Scream by Mike Dellosso

The hook to this book is electrifying: Mark Stone hears blood-curdling screams when he is on the phone with someone. Shortly after their conversation is finished, the person dies. Where are the screams coming from and why are all these people dying?

Then there is a second plot-line entailing somone kidnapping women and locking them in an abandoned barn.

How are these two stories connected and how in the world is this a Christian book?

Mike Dellosso does an admirable job keeping you on the edge of your seat as you read his tale. Part of the fun is trying to solve the mysteries before Stone does. (most of you who read it probably will) The characters  provide rich development while Dellosso plays out the grieving husband, (While looking at the synopsis of other Dellosso books, however, this seems to be a running theme) and wounded villain.

It was easy for me to picture this novel as a movie: I kept imagining how creepy the screams-from-the-phone  scenes would be and I'd end up with hairs on the back of my neck sticking straight up. The action is thrill-a-minute while the more quiet moments smooth out your heart rate.

By the end of this book, Stone hears the screams while he's speaking to his wife and ends up racing against the clock to save her life.

Part of the drawback for me was the "come to Jesus" moment. It occurs during a fairly intense moment of the story and I felt jarred out of the rush in order to get the "Christianese" section taken care of. Please bear in mind that this was still a great read - I was just slightly put out by this choppy moment in the story.

I can't wait to read more novels from Dellosso.