Customer Reviews

The Price Of Silence

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kate Wilhelm's "The Price of Silence" takes place in the small desert town of Brindle, Oregon. Todd Fielding and her husband, Barney, are low on funds and Todd is thrilled when she gets a job at a small newspaper, the "Brindle Times." She edits, does layout, and troubleshoots computer problems for the eighty-year-old publisher, Ruth Ann Colonna. In addition to her regular duties, Todd is helping Ruth Ann with a special centennial edition of the newspaper that will deal with the history of Brindle. It seems that back in 1888, there was a fire in an inn that killed four people, including a young woman named Janey. Was the fire deliberately set or was it an accident? Ruth has uncovered sources that reveal shocking secrets about the circumstances surrounding the tragedy. She intends to tell the town the truth about what really happened and why.

When Todd starts working at the newspaper, she is startled to learn that a series of teenaged girls have disappeared over the years and, recently, a fourteen-year-old named Jodie Schuster has just gone missing. Did these girls run away or were they abducted? Todd senses that there is an evil presence in Brindle, and she stirs up a hornet's nest when she decides to write a series of articles about the disappearances.

"The Price of Silence" is a solid psychological mystery with spooky supernatural elements. At night when she is staying in Brindle, Todd occasionally feels a tremendous chill spreading throughout her body. After the chill subsides, she feels depressed and even breaks down in tears. As time goes on, Todd believes that she is experiencing a paranormal phenomenon in which a ghostly presence is attempting to communicate with her.

Wilhelm's characters include the aforementioned Ruth Ann, who is a crusty, brilliant, and forceful woman. Her son, Johnny, manages the newspaper, and he bitterly resents Todd. He would love to get rid of this nosy interloper, but Ruth Ann will not hear of it, since Todd's skill with computers and her insightful reporting quickly make her an indispensable asset. Todd's doting husband, Barney, a doctoral candidate in philosophy, fears for his wife's safety when she begins to receive hate mail. His fears prove well founded when someone makes an attempt on Todd's life.

"The Price of Silence" effectively deals with the themes of complacency, family dysfunction, and courage under pressure. The inhabitants of Brindle would prefer to believe that all is well in their town, although the evidence points to the possibility that there is a dangerous predator in their midst. It takes a fearless outsider, Todd Fielding, to shake things up, but can she find the killer before she becomes his next victim? Wilhelm maintains a high level of suspense, and she skillfully describes a place where people would rather live in a world of illusion than face unpleasant truths.

Having lost her job and knowing that her beloved spouse Barney has two years to go on his dissertation, Oregonian Todd Fielding obtains work on the Brindle Times as the newspaper's octogenarian owner Ruth Ann Coleman knows her paper needs a computer expert journalist. Though on the other side of the mountain from where Barney attends school and teaches, Todd accepts the position that comes with a rent free house. Barney's faculty advisor arranges his schedule so that they can spend most of each week together.

Todd and Ruth Ann become close confidents as the newcomer's work and ethics are excellent. When a high school girl Jodie Schuster vanishes, Todd questions the local cops who blow her off insisting she is just another bored teen runaway. Todd investigates further and soon finds a shocking pattern of missing teenage females over recent years with law enforcement doing nothing except yawning. With Ruth Ann providing an identical but much older pattern of disappearances, the two women investigate not realizing the danger from a town icon who wants his predatory nature to remain secret.

This is a terrific amateur sleuth tale that enables the audience to first appreciate the strong relationships between Todd and Barney (in spite of a sexual female prowler), and Todd and Ruth Ann (the "cold" air and the recognition the paper is the elderly woman's "baby"). Once the tale switches to the amateurs sleuth investigation, fans obtain a fantastic mystery as the two journalists struggle to uncover who is behind the abductions of recent note and who got away with the first generation killings under the watch of Ruth Ann's late father. Kate Wilhelm writes a terrific thriller that hopefully will have sequels set in Brindle, Oregon.

Harriet Klausner

Wilhelm is at the top of her form in this dark and engaging thriller. Pick it up when you get a chance, but prepare to lose some sleep--you won't want to put it down.

Wilhelm is an excellent writer, and a master of psychological suspense. This book is no exception. However, I found it a little less satisfying than her best; a couple of the characters didn't quite ring true.

The plot is one Wilhelm has used a couple of times before: an attractive and intelligent young person who is at loose ends as to what to do with herself, and not quite sure of her life's direction, winds up through chance circumstances in a small town where something is deeply wrong, and no one wants to talk about it.

That's part of the problem I had with this book, though; while in past books such as "Skeletons," the secret has had to do with the past and is hidden by an older generation, in this book, the problem is ongoing and yet people are still ignoring it. Teenage girls keep disappearing - and no one pursues them or suspects them of anything other than running away. While that might have been the case half a century ago, in these days of entire organizations built around missing children, and pictures of missing children on every milk carton, and TV shows about searching for missing people, it just didn't seem likely to me that in a single village, 5 or more teenage girls would disappear and no one would be raising a stink, not even their parents, until our protagonist appears. And that in a relatively small town, no one prior to her would have noticed the similarities between the girls, nor figured out what other things were going on right when the disappearances started.

