvoyants, telepaths, empaths and others with an abnormally high ability in the psychic arts willing to devote their abilities to police work.Quentin Hayes is a member of the team. His abilities received a kick start at age 12 with the abduction and murder of his young friend, Missy, as they both vacationed with their parents at a mountain lodge in Tennessee. Haunted by the experience and driven by a persistent unreasonable feeling of guilt that he ought to have done something as a 12 year old youngster to prevent the murder, he has returned to the lodge every few years during his tenure with the SCU to have another crack at solving the now 25 year old case.
His latest stay at “The Lodge” crosses paths with Diana Brisco, a soft-spoken, introverted lady with an apparent life long history of mental illness, who is attending a therapeutic art class. Hayes quickly realizes that Brisco’s periodic episodes – misdiagnosed and misunderstood throughout her life by her family and doctors – have actually been manifestations of psychic ability. When Brisco weans herself from a chronic blurry haze of sedatives and drugs, her abilities flourish and she blossoms into a medium of astonishing strength and ability. Hayes’ long foiled search for Missy’s elusive killer finds new legs as Brisco provides clues and guidance through her ability to communicate with the victims as they await final peace in “the gray time”.
It seems likely that Hooper’s “Fear” novels will only be enjoyed by either those with a solid belief in the paranormal or those willing to suspend their disbelief and simply sit back and enjoy the ride. Members of either of these two groups will be rewarded with a lightweight but enjoyable novel that is a compelling combination of mystery, police procedural and paranormal horror thriller. The identity of the real killer will come as a pleasant surprise in a climax and dénouement that is well disguised with a suitable collection of red herrings and false trails. The relationship between Hayes and Brisco is nicely developed and the care that Hayes takes in nurturing Brisco’s newly found psychic abilities is warmly tinged with just the merest soupçon of romance.
With a significantly heavier focus on the paranormal than its predecessor, “Chill of Fear” threatened at times to lapse into melodrama but, I think, on balance managed to avoid that failing. A somewhat weaker novel than “Hunting for Fear”, Hooper’s second in the series can still be recommended as a pleasurable way to while away a few of the wee hours reading by candlelight in a cozy, dark corner of your favourite reading room.
Paul Weiss
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