Cherokee Pointe Trilogy Series by Beverly Barton - Cherokee Pointe Trilogy 01 - The Fifth Victim
Cherokee Pointe Trilogy #1
The Fifth Victim
Beverly Barton - Cherokee Pointe Trilogy 01 - The Fifth Victim
**Some Things Shouldn't Be Seen. . .**
Cherokee Pointe, Tennessee. Deep in the Smoky Mountains, the victim lies, sacrificed on a makeshift altar--the gruesome work of a killer who has evaded the authorities in state after state. FBI agent Dallas Sloan knows the scene all too well--just as he knows the killings won't stop until there are four more bodies. . .
**Some Warnings Won't Be Heeded. . .**
Genny Madoc's "sixth sense" has brought many of Cherokee Pointe's residents to her isolated log cabin, looking for help. But now it's Genny who needs help from the disturbing visions she sees--images that are getting stronger and more violent day by day. . .
**Some Fears Can't Be Stopped. . .**
Thrown together by necessity, drawn to each other by desire, Dallas and Genny must band together, searching the darkest heart of a town's hidden secrets before a twisted killer can complete a sinister plan that will make one of them the fifth victim. . .
**Includes an excerpt of Beverly Barton's new novel The Murder Game! **
New York Times bestselling author **Beverly Barton** is the author of eleven romantic suspense thrillers, including *Killing Her Softly* and *Close Enough to Kill.* She is currently working on her next novel for Zebra Books.
### From Publishers Weekly
Unlike Barton's family-centered romantic intrigues (What She Doesn't Know, etc.), this visceral tale fits firmly in the thriller genre, but shades of romance and the paranormal keep it from being just a slasher story. Set in the heart of the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, the novel opens as a killer sacrifices an innocent woman and drinks her blood to gain strength. He performs these deadly rituals in sets of five before moving on to repeat the process elsewhere. When FBI agent Dallas Sloan hears of the first sacrificial murder in Cherokee Pointe, he takes a leave of absence to investigate and hopefully avenge the death of his niece, who was killed by the same murderer. Genny Madoc, a half-Cherokee with physic abilities, foresees Dallas's approach to the town, and she immediately senses that he's her soul mate. What she doesn't know is that her "sixth sense" makes her the madman's fifth target. As Genny and Dallas join forces, Barton turns her narrative lens on the community and its peculiar inhabitants, transforming this thriller into an insightful exploration of a small town. Scenes of explicit sex and violence can be jarring, but the tension and foreboding twisted throughout provide ample incentive for readers to reach the novel's chilling yet far-fetched conclusion. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
### From Booklist
In Barton's latest chilling romantic thriller, Genny has visions that leave her drained and helpless, but when she sees a young woman being sacrificed on an altar she is able to tell her cousin, the sheriff, exactly where to find her. The similarity between this murder and an earlier series of killings brings F.B.I. agent Lucas Sloan, who is searching for the murderer of his niece, to town. Lucas doesn't believe in paranormal powers, but finds himself falling head over heels in love with Genny. Then an F.B.I. profiler informs them that the killer has been killing in series of five; the first four victims are picked at random, but the fifth is always a woman with paranormal abilities. Barton's graphic descriptions of murder and sex are gritty and not for the faint of heart, but they do work well within the context of the crimes, and her characters are so well drawn and so realistic that readers will be thrilled to know they'll be back in at least two more installments. *Diana Tixier Herald* *Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved*
Read online