Hit List is a thrilling story of suspense, intrigue and crime. Author Darcia Helle weaves an elaborate plot of murder, mental illness, passionate love and crooked cops. Revolving around a woman who is believed to be psychotic, Hit List is replete with action, anxiety and adventure. Helle carries the reader through a chilling escapade of crime, conspiracy, passion and homicide.
Ian's mother, Corrine, chanting and rocking, sometimes catatonic, appears to suffer from mental illness. She presents all of the mannerisms of psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia. Corrine's apparently irrational fears and free-floating anxiety seem to be the result of a ravaging psychosis. Or, are they? Only her son, Ian, believes that something might be amiss. He hires a beautiful, vivacious private investigator, Lucianna, to resolve the unanswered, bothersome questions. But, Ian soon finds himself infatuated with the voluptuous private eye.
Lucianna, gruff and all business on the outside, is fragile and vulnerable on the inside. Plagued by the murder/suicide of her own parents, Lucianna is compelled to determine the truth in the case of Corrine. All the while, she is drawn in by the allure of Ian. Something disturbing, deep within the story, draws Lucianna to the case. As she becomes emotionally involved with Ian, the two characters are enveloped first with passion and later with love. Surrounded by treachery and fear, they draw upon each other for strength. Add to the mix, a shady psychiatrist named Endicott, unethical, eavesdropping cops and a crime organization, bent upon eliminating anyone with potential knowledge of their illicit efforts.
Helle's effort is compelling, thrilling fiction, with persuasive mystery, convincing characters, ubiquitous trepidation, and a breathtaking conclusion. This tale is wrapped together into a taught package of excitement and intrigue. Helle has created a powerful page-turner, with gripping tension; it contains a gripping timeline and malevolent criminals eager to prey upon an innocent man's mother.
Helle creates masterful scenarios with engrossing dialog to weave a frightening tale fraught with continuous peril. This novel flies along with engrossing and entertaining dialog. Just when you begin to believe that you comprehend the plot, there is a twist or turn carrying the rapt reader in a different direction.
While some authors create vibrancy via description, Helle uses dialog to carry the story forward. She accomplishes this with exceptional writing and imagination. Helle is masterful in storytelling via dialog.
Hit List is a fast-paced, suspenseful adventure, compelling the reader to continue turning the pages. Helle's character formation is top notch, with vibrant context, exceptional dialog and a moving narrative. This is a book difficult to put down.
Congratulations to Helle for her captivating detective story. One can only anticipate the cinematic appearance of this frightening, entertaining yarn.
Charles S. Weinblatt
Author, Jacob's Courage: A Holocaust Love Story
