Thief of Souls

Two narratives similar in subject and story if not in style make up one exceptionally well-written thriller about child murder and molestation in 15th-century France and 21st-century Los Angeles. The reader will wait in vain for Benson to tie together two feisty and dedicated women separated by six centuries. Although the connection is never made, it's clear that what Lany Dunbar and Guillemette le Drappiere have in common is their dedication to the vulnerable children victimized by two powerful men and their resolve to bring them to account. Guillemette, the widowed assistant to the Bishop of Nantes, is the first to see that the disappearances of dozens of young boys, including her own son, are connected to one man--Gilles de Rais, whom she raised from infancy and who the world knows as the notorious Bluebeard. And Lany, a detective with the Crimes Against Children division of the LAPD, is also the first to realize that the disappearances of several young boys with a disturbing resemblance to one another together are the work of a serial killer. Thief of Souls is a riveting adventure story with two well-realized characters whose quest for justice results in one compelling tale. --Jane Adams