Customer Reviews

Satan's Silence: The Second Cassidy McCabe Mystery

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the second in the series and the second that I've read. I have thoroughly enjoyed both. The characters are believable and fun. The mystery is enticing and keeps one's attention. "Starshine" is a real world cat. She does not talk or help solve mysteries, but definetly adds interest to the story. . .especially if one is a cat lover.

Genre: Mystery/Suspense For lovers of occult mysteries, Cassidy McCabe once again comes through a powerful heroine bent on solving the mystery of a missing baby before she becomes a sacrifice on Satan's alter. The unstoppable Cassidy is pulled far beyond her professional duties, resorting to peanut butter cups and the comfort of her cat, Starshine, to lending her strength to do what must be done. And she does it with her own style that will leave the reader chuckling over Cassidy's antics all the while sitting on the edge of the chair as the tension of the plot builds. Picking up the timeline shortly after the first novel leaves off, Cassidy's romance with the sexy Zach Moran is definitely not purring along. Zach has begun to emotionally distance himself from Cassidy, and she figures there's got to be another woman in the picture. Meanwhile, Cassidy's patient, Dana Voss, unexpectedly regress during therapy, becoming child like and recounting a satanic ritual sacrifice of a playmate. But given Dana's psychiatric history, Cassidy doesn't know if the memory is real or a delusion. When Cassidy mentions a few details to Zach, his crime report instinct immediately lands them in a graveyard, determined to learn the secrets of the past. The past has way of quickly catching up to the future. Break-ins with nothing missing, flower deliveries with dangerous contents, and the kidnapping of Dana's baby makes it clear they are all in danger. As Dana's memories continue to surface, Cassidy must find the answers to the missing child before the police arrest Dana for murder, and before the missing child is sacrificed in secret midnight rituals. Tempered with concern over Starshine, the infamous cat of the first mystery, and trouble with her romance, Satan's Silence will delight, entertain, and leave the reader questioning their own philosophical beliefs regarding good and evil. I can hardly wait to read the next book of this series. 304 pages

Cindy Penn, Reviewer

Satan's Silence by Alex Matthews is a literary work of the first order. It is impossible to put it down as one becomes immersed in the evil of satanism. It is a suspense, mystery novel where the action never stops. The plot is tightly woven, with appropriate clues which invite the reader to guess "who done it." However, Ms. Matthews stays one step ahead and delivers a smashing, surprise ending. A very slight drawback is that the heroine, Cassidy, does a lot of self-talk in the second person, in italics, which can be distracting. But after a few chapters, the self-talk seems natural and doesn't detract at all from the excellent story.

This is a very good book. It shows that there are other things going on in a person's life besides just good. The author has done an outstanding job of making you think and keeping you guessing right up until the end. The solution is a surprise, only part of what you are expecting happens.

Cassidy McCabe is a psychotherapist, struggling to make her private practice a success and work out of her home. One of Cassidy's clients is Dana Voss, a 27-year-old single mother. Suddenly Dana is starting to have terrifying memories of a Satanic Cult resurface from when she was 4. Dana tells Cassidy of these memories but now is absolutely terrified because she has broken "Satan's Silence". What follows is a gripping tale with terrifying results. Cassidy doesn't want to believe what is happening, but when the evidence starts turning up, she is determined to find the truth.

Cassidy lives alone with her calico cat, Starshine, who also plays a surprising part in this book. While struggling to deal with everything that is happening, Cassidy is also trying to deal with her own personal problems and her struggling relationship with Zach Moran. Zach is an investigative reporter who is also determined to find the truth, but for different reasons.

This was my introduction to Cassidy McCabe and I found it a pleasure. Cassidy comes across as a very human, normal person. It is interesting to see how she copes with her clients. Also, her relationship with Starshine is great! She also comes across as a great character. The story was very interesting, not plumbing Satanism for shock value, but as part of the story. The one thing I didn't like was the fact that so many characters are represented as speaking "sloppy English". While you expect it of some characters, there seemed to be too many in this case.

