5-Star Paranormal Thriller: Bound by Suggestion

If you enjoy mysteries and suspense with a touch of paranormal, you will want to put L.L. Bartlett’s Jeff Resnick series on your list. You should read the books in order to get the maximum enjoyment, for much of the interest comes from the characters’ personal lives and changing circumstances.

MURDER ON THE MIND, the first in the series, introduces us to Jeff, a regular guy whose life changes forever when a vicious mugging leaves him with some permanent side effects: the ability in certain cases–not all, to share others’ emotions in an unpleasantly visceral way, plus weird visionary flashes that eventually lead him to investigate and solve a murder.

BOUND BY SUGGESTION, the 4th and latest in the series, is structured a little differently from the others. Rather than a who-dunnit, it is a psychological thriller. We know the “bad guy” early on, and the considerable suspense comes from wondering how far the baddie’s twisted plot will go before Jeff starts to wise up.

A secondary plot involving Jeff’s half-brother, Richard, and a second “bad guy” keeps the reader on her toes, wondering how it will all pull together.

I’m normally pretty good at leaving books, good interesting books, in my backpack at the end of the day’s commute, but I was only halfway through BOUND BY SUGGESTION before I HAD to take it out and read it over dinner and then stay up way past my bedtime to finish it. It was worth the lost sleep.

The only downside is that now I’ll have to wait until the talented Ms. Bartlett gives us the next Jeff Resnick book. Meantime I’d love to get some suggestions for other paranormal/mystery/suspense reads. I’m sure there are plenty out there.