THE DEAD ROOM

Author: Heather Graham ISBN: 0778324303 4/2007 SUSPENSE Publisher: MIRA

A year ago, archaeologist Leslie Maclntyre barely survived the explosion that took the life of her fiance, Matt Connolly. In the long months since, she's slowly come to terms not only with her loss but with her unsettling new ability to communicate with ghosts, a dubious "gift" received in the wake of her own brush with death. Now she's returned to lower Manhattan's historic Hastings House, site of the explosion, to conquer her fears and investigate a newly discovered burial ground. In this place restless spirits hold the secrets not only of past injustice but of a very real and very contemporary conspiracy with deadly designs on the city's women—including Leslie herself. By night Matt visits her in dreams, warning her and offering clues to the truth, while by day she finds herself helped by—and attracted to—his flesh-and-blood cousin Joe. Torn by her feelings for both men, caught between the worlds of the living and the dead, Leslie struggles against the encroaching danger that threatens to overcome her. As she is drawn closer to the darkness at the heart of Hastings House, she must ultimately face the power of an evil mind, alone in a place where not even the men she loves can save her.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Be prepared to enter a ghostly world of suspense and danger when you pick up THE DEAD ROOM.

This above average paranormal suspense is really a quite superior thriller if one concentrates on the surprising, twisty storyline rather than on the ensemble of cookie-cutter characters.

Leslie MacIntyre is a fairly standard Heather Graham heroine (minus the annoyingly silly habit of walking into danger with eyes wide open) who awoke from a deadly explosion a year earlier with the ability to converse with the dead. Now she is back on the scene of the explosion, trying to communicate with her dead fiancee while enjoying a dreamy sexual relationship with his ghost.

And then there's Joe Connolly, PI extraordinare, who needs to spend more time groping for facts of an abduction that is, maybe, connected to a serial killer case, than thinking of groping his dead cousin's fiancee.

So basically THE DEAD ROOM is without a typical hero. Is it Joe or his dead cousin, Matt, Leslie's dream lover? That point is one of the more refreshing aspects of THE DEAD ROOM.

I still can't figure out why a NYC Homicide Detective (who is supposedly swamped with a series of mysterious disappearances) and a NYC police spokesman are constantly hanging out at an archeological dig except to provide to a growing list of suspects. THE DEAD ROOM has more red herrings than a fishpond has fish. The large number of suspects, however, does help propel the story forward.

Ms. Graham excels at an astonishing grasp of history and THE DEAD ROOM has some interesting historical tidbits swirling within its pages—including the old underground passageways beneath a bustling New York City.

THE DEAD ROOM is much better than most of Ms. Graham's past romantic suspense fare. The plot takes some really surprising twists and the end might be a real shocker for most readers. The characters aren't much different from her standard issue, but the spooky plot is the real star of this novel.

Debbie Jett