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Absolute Fear

Lisa Jackson

591 pages

A pulse-pounding descent into a decaying asylum where repressed memories and a present-day killer collide.

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What it feels like

Reading this thriller feels like navigating a labyrinth in the dark, where every turn reveals another layer of dread. The narrative is relentlessly propulsive, dragging you through the humid, shadow-drenched streets of New Orleans and into the claustrophobic ruins of an abandoned asylum. It drips with a gritty, eerie atmosphere, perfectly capturing the disorientation of a protagonist whose own mind is a crime scene. The prose is visceral and urgent, prioritizing sharp hooks and mounting paranoia over quiet reflection. It is a deeply unsettling experience that explores the heavy toll of buried trauma and institutional sins. Fans of dark romantic suspense and gritty serial killer procedurals will devour this tense, twist-laden race against time.

Mood
  • dread-soaked
  • claustrophobic
  • eerie
  • tense
Tone
  • suspenseful
  • gritty
  • urgent
  • dark
Pace
propulsive
Themes
repressed memories · sins of the past · institutional corruption · betrayal of trust · psychological trauma
The writing
Fast-paced and visceral, relying on sharp dialogue and atmospheric descriptions to build relentless tension.
The arc
Moves from disorienting paranoia and fragmented fear to a desperate, high-stakes confrontation with a buried truth.
Who it's for
Fans of dark, twisty romantic suspense and serial killer thrillers who love a gothic New Orleans backdrop.
Content notes
  • serial murder
  • graphic violence
  • medical trauma
  • gaslighting
  • amnesia

About the book

ABSOLUTE FEAR, the sequel to, SHIVER.... From the author of FATAL BURN and SHIVER comes a pulse-pounding new novel of madness, deceit, and twisted revenge that will take readers into the heart of fear... For the past three months, Eve Renner has struggled to remember the night she was nearly killed and her lover was tried for murder. She remembers getting the anxious call from a friend from her past: “Meet me at the cabin. I’ve got evidence.” She remembers seeing that friend lying in a pool of blood. And she remembers a horrifying glimpse of her lover Cole Dennis’s face as a gunshot plunged her into darkness. Now, her memory and emotions scarred, Eve has returned to New Orleans to forget the past. But the past will not be forgotten. Eve’s shattered memory has helped Cole walk on murder charges just as a new series of killings begins. The latest murders are bizarre and baffling. The victims are killed in ritual fashion, a series of numbers tattooed into their bodies. 212. 101. 111. 323. There is no clue to their meaning, no connection to the victims except one: Our Lady of Virtues Hospital, the crumbling old asylum that was once the scene of unspeakable madness. For Eve, it was a second home as a child. Her father was a doctor there and she spent hours exploring its secret chambers, hidden rooms, and forbidden passageways. Somewhere in its decaying rooms lies the key to a terrible crime, a betrayal beyond imagining whose echoes are now being felt with vengeance--a crime that seems to lead to Eve herself. And the only man she can trust with the search is Cole, her former lover and, just possibly, a cold-blooded killer. As forgotten memories begin to surface, bodies are found and each twist leads to another terrifying piece of the puzzle. Someone is watching, planning, luring her back to the ruins of Our Lady and the shocking truths hidden there—someone who has been waiting for this moment to strike. He is deadlier than she could ever have imagined and closer than she knows. For the sins of the past must be revealed, the crimes brought to justice, and the price paid—in blood.

Description from Open Library.

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