It also seems unlikely to me that the kidnapper could be doing the kinds of things they are doing, and not have other abnormalities show up in their behavior or personalities, that no one else would ever think that there was anything odd or unusual in the way this person behaves or things they say. (I'm not giving away who it was; that's why I'm avoiding saying she or he.) I think that people who are this sick show signs of the sickness in more than one way and generally aren't able to completely compartmentalize their lives. It's one thing if the person is a loner and doesn't associate with their neighbors at all, so that no one ever talks to them much; it's different if the person has a regular job and talks to many people every day and goes to social events: some other sign that something is WRONG with this person would show up. So I found the characterization of this person a little unrealistic, and the behavior of the neighbors a bit unbelievable.

Nonetheless, it's a well-written story and lots of action for our heroine and her husband. And I know that many people like this kind of suspense and think that there ARE completely hidden monsters among us, and those people won't have the reservations I had about the realisticness of the villain.

Anna Fields gives a first rate performance of Kate Wilhelm's book. Voices admirably suit the characters, no weakness in portraying male as opposed to female, complete differentiation within each sex. Acted in such fashion the book lives as a taut suspense drama, with admirable lead characters and suitable feature players to applaud and hiss at. The resolution makes dramatic sense. The title captures the underlying tension, a journalist who seeks to tell a distasteful truth and a community which seeks to repress that voice so as to remain free to blind itself to an uncomfortable reality. Hackneyed plot which is used with good effect by a skillful author. Recommended for those who can tolerate a young couple in love, supported in their dilemma by wise older heads. Not for the cynical or those who prefer the gritty urban streets.

Caught in corporate downsizing, Todd Fielding was out of work and desperate. Todd and her husband Barney had spent lavishly never expecting the paychecks to stop. In the month's since her layoff, Todd heard the same thing over and over again, she was over qualified. When she received a call from the Brindle Times, Todd was over the moon. Okay, so the job was on the other side of the mountain and Barney had to say put in order to finish his dissertation. They would find a way to work it out.

Todd's job was two-fold. She did the editing, layout and any computer troubleshooting that was necessary, as well as helped Ruth, her boss, with a special centennial edition of the newspaper. The special edition would choreograph the history of Brindle. During her research, Ruth had uncovered the truth behind a fire in 1888 that killed four people and wanted to publish it.

While working for the paper, Todd learned of a series of teenaged girls that had disappeared over the years and recently, a fourteen-year-old named Jodie Schuster had disappeared. When she started writing articles about the disappearances, no one wanted to hear it. The residents of Brindle didn't believe that there was a predator living among them.

When Ruth provided a similar, but much older pattern of disappearances, the two women start investigating. With the help of a ghostly presence, they uncover the truth. A community icon was kidnapping girls that reminded him of the love he couldn't have. He cared for them for a time, but they invariably died. He would bury the girl and then start looking for a replacement.

The Price of Silence has a little bit of everything, dysfunctional families, complacency, ghosts, kidnapping and murder, courage, truth and love. It is an excellent psychological mystery and well worth reading.

I am a big fan of Kate Wilhelm's Barbara Holloway books, but have not always been as impressed with her others. I had a difficult time getting started with this book, but eventually became snared by the remarkable character development: Ms. Wilhelm, who appears to be in the middle stage of her life, has written very convincingly about two women who are at opposite spectrums. Todd, the main character, is young, multidimensional, ambitious, capable and confident. Ruth Ann is nearing the end of her life, and is also portrayed as energetic, intelligent and attractive. I was charmed by the relationship between Ruth Ann and Maria, her longtime companion/housekeeper. The book resolves a little too conveniently, but I have to say I enjoyed reading it. Her descriptions of the central Oregon desert are lyrical, and I especially appreciated Todd's comment about a sunset being difficult to capture in art or photography "because it is a process, not an event." So true. As a former Oregonian, I loved reading about Oregon's beauty. Good read. Karen Knapp

This is a subtle, walking pace novel that's really about conscience and what tension does to a small town.

If you are looking for a rip-roaring thriller with twists and turns, this is not it.

The setting is beautifully described, as are the characters in this book. It is nicely drawn, and explores the parts of the mind that work when we aren't paying attention.

It's an old fashioned novel; a good book for contemplating.

Certainly not for everyone, but a good read none the less.

Oregon, home of and a favored setting for author Wilhelm, is the background for this dark tale of murder, hypocrisy, and lies. Brindle is a small town that appears on the surface to be a haven of peace and quiet. It is quite the opposite as Todd Fielding soon discovers.

Todd has come to Brindle to work for the local newspaper while her husband, Barney, pursues his doctoral degree in a nearby university town. Newspaper owner Ruth Ann Colonna is planning a special edition of the paper featuring Brindle then and now. So, Todd busies herself becoming acquainted with her new community.

The superficial serenity of Brindle isn't interrupted by the sudden disappearance of a young girl. This sets Todd to wondering - she does more than wonder when she discovers that five other girls have mysteriously vanished during the past two decades. What is even stranger and rather frightening is that no one seems to care about the whereabouts of the girls.

Newcomers to any place who start probing are seldom welcome, and Todd fuels a fire that threatens to get away when she decides to write about the girls' disappearance. Ruth Ann seems to be her only ally, and Barney is often miles away.

Voice performer and Audie Award winner Anna Fields successfully captures the outrage, fear, and determination of Todd as she seeks to uncover the truth. A more than satisfying listening experience!

- Gail Cooke

I just wasn't that impressed with this and it didn't really capture my interest/excitement. It annoyed me how one minute Todd and Barney *could she have chosen uglier names?* were on the same page and the next minute they were isolated, like they went back and forth a lot. Their relationship also seemed really flawed, since they wouldn't talk about things or be honest and open with each other.