BOOKLIST REVIEW FOR FERAL

Months after a brutally described attack, provoked by her student newspaper exposé of a Chicago drugring, Claire  is still suffering the physical and psychological aftereffects of the beating. Retreating to Peculiar, Missouri, for her father's sabbatical, Claire hopes the slower pace and strangers' lack of awareness of her injuries will give her a fresh start. However, the night they arrive, Serena, a female reporter from the school newspaper, dies in conditions that Claire finds eerily similar to her own near death experience.  Peculiar quickly lives up to its name, as Claire can feel Serena reaching out to her. Does she want Claire's help in solving the mystery of her death? Or is her spirit trying to possess Claire's body, as it seems to have taken up residence in a local feral cat? A heavily gloomy feel pervades this novel that shifts through phases of fantasy, mystery, psychological thriller, and thoughtful realistic fiction dealing with PTSD. Readers captivated by Claire's impassioned spiral out of control will be soothed by the tentatively positive resolution.