There Goes . . .

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The Neighborhood / by S.K. Epperson

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Hospice nurse Abra Ansen thinks she's made a smart career move when she moves into the quiet home of bed-ridden Thomas Conlan, a man slowly dying of AIDS . . . or so she's been told. In actuality (and as Abra soon finds out), Mr. Conlan ails from a completely different illness; one that's just as deadly but far more infectious--smallpox. Supposedly a disease which was wiped out decades ago, Conlan suffers from a unusually volatile strain which has somehow been re-introduced into the natural world. But why would such a bizarre illness be attached such a harmless old man? And why the lie in the first place?

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Meanwhile the world outside concerns itself with the sudden disappearance of Cindy Melo, a local teenage girl seemingly having vanished into thin air a little over a week ago. The search for the missing girl ongoing, Abra steadily begins to learn more about her new neighbors; things like retired cop Zane Campbell's home business involving prosthetic eyeballs and creepy Craig Peterwell's assortment of exotic pets all eerily interconnected somehow amidst some very strange and sinister dealings. Slowly does Abra realize what's truly at stake concerning Mr. Conlan and his neighbors.

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S.K. (Sharon K.) Epperson may be the best kept secret within the thriller genre and, more particularly, within the context of psychological suspense. From the very first page all the way to the end, the story is uncannily original with the reader perpetually drawn to the plot. Yet unlike many traditional thrillers where action and suspense are the central attributes, it's the characters--primarily Abra, Zane and Craig--which evoke the most intrigue, Epperson's well-crafted involvement of each's motives and their successive contributions to the story subtley making for a rewarding read.