Can't Find My Way Home

by Carlene Thompson

Overview

Brynn Wilder must confront a dark and dangerous walk back into her traumatic past

Eighteen years ago, twelve-year-old Brynn Wilder’s life changed forever when her father and a teenage girl were severely injured in a brutal attack in the woods.

Jonah Wilder died, but fifteen-year-old Tessa Cavanaugh survived to tell the world about her horrific ordeal, and Brynn’s devoted father was soon identified as the infamous Genessa Point serial killer. Brynn and her family fled the town, and Brynn swore never to return.

But the scars of the past won’t heal, and when Brynn’s tormented brother, Mark, goes back to Genessa Point only to suddenly disappear after telling a friend he has new information about his father’s death, Brynn resolves to find him.

She may not want to confront her traumatic past, but a series of creepy and menacing incidents show that someone is determined Brynn won’t escape it. Can she find Mark and uncover the truth about their father’s death?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727884572
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	02/01/2015
Edition description:	First World Publication
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Carlene Thompson is the author of Last Whisper, Black for Remembrance, and Don’t Close Your Eyes, among other books. She attended college at Marshall University and earned her Ph.D. in English from Ohio State University. She taught at the University of Rio Grande before leaving to focus on her writing full-time. Besides writing, she spends her time caring for the many dogs and cats she's adopted. A native West Virginian, she lives with her husband Keith in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

★ 12/15/2014
Those looking for romantic-thriller nirvana will find it in this standalone from Thompson (To the Grave). When Brynn Wilder and Mark, her brother, were in their teens, their father was murdered and posthumously declared Maryland’s infamous Genessa Point Killer. Brynn managed to move on and become a novelist, but Mark remained mired in the shame and blame . Eighteen years later, Mark has decided to return to Genessa Point, his deceptively pastoral Chesapeake Bay hometown, determined to clear his father’s name. Brynn, now living in Miami, is sufficiently worried about Mark to follow him to Genessa Point, where she learns that he’s suddenly disappeared. Reluctantly, she turns to Sheriff Garrett Dane, son of the sheriff who convinced the locals of her father’s guilt. Sinister voice-distorted phone calls and threats ensue, driving Brynn and Garrett into each other’s arms. A kid, a dog, and Steve Winwood’s plaintive eponymous song round out an excellent read. Agent: Pamela Ahearn, Ahearn Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

Readers are likely to leave the lights on and the doors locked after finishing this suspenseful blend of horror and thriller genres

Booklist

Readers are likely to leave the lights on and the doors locked after finishing this suspenseful blend of horror and thriller genres

Booklist

2014-12-07
Returning to her Chesapeake hometown 18 years after her father was posthumously identified as the Genessa Point Killer, a daughter who's coped with her demons by writing supernatural fantasy novels finds there's plenty of malice left in the old Point.Nobody believes Brynn Wilder when she tells them that her brother, Mark, is in trouble. And why should they, when her only evidence is a caller from Mark's cellphone who plays the song "Can't Find My Way Home" to the end and then hangs up? It's not as if Brynn has much credit with the local law, who, on the basis of forensic evidence Brynn's never accepted, decided that middle school principal Jonah Wilder was the monster who'd killed eight children and brutally attacked a ninth, Tessa Cavanaugh, moments before he died himself of stab wounds. Though she's resolved never to go back, Brynn can't bear the thought of letting Mark down. So she follows his trail to the place that's tormented her dreams, and all hell promptly breaks loose. Even though the Genessa Point Killer has been dormant all these years, Jonah's old friend realtor Sam Fenney is stabbed to death, and Rhonda Sanford, the smugly self-described lover of Brynn's old crush, Sheriff Garrett Dane, is fed a lethal dose of cocaine laced with strychnine. The only sign of Mark is a series of increasingly alarming phone calls to Brynn. And all the people Brynn most treasures—her best friend, Cassie Hutton; Garrett; his worshipful teenage daughter, Savannah—seem to be wearing targets on their backs. The solution, requiring an extended confession to the obligatory hostages and some additional explanation afterward, may tax fans of imperiled heroines. Along the way, though, Thompson (To the Grave, 2012, etc.) produces enough blood and thunder to satisfy the most demanding of them.

Kirkus Reviews