WICKED GAME – Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush
The Colony, Book 1
Zebra
ISBN: 978-1-4201-0338-0
February 2009
Psychological Thriller

Portland, Oregon – Present Day

St. Elizabeth’s Catholic High School, (MOST LIKELY TO DIE, February 2007), is being demolished. All that’s left of the campus is the overgrown maze. Its lurking shadows are full of secrets, and now it's just an eerie place where children go to tell ghost stories and play pranks. So, when the skeleton of a young female is discovered, the local gossips are sure these bones belong to Jezebel “Jessie” Brentwood, a sixteen-year-old who vanished over twenty-five years ago. Homicide Detective Sam McNally is positive the remains are Jessie’s. Back then, he was just a rookie learning the ropes, but lack of evidence and a body left the girl’s disappearance a cold case. Mac never let anyone forget it; his colleagues think he’s obsessed, and maybe he is. Mac can’t wait to take on Jessie’s group of friends again, the same ones he dubbed “The Preppy Pricks” after he became their worst nightmare, questioning them relentlessly, over and over again, always in their collectively smug faces. But this time Mac won’t back off and let it rest; he won't quit till he finds Jessie's killer.

Rebecca Sutcliff, nee Ryan, is surprised to hear from Hudson Walker. Back in high school, Becca was head-over-heels in love with Hudson when he was Jessie Brentwood’s guy. And now, after all this time, Hudson's calling her about that body the police dug up at St. Elizabeth’s. He says his twin sister, Renee, (now a reporter for The Valley Star), thinks their old group should get together and talk. No doubt to prepare them for any more questions from that cop McNally. Those days after Jessie’s disappearance were an uneasy time for all of them, and along with the darkness and uncertainty of losing their friend, they were just kids. All the guys in the group thought Jessie was a tease. Christopher Delacroix, III, or The Third as he was called, was their unofficial leader, and there was Mitch Belotti, Scott Pascal, Glenn Stafford, Jarrett Erickson, Zeke St. John, and Hudson. McNally wouldn’t leave them alone; he hounded them for the tiniest clue, even questioning the girls. Hudson's sister, Renee, Tamara Pitts, and Evangeline Adamson just thought that Jessie simply ran away, as she was wont to do. Jessie always was a little strange and mysterious. She tempted the boys, and every one of them wanted her, but Jessie had eyes only for Hudson Walker.

And Becca? Well, she was only part of their group by sheer accident. A year younger than the rest of them, she was allowed to hang with them after a “chance” meeting in a pizza joint brought her to their attention. Yet it wasn’t really just an accidental meeting. Becca, enamored of Hudson, was stalking him, and after she followed him into Dino’s Pizzeria one night, they just accepted her as part of the group. Now, twenty-five years later, Renee thinks she smells a story, and Becca agrees to meet with them, if only to see Hudson again. He and Becca share a history of sorts. They started dating for a brief time after Jessie disappeared, but then they drifted apart after high school. For Becca, the past has finally caught up with her, and it's time to set things right with Hudson.

One by one, they must die...who will be the first?

As the WICKED GAME begins, it soon becomes apparent that the people in Jessie’s group are being targeted in a sick game of cat and mouse...as they begin to die...

Does Jessie still live?

WICKED GAME is a psychological thriller that leaves the reader guessing all the way to the end. Not one of these people wants to revisit old memories, but as Renee steps up her investigation, looking for a ticket out of the small town paper she writes for and into the bigger markets, bizarre clues start opening up a path to Jessie’s disappearance. Is there a link somewhere that explains what happened to Jessie? Maybe. What about the old woman, Mad Maddie, who lives in a nearby town and tells fortunes? Or the spooky place out on the point they call Siren’s Song? People say it's home to some strange cult.

Co-authored by sisters Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush, WICKED GAME is the first novel in a new series of thrillers featuring the people who live in The Colony, or Siren’s Song. April, 2009 will bring us this next book in the series, UNSEEN by Nancy Bush.

For a thrilling mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very last page, don’t miss WICKED GAME!

Diana Risso