Feminist Mystery Reviews
DEADFALL
Sue Henry
Avon, Aug 1998, $22.00, 304 pp.
ISBN: 0-380-97661-7
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Alaska is considered by many people to be the last frontier on
the North American continent. The land appears to be pristine and
clean, but like the rest of the United States, evil walks the land.
Dog musher and trainer Jessie Arnold is internationally renowned
for her canine breeding program and her participation in races like
the Iditarard. Although she can not fathom who would hate her enough
to hurt her, she has recently been under siege from an unknown antagonist.
Her assailant's campaign of terror is frightening Jessie. The
culprit has placed traps in her kennels, leading to severe injuries
to her dogs. Jessie herself barely escapes from the teeth of one
of the traps. She receives threatening calls and letters. Her brake
line has been cut, leading to Jessie and her friends being hospitalized
from the subsequent car crash. Jessie's significant other, state
trooper Alex Jensen, devotes his full attention to capturing the
maniac stalking his beloved before the cat and mouse game turns
fatal.
Sue Henry brings out the feral isolation of the sparsely populated
part of Alaska that provides the reader insight into a region where
the law exists only as far as an individual can personally enforce
it. DEADFALL imbues the audience with the primal fear that a person
feels when a stalker makes them his prey. The imaginative story
line with its solid mystery, in which the assailant's motives are
as important as uncovering his identity, compels readers to want
more novels from this talented author.
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