Hush

Hush opens with the gruesome murder of 7-year-old Davy Boyce's mother by his stepfather, Chet. Chet kills the woman with a straight razor after she confronts him about his abusive behavior towards Davy. We soon find that Chet has married Davy's mother only to be close to Davy, who he molests throughout the book. Once she's dead, Chet packs up the trailer and takes Davy to the remote, Oregon lumber town of Bentman. That's when Hush really takes off.

Chet's plan to have Davy all to himself is quickly derailed when Davy becomes both an elective mute and a biter. He is taken out of school and placed in the Bentman Children's Center where he meets 38-year-old Celia Griswold, the art therapist assigned to his case. Celia has her own problems. Her cheating husband, childless marriage, and uncooperative boss drive her to develop a bond with Davy, and the boy's sinister artwork leads her to suspect Chet of the crimes he's committed. Chet does not plan to give up "his boy," and launches an assault on Celia to ensure that he doesn't have to.

Edgar- and Emmy-award-winning journalist Mark Nykanen has written a debut thriller that is sure to chill even the most weathered mystery fan. Davy, Chet, and Celia hold the story together as both fascinating and believable characters. There are moments in the story that are difficult to believe, but despite its few weak spots, Hush is almost impossible to put down. --Mara Friedman