DC Lacey Flint is approached by DI Mark Joesbury to take on
an undercover assignment that will take her into the heart
of one of the most prestigious learning institutions in the
world. It seems that an alarming amount of students are
committing suicide at Cambridge University and no one can
quite pinpoint the reason. Lacey is asked to pose as a new
university student with some of the same psychological
issues that the victims had. As it's Joesbury who's doing
the asking, she doesn't feel that she can turn him down,
given the way she feels about him.
So she gets the details of her new identity and is set up in
a dorm room that had belonged to the most recent victim.
Lacey is to be Laura Farrow, a psychology major. The only
person connected to the University that knows Lacey is
undercover is Dr. Evi Oliver head of a counseling
clinic for students that need psychological counseling. In
fact, Dr. Oliver is the one that first brought the situation
to the attention of an old friend at Scotland Yard.
However, the lovely Dr. Oliver has her own set of issues
lately. Because of a long ago ski accident; she's dependent
on a wheel chair, stair lifts, and a cane. Recently, her
pain medication doesn't seem to be working very well, or at
all. On top of that, she's finding things left inside her
house that point to fears that she developed years ago.
These are fears that no one knows about except herself.
However,
someone knows what they are and are playing some very cruel
pranks on her.
Lacey starts having some issues almost immediately following
her settling in to her dorm suite. She starts following the
exact path of the last girl that occupied her room. The girl
that's now in the hospital suffering from severe burns over
most of her body due to setting herself on fire. Lacey's
having dreams that are much too real, and she's starting to
feel as if she's been drugged off and on.
Both Lacey and Evi have secrets in their past that can be
brought to the forefront and used to cause them to harm
themselves. Someone has managed to unearth them rather
quickly and is pushing all the right buttons in scaring
these women so badly that they may be manipulated to commit
suicide. Lacey's only chance to put a stop to this is to
find out who's behind it, but will she lose her own life in
the process?
DEAD SCARED is one of those books that you just never want
to end. S.J. Bolton has a deliciously evil mind when it
comes to unique plots. Her characters are the type that you
carry around in your head long after you've put the book
aside. The connection between Lacey and Mark is just
frustrating enough to make you want to knock their heads
together. Her characters turn up in other books written by
her, which is a fun surprise. It allows you to get attached
to certain characters. DEAD SCARED is for you if you
like reading a cleverly put together plot that offers
interesting characters, unique criminals and nerve jangling
suspense.
When a rash of suicides tears through Cambridge University,
DI Mark Joesbury recruits DC Lacey Flint to go undercover as
a student to investigate. Although each student’s death
appears to be a suicide, the psychological histories, social
networks, and online activities of the students involved
share remarkable similarities, and the London police are not
convinced that the victims acted alone. They believe that
someone might be preying on lonely and insecure students and
either encouraging them to take their own lives or actually
luring them to their deaths. As long as Lacey can play the
role of a vulnerable young woman, she may be able to stop
these deaths, but is it just a role for her? With her
fragile past, is she drawing out the killers, or is she
herself being drawn into a deadly game where she’s a perfect
victim?
Dark and compelling, S. J. Bolton’s latest
thriller—a follow-up to the acclaimed Now You See
Me—is another work of brilliant psychological suspense
that plumbs the most sinister depths.