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Synopsis:
A howling funnel of destruction screams across the prairie and slams
into the sleepy town of Promise, Oklahoma. As the mammoth twister
splinters homes, shreds crops, and tosses cars through the air, only
three of the town's terrified residents know that an even more
malevolent force has come to torment them - and they will not live to
tell anyone.
When Police Chief Charlie Grover finds three mutilated corpses in a
tornado-ravaged farmhouse, his first thought is that the victims were
impaled by flying debris. But his instincts tell him something
different. Through solid police work, Charlie proves that they were
brutally murdered and discovers that their executioner has left a
particularly hideous calling card. Yet how could the killer predict
exactly when and where a tornado would strike and use it to cover his
tracks? Could this psychopath be one of the storm chasers who streak
across the plains in pursuit of the ultimate thrill ride?
Enlisting the aid of tornado-chasing scientist Dr. Willa Bellman,
Charlie will step into a chaotic world of high-tech risk-taking in
search of a cunning criminal...one he soon suspects is stalking him -
and his lonely, vulnerable teenage daughter. For this is a killer unlike
any he's ever encountered before: one who conspires with the awesome
power of nature to commit and conceal unspeakable crimes.
Review:
"In Blanchard's second suspense novel a serial killer chases tornadoes in
Oklahoma and Texas because it provides him with the perfect cover to
commit murder. The killer is tracked by a police chief who soon has his
own personal reason to discover the truth--the kidnapping of his
daughter. Peter Coyote reads with controlled power. With the addition of
gripping yet unobtrusive sound effects throughout, the production
possesses a narrative drive that never slows, nor does an obligatory
romance or tangential back story interfere with the force of the
telling. Like a tornado, the story moves with relentless pacing toward a
breathtaking conclusion, aided by fine writing and rare originality. If
you liked the movie TWISTER, here it is on steroids, and with better
research. Coyote is believable as small-town cop Charlie Grover and
would be perfect to play him in the movie. This fact aids the
imagination required by this outstanding "audio" movie."
...Audiofile
"Set
in a region of rural Oklahoma known as Tornado Alley, this gale-force
thriller charts the warped progress of a serial killer who strikes only
during tornadoes and models his handiwork on their devastation. That
should be enough of a charge for one book, but such is Blanchard's
artistry that she whips up even more excitement by taking us joy riding
with storm chasers who jump into their trucks and ride into the path of
the big twisters."
...NY Times
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