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	C.E. Japhe C.E. Japhe is an horror/mystery writer and avid reader, currently living in the panhandle of West Virginia. In addition to formerly serving as an editorial reviewer for FMAM, she is a member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA).

UNDER PRESSURE
Kathy Brandt
Signet, $6.99, 272 pp.
ISBN: 0-451-21878-7

The latest novel in Brandt's Hannah Sampson series has our heroine witnessing a plane crash off the coast of Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands. Hannah, a police diver, and her trainee, quickly respond to the crash site, pulling survivors out of the sunken aircraft, dodging blood-hungry sharks in the process.

Was the crash an accident? An act of terrorism? Was one of the passengers a target? As the mysterious deaths start piling up, Hannah must find the answers. In her search for the truth, the single, childless Hannah develops a bond with one of the crash survivors, an orphaned nine-year-old boy, throwing a few hurdles into her daily routine. To complicate the situation further, she and her live-in-boyfriend have just had another serious argument about their future.

All this in an idyllic British Virgin Islands setting, with some environmental issues thrown in. The characters are well-drawn, and the descriptions of island life are fascinating. If this book doesn't make you want to visit the British Virgin Islands, I don't know what will. I also can't wait to read the rest of the Hannah Sampson series. A highly recommended read!

C.E. Japhe

DESTROYING ANGELS
Gail Lukasik
Five Star Publishing, $25.95, 291 pp.,
ISBN: 1-59414-360-9

Recovering from the trauma of a mastectomy, Chicagoan Leigh Girard decides to make a fresh start by leaving her unsupportive spouse and her teaching job, and moves to a remote community in Door County, Wisconsin. She takes a job as a reporter with the Door County Gazette, expecting to cover bake sales and county fairs. Her first assignment turns out to be the obituary of local carpenter Carl Peck. The grieving widow seems convinced her husband's death was a result of medical malpractice, so she insists on an autopsy. To everyone's surprise, it is discovered Peck, an experienced mycologist, died from mushroom poisoning.

A subsequent apparent suicide by the local librarian and the attempted suicide of Peck's daughter seem, on the surface, to be unrelated. But the more Leigh digs into the deaths and near-deaths, and the intertwined lives of the residents of Door County, the deeper the mystery becomes. When two attempts are made on Leigh's life, it is apparent someone thinks she is getting too close to the truth for comfort.

I found the story and its characters strangely disturbing, and not in a good way. The characters are all extremely volatile and enigmatic, presumably to give the reader a wide choice of suspects. But the result is unsatisfying, and leaves the reader without feeling much empathy for anybody. This along with the interspersed, unexplained (until the end) flashbacks and the confused conclusion made DESTROYING ANGELS a disappointing read.

C.E. Japhe

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