Chicago psychotherapist Cassidy McCabe is trying to help her patient Dana Voss, who suffers nightmares from allegedly witnessing a murder ritual when she was a child. Cassidy wonders if Dana's descriptive memories of an alleged deadly event over a decade ago is caused by being an eye witness to a brutal reality or a leftover from her brain being fried by drugs. Cassidy, defying Psychology 101 rules on confidentiality, tells her boy friend reporter Zach Moran what her client has related to her. Zach and Cassidy argue the case. She feels that her first loyalty must be to her client. He feels that satanic murders, no matter how much time has passed, cannot be ignored. Soon they begin to investigate satanic rituals in the present and in the past. As they get closer to the truth behind Dana's assertion, danger mounts to the eye witness and the intrepid amateur detectives. No one breaks the code of SATAN'S SILENCE and lives. Cassidy is a great character even if her "italic" thinking sometimes interferes with the flow of the plot. She is thirty-seven, divorced, loses her cat, regains her now pregnant cat, and doubts her relationship with Zach. Her professional life is struggling as she seeks a client base. With all that in addition to an interesting mystery, the second entry in the McCabe series turns into a fun read. Hopefully, the premise that a psychotherapist divulges information to her pillow mate is grounded in fantasy and not wide spread reality. Still Alex Matthews delivers a good tale because of Cassidy's flaws and the author's superior writing ability. Harriet Klausner ----

I enjoyed this book, even though I haven't been able to get completely 'in' to the characters. The plot is suspenseful and keeps you reading. The only jarring note is that there seem to be a lot of racial references having nothing to do with the plot. On the whole, a really good book, and I plan to read the entire series.

Genre: Mystery/Suspense For lovers of occult mysteries, Cassidy McCabe once again comes through a powerful heroine bent on solving the mystery of a missing baby before she becomes a sacrifice on Satan's alter. The unstoppable Cassidy is pulled far beyond her professional duties, resorting to peanut butter cups and the comfort of her cat, Starshine, to lending her strength to do what must be done. And she does it with her own style that will leave the reader chuckling over Cassidy's antics all the while sitting on the edge of the chair as the tension of the plot builds. Picking up the timeline shortly after the first novel leaves off, Cassidy's romance with the sexy Zach Moran is definitely not purring along. Zach has begun to emotionally distance himself from Cassidy, and she figures there's got to be another woman in the picture. Meanwhile, Cassidy's patient, Dana Voss, unexpectedly regress during therapy, becoming child like and recounting a satanic ritual sacrifice of a playmate. But given Dana's psychiatric history, Cassidy doesn't know if the memory is real or a delusion. When Cassidy mentions a few details to Zach, his crime report instinct immediately lands them in a graveyard, determined to learn the secrets of the past. The past has way of quickly catching up to the future. Break-ins with nothing missing, flower deliveries with dangerous contents, and the kidnapping of Dana's baby makes it clear they are all in danger. As Dana's memories continue to surface, Cassidy must find the answers to the missing child before the police arrest Dana for murder, and before the missing child is sacrificed in secret midnight rituals. Tempered with concern over Starshine, the infamous cat of the first mystery, and trouble with her romance, Satan's Silence will delight, entertain, and leave the reader questioning their own philosophical beliefs regarding good and evil. I can hardly wait to read the next book of this series. 304 pages

Cindy Penn, Reviewer

before they take your typewriter away?

I am confused and unsettled by the tide of opinion that rises against me regarding this novel. It is easily one of the bottom ten worst books I have ever read. The writing was worse than amateurish. The characters, all of them, were unlikeable, but especially Cassidy, who is a dwid of the first order. The plot was ripped directly from yesterday's news , long after authentic Satanism and recovered memories were generally accepted to be overrated phenomena by the pyschiatric community.

And yet. And yet. I read all these positive reviews and I can't help but wonder: am I the one who's wrong here?

Nah.