Ever Present Danger (Phantom Hollow Series #1) [Paperback]

Kathy Herman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2007

Can You Ever Escape Your Past?

At eighteen, popular Ivy Griffith likes nothing better than getting stoned with her boyfriend, Pete, and his basketball buddies–until one afternoon when a nightmare unfolds. Ivy watches in horror as her boyfriend and his friends murder a teammate and bury his body in a remote location. The four friends make a pact to keep the killing quiet, and Ivy flees her parents’ Colorado home for college and never looks back.

Now, after ten years of numbing her guilt with drugs, she’s finally clean. The single mom of a seven-year-old son, Montana, Ivy returns home to the tiny town of Jacob’s Ear, hoping for courage to reveal the shocking truth of her past and be rid of this baggage forever.

But when disaster strikes at her high school reunion, she’s the only one left alive who witnessed that fateful night so long ago…Or is she? Who else could’ve known about the pact and who would want Pete and his co-conspirators dead? As the investigation heats up and the death toll rises, Ivy is forced to decide if confessing the truth is really worth risking her own life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Ever Present Danger has all the tightly woven drama, excellent characterization, and suspense Kathy Herman’s readers have come to love.”
- Hannah Alexander, author of Grave Risk and Death Benefits

“Be prepared to stay up late as you get to know the people of Phantom Hollow — a place you’ll want to visit again and again.”
- Carol Cox, author of Ticket to Tomorrow and Fair Game

About the Author

Kathy Herman is the bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Baxter series, Poor Mrs. Rigsby, and the Seaport Suspense novels. Her thought-provoking stories are ordinary enough to be believable and extraordinary enough to stick with the reader long after the cover is closed. Kathy and her husband, Paul, live in Texas and have three grown children and five grandchildren. They enjoy world travel, deep sea fishing, and bird watching–sometimes incorporating all three into one big adventure.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Books (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590529219
• ISBN-13: 978-1590529218
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,800 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kathy Herman is no stranger to the Christian publishing industry. Before becoming a bestselling author and award-winning poet, Kathy worked on staff at the Christian Booksellers Association for five years. She gained eleven years of bookstore experience as a children's products specialist and drew on that expertise to conduct related seminars in the U.S. and Canada.

Kathy quickly rose to the rank of bestselling author when her first novel, TESTED BY FIRE, became a CBA bestseller shortly after its release. Since then, five more of her novels have claimed the title of bestseller: ALL THINGS HIDDEN, THE REAL ENEMY, THE LAST WORD, THE RIGHT CALL,and FALSE PRETENSES.

Her contemporary, fast-paced novels weave inspirational messages into the storyline so effectively that a college professor in Houston utilized her books as required reading to educate students on the value of teaching through fiction. Kathy's books have also been widely used in book club discussion and Bible study groups.

Kathy and her husband Paul live in East Texas and have three grown children, five "nearly perfect" grandchildren, and an adorable cat named Samantha. Her hobbies include world travel, deep sea fishing, and bird watching--and an ongoing fascination with hummingbirds.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good suspense, June 26, 2007

By 

Barbara Warren - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ever Present Danger (Phantom Hollow Series #1) (Paperback)

Ivy Griffith was a disapointment to her parents. In school she preferred getting stoned with her boyfriend, Pete, and two of his friends to studying. Then an argument got out of hand, and Pete and the others murdered Joe Hadley as Ivy watched. The four agreed to never tell what happened. Ivy went away to college, and spent the next ten years trying to forget. Most of the time she wandered in a drug and alcohol induced haze. Now she's clean, has a young son and has returned back home to try to make her peace with her parents. The four high school friends are reunited at a school reunion. They are still keeping to the pact, although Ivy has some reservations about whether she should come clean or not. Then someone starts killing off Ivy's friends until she's the only one left who knows what happened to Joe Hadley. Or is she?
As usual, Kathy Herman serves up a tense, fast paced mystery that will keep the reader guessing right up to the end.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Taut Read, May 24, 2007

By 

Novel Reviews "www.novelreviews.blogspot.com" (Every City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ever Present Danger (Phantom Hollow Series #1) (Paperback)

After a ten year absence, Ivy Griffith is returning home to Jacob's Ear, Colorado, with her seven year old son, Montana, and her closest friend, seventy year old Lucia. Her parents, especially her father, have mixed emotions about their prodigal daughter's return. Will she stay this time or leave, shredding their hearts once more?

This time, Ivy has every intention to stay. She has a past to make amends for, but first needs to be sure her son will have a loving home. Ten years ago while high on drugs, Ivy, her bad boy boyfriend Pete Barton and their friends Denny Richards and Reg Morrison murdered a classmate and buried his body where it couldn't be found. They swore a pact to one another to keep their secret. The fall after graduation, they went their separate ways and their secret went with them. Now, it has driven Ivy back home.

But before Ivy can confess to her part in the long-ago crime, bones are discovered at her father's new condo development. After ten long years, Joe Hadley has been found.

Pressure mounts on Ivy to keep her part of the pact. Pete Barton moved back to Jacob's Ear before Ivy arrived and the other two, Denny and Reg, swing into town for a visit and to remind Ivy of their pact.

She decides to keep her secret until after their ten year class reunion. But by the end of the evening, the sheriff has three more murders on his hands and Ivy is left to wonder if she's next.

Ever Present Danger is the first book in the Phantom Hollow series by Kathy Herman. Readers of her previous novels may recognize two of the characters in this book, Brandon Jones and his wife Kelsey, from Not By Chance, Book 4 in the Seaport Suspense Series. Brandon is employed by the Three Peaks Christian Camp and Conference Center, owned by Elam Griffith. He's involved in a subplot of his own, one that may destroy his marriage before its first anniversary.

But this book is Ivy's story, as she seeks to right a terrible wrong and put to rest her guilt. She needs the support of her family and friends to find the courage to face up to her past. But will she live long enough to confess or will the killer get to her first?

Cheryl Russell
[...]

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, October 7, 2007

By 

David Brollier "sonburst" (Huguenot, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ever Present Danger (Phantom Hollow Series #1) (Paperback)

Yeah, that's all Ivy Griffith needs at this point. 10 years ago her boyfriend and his friends beat up, killed and buried a classmate. Stoned on a "killer joint" she watched and said nothing. For 7 years her life was all about getting high to forget that night. When she sobers up she has a 4 year old boy to take care of. Thank God for Lu. Only this time, as she sets out to make things right, Lu dies and suddenly everything goes wrong.

Kathy Herman does an amazing job in creating not just a story that is razor sharp, but characters, even a town, that is so believable you just want to go and have a cup of coffee at Jewel's Cafe. I've been reading a lot of Christian fiction lately and I have to say I'm impressed with the new breed of Christian author. Kathy is by no means a new comer to the scene, but like so many other good Christian authors, her works are getting hidden mostly in Christian bookstores. This is a book that anyone can enjoy, because it makes you ask questions about yourself. Sure, maybe you never did drugs or had a past like Ivy, but you can still relate to her. You can relate to her fears, her indecision, her bad choices. This is a book that points its finger at us and says, "I know your heart. But I know One who can make it clean."

David Brollier
author of THE 3RD COVENANT