Satan's Lambs (Lena Padget Mysteries) [Paperback]

Lynn Hightower (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lena Padget Mysteries | Publication Date: June 2005

Lena Padget was a mild-mannered grad student in a quiet Kentucky town until her sister was brutally murdered, and everything changed. Over the seven years that the killer has been in prison, Lena has honed her anger to a razor’s edge, working as a private-eye for women too scared to help themselves. But with her sister’s killer out of jail -- and high on the twisted beliefs of the religious cult that raised him -- Lena is suddenly her own most desperate client. Lena could give any of the tough chicks in mystery fiction – and not a few of the guys – a run for their money: While she may not carry a gun, she packs a lethal baseball bat. But on this go-round, she’ll need every weapon she can muster to avoid becoming another lamb to the slaughter. Winner of the Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye Novel of 1993.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Woman's intuition takes on the power of Satan in this hokey but entertaining thriller set in Tennessee and Kentucky. Lena Padget's life changed drastically seven years ago, when her brother-in-law, fanatical Satanist Jeff Hayes, brutally murdered her pregnant sister and two-year-old nephew. Determined to protect other vulnerable women, Lena became a private eye, specializing in cases of abuse and endangerment. Jeff, now out on parole, harasses her with menacing phone calls and sinister trinkets left in her home. When his partner, Archie Valetta, is also released, Valetta's ex-wife Eloise fearfully enlists Lena's services; nonetheless, Archie manages to brutalize Eloise and kidnap her four-year-old son Charlie. Lena soon learns that the hardcore, Satanic cult to which Jeff and Archie both belong intends to use Charlie as a human sacrifice--unless she can find him first. Hightower ( Alien Blues ) brings off this improbable plot with more panache than one might expect. Her prose is clear and the pacing break-neck. The emphasis on maternal instinct and feminine intuition is unconvincing, as is the formulaic romantic element. Hightower also fails to bring Jeff to life and thus never makes Satan-worship or its evil practitioners a credible threat.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Seven years ago, Lena Padget's brother-in-law, a member of a hard-core satanic cult, killed his pregnant wife and their two-year-old son. Now he is getting out on parole and is after Lena. At the same time, his partner is also getting out of prison and is threatening his ex-wife. Lena, a private investigator, and policeman friend Joel Mendez try to stop a tragedy in the making. Mixing the terror created by the cult members and the kidnapping of a four-year-old boy who is to be used as a sacrifice, Hightower, author of the futurist police procedural Alien Blues (Ace, 1992), has written a riveting novel of suspense. The Kentucky-Tennessee setting is refreshing, the descriptions of cult practices horrifying, and the events believable. Hightower is a writer of tremendous quality. Literary Guild alternate.
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Felony & Mayhem Press (June 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933397063
• ISBN-13: 978-1933397061
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,632,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!, June 23, 2001

By 

joeyjhg2 (BATON ROUGE, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Satan's Lamb (Paperback)

I'm reading this book right now, and it's totally engrossing.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read me!, September 19, 2001

By 

Jill Whitsel (Waynesville, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Satan's Lambs (Audio Cassette)

I thought this book was so good! It was one of those you never want to put down! It kept you on the edge of your seat the whole time! You never knew what was going to happen next!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A GUARANTEED GREAT READ for fans of well-written thrillers, January 23, 2008

By 

Mark Seals (Seattle: South Lake Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Satan's Lambs (Lena Padget Mysteries) (Paperback)

I found this 1993 book somewhere recently,and being what Dorothy Parker called a "constant reader" (only I think she said "constant Weader fwowed up" in a review she wrote of an A. A. Milne work - ?? (bookworms/Parker fans/quotemeisters help me out here)----
this first in a new series featuring character Lena Padgett is so absorbing, so suspenseful, so interesting, and so very well written that I just can't believe I haven't run across a review or recommendation regarding this author in the 15 years since SATAN'S LAMBS was written. I'm hoping she's written much more since then, and I plan to read them all. I have almost no tolerance for the romantic suspense genre because they're practically predictable by definition. Not in this case, though! Or rather, the characters are so likable that I actually looked forward to those scenes, and that was a big refreshing change for me. Mind you, this novel is not in that genre, but has a potential romantic relationship between the main characters Lena Padgett and the police cop who believes her fears that a satanic cult is out to get her and some especially innocent victims.

(For those who have read Michael Gruber's excellent novels of voodoo/supernatural suspense "Tropic of Night" and "Night of the Jaguar" featuring Cubano detective Jimmy Paz -- the police character and love interest in SATAN'S LAMBS is reminiscent of him, only even more attractive.

Hightower has created at least three other characters I really care about (including a charming rescue dog and his master, a black superhero park ranger. This book is truly one of those you clear your calendar for, turn off the phone, and wish it would not end.

If you are on the picky side, needing your thrillers to be well-written, definitely give this novel a go. It does't hit a single false note!
Go Lena! and Go Lynn Hightower!! Listen up awards juries!! Why haven't we heard more about this excellent writer's books?