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Don't Cry

Review

Don't Cry

Young, dark-haired women are disappearing from the streets of
Chattanooga, Tennessee. While the families of the missing persons
wait in anguish and pray for the safe return of their loved ones,
the police department works frantically to find the kidnapping
victims. After the body of one of the women --- a relative of the
mayor --- is discovered in a rocking chair in front of a busy
Cracker Barrel restaurant, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
(TBI) is called in to assist.

Special Agent J.D. Cass is assigned to help the police find the
murderer, who has been dubbed the “Rocking Chair
Killer.” J.D. is an intelligent and attractive agent with a
strong sexual appetite who devotes himself to solving the case. But
his personal life clashes with his professional one after his
teenage daughter Zoe is picked up and taken to jail.

As more women are abducted and the body count rises, the
investigation intensifies and takes a bizarre twist. After
kidnapping and holding his victims for weeks, the deranged serial
killer carefully positions the bodies in rocking chairs and places
blue blankets and pillows in their laps. Wrapped inside the
blankets is what appears to be dolls, but an even more grisly
discovery reveals that the dolls are actually skeletal remains of
infants.

After the infant remains are identified, they are connected to a
series of murders committed decades ago --- the “Blue
Baby” toddler abductions. More than 20 years earlier, over a
five-year period, six blond-haired, blue-eyed toddlers had been
abducted by an insane woman who murdered her own child, then took
other infants to replace him. The missing toddlers were never
found, dead or alive, except for one. Among them is the baby
brother of Audrey Sherrod, a grief counselor and consultant with
the Chattanooga Police Department. For decades, Audrey has lived
with the pain and nightmares of the day her brother went missing.
She has tried to put behind her how the devastating abduction
destroyed her family, but the gruesome discoveries bubble her grief
back to the surface.

While J.D. remains more determined than ever to catch the
killer, Zoe finds an advocate in Audrey, who does not approve of
his parenting skills. As J.D. gets closer to solving the case,
Audrey’s nightmares of the past collide with the present,
becoming more terrifying and hitting close to home.

Set in historic Chattanooga, Tennessee, DON’T CRY is a
suspenseful thriller with twists and turns and splashes of romance
and down-and-dirty sex, sure to please Beverly Barton’s
countless fans. Strong characters, an engaging storyline and a
powerful message of the debilitating grief over the loss of a child
pack an emotional punch.

Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt (dvolkenannt@charter.net) on December 30, 2010

Don't Cry
by Beverly Barton

  • Publication Date: August 17, 2010
  • Genres: Fiction, Romantic Suspense
  • Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Zebra Books (Mass Market)
  • ISBN-10: 1420110349
  • ISBN-13: 9781420110340