BOOK REVIEWS

Reviews of CATEGORY FIVE

"Everything works to perfection in this novel; all the characters, from Mira and Annie to the fugitives and the dog, are beautifully drawn. Without losing the fast momentum of the story, MacGregor excellently develops the characters and the plot through dialogue and Mira's and Annie's psychic episodes. This fantastic book will leave readers eager to learn more about Mira and her family and friends."
—Stephanie Schneider, Romantic Times BOOKclub

"This is T.J. MacGregor's best book yet. The suspense builds like a hurricane, the action is non-stop, and al the characters are deeply realized and fascinated. When it comes to paranormal suspense novels, nobody does it better."
- Nancy Pickard, Virgin of the Plains

"Trish MacGregor has a way of snaring the reader instantly, drawing one into the lives of her characters . . . and then her plots take off! With this book--as with every Trish MacGregor--I begrudge any time that isn't spent reading until I've gone cover to cover. Don't miss this excellent and suspenseful novel."                                       - —Heather Graham, Killing Kelly

 

Review of TOTAL SILENCE

"In this riveting paranormal thriller from MacGregor (Black Water, etc.), Florida psychic Mira Morales, her FBI agent fiancé, Wayne Sheppard, and her 14-year-old daughter, Annie, pay a visit to old friends, Ramona and Jerry Stevens, at their woodland cabin outside Asheville, N.C. Soon after arrival, Mira opens the cabin door to a seemingly pleasant woman who introduces herself as Allie then pulls out a gun. For a stranger, Allie seems to know an awful lot about Mira and Sheppard. When Mira flees to the Stevens' barn, Allie chases her and shoots her in the thigh. Hurting Mira wasn't part of Allie's plan, but it does make it easier to abduct Mira in her Land Rover. While Sheppard and Annie work on tracking Mira down, the story flashes back 15 years to focus on the dysfunctional, wealthy Curry family. These flashbacks are the book's biggest strength, as they present a tantalizing puzzle involving Dean Curry and his power-mad older sister, Allie, and provide a convincing motive for Allie's violent actions. The story works so well as a family drama that the supernatural elements are almost forgotten. Still, Mira's special gift, which later becomes Annie's, turns an already exciting yarn into something truly unusual. "

— Publishers Weekly

Reviews of VANISHED

"Through succinct prose and sharp dialogue, MacGregor spins a haunting tale of classified technologies that warp the delicate fabric of space-time."

Publishers Weekly

"Good plotting (important), good writing (very important), good reading (all important).

Richard Matheson, author of
What Dreams May Come

Reviews of THE SEVENTH SENSE

"MacGregor keeps the suspense rising..."

Publishers Weekly

"T.J. MacGregor's suspense writing as it all: skillful storytelling with a moral core, ordinary people meeting extraordinary challenges, desperate acts of good and evil, the face of unspeakable evil hiding in your next door neighbor..."

Carole Nelson Douglas, author of bestselling
Midnight Louie mysteries.

"The Seventh Sense grabbed me, pinned me to my chair, and kept me there until the last page. I loved it."

Nancy Pickard, author of Twilight

"Seventh Sense is superb. MacGregor's writing blazes through the twisting catacombs of the heart and mind, leading you deep into new terrain so fascinating you almost forget to breathe. Don't wait for Thomas Harris. Read this book."

Steven Spruill, author of Rulers of Darkness and Daughters of Darkness.

Reviews of THE HANGED MAN

"Psychics on both side of the law clash with cops and the FBI in this tense and provocative suspense novel from Shamus Award nominee T.J. (aka Trish) MacGregor (Mistress of the Bones). Southern Florida New Age bookseller Mira Morales has a vision of a murder. After she warns the police (to no avail), the victim turns out to be Andrew Steele, a wealthy criminologist with ties to a sinister, top-secret government experiment that trained convicts to conduct psychic espionage. Not only is Steele dead, but his "ex beauty queen, ex-prison teacher" wife, Rae, is missing - kidnapped by sexually obsessed psychic Hal Bennet, who has escaped from jail with two other criminal mind-readers. Assigned to the Steele case, Florida detective Wayne Sheppard enlists Morales and together they become enmeshed in a frightening FBI conspiracy to round up the subjects of the experiment. Who is worse, the government of the monsters it helped to create? That is the question Sheppard and Morales (and readers) must answer for themselves. At the heart of this dilemma, embittered and sadistic Hal steals the show, since the source of his motivation draws the reader into a moral conundrum that raises important questions about the law’s accountability."

Publishers Weekly

* MacGregor, T.J. The Hanged Man, June 1998, 320p., Kensington, $23 (1-57566-266-3)

(A * denotes a book of unusual interest or merit.)

"Project Delphi, so lethal and secret only a dozen people knew about it, trained prisoners with psychic skills to use their minds to commit murder for the U.S. government. But things veered out of control and the telepathic killers were targeted for elimination. Only three of the men escaped and now they’re ready to take revenge on the government that betrayed them. Their first target: Andrew Steele, the psychiatrist who led Delphi. But Hal Bennet, the smartest and most skilled of the group, runs amok, kills Steele, and kidnaps Steele’s wife, secreting her deep in the Florida Everglades. Meanwhile, bookstore owner and psychic Mira Morales has a vision of a man being murdered. She calls the police, who scoff at her "information." Except for one wise cop, Wayne Sheppard, who’s learned to trust his instincts as much as he trusts physical evidence. And his instincts tell him that Mira holds the key to the key and that she and Sheppard are in terrible danger as long as Hal Bennet is at large. MacGregor delivers a story that’s frightening enough to make readers believe in government conspiracies - a gripping tale of revenge and obsession that’s filled with pulse-pounding suspense, bizarre trusts, and nonstop action. A mesmerizing thriller."