Fear The Dark by Kay Hooper

Set in small town Serenity, Tennessee, psychic investigators from the FBI's Special Crime Unit assist Jonah Riggs, the Police Chief in finding six people who have disappeared within one month during the ordinary course of their days. They include: two eloping teens, a judge, new mother, 10 year old girl and young man. A female police officer is killed and they are tasked with solving this crime, too. Hopeful the disappeared are still alive, investigators attempt to establish a common link in an attempt to rescue them.

At the end of the book, the author includes agent bios, definitions of psychic terms plus a time line pertinent to this series. Practical for first time readers (like myself) and hence, noteworthy.

An intriguing plot, the crime is complicated with technological invention, energy bursts, hacking of security systems, mind manipulation and references to a "dark hungry force."

Quotes such as the following from Chapter Seven prompt reader contemplation on larger issues:

"Evil hides," Sam reminded him. "More often than not, behind something familiar, something nonthreatening. That's its ace, being able to hide....SO they aren't looking for one (monster), especially close to home."

"It only has to make sense to him," Dante spoke up to say. "A madman has his own mad logic."

The twist of psychic characters was interesting but I rated the common link Chief Riggs shared with the disappeared "obvious" and a weak point in the novel. The conclusion was laced with tragedy yet satisfactory.