A DEADLY WEB – Kay Hooper
A Bishop Files Novel, Book 2
Jove Books
ISBN: 978-0-515-15334-7
April 2015
Urban Fantasy

Charleston, South Caroline – The Present

Tasha Solomon moved to Charleston to escape the shadows she felt following her, the gut feeling she has that someone watches her. She is a born psychic and, unless she keeps her shield up, hears everything everyone is thinking. She now has a very secure apartment with not only electronic security cameras and devices, but also security personnel in the main lobby. Unfortunately, it turns out her home isn't as secure as she believed. She feels ‘watched' again.

John Brodie is a Guardian, part of a secret organization whose aim is to protect psychics, who have been abducted. His organization doesn't know why psychics are targeted, what organization is behind the disappearances, or their nefarious purpose. Murphy is John's female partner, and a psychic, but he is not psychic. He joined the organization after someone murdered his psychic wife ten years ago. He and Murphy have been assigned to save Tasha from disappearing. They've noticed the subalterns of one of their known enemy agents, Duran, following Tasha. The problem is how to approach the very guarded woman and persuade her of their good intentions.

John does save Tasha, which leads to a close connection between them, but the mystery doesn't end there. Other characters have brief scenes throughout the story line, including some of the abducted and tortured psychics: Astrid, Duran's strongest psychic; Tucker and Sarah Mackenzie from the first book in the Bishop Files Series, THE FIRST PROPHET; Noah Bishop, a foundation character of several of Kay Hooper series, and his wife Miranda. It all gets a little confusing if you haven't read any of the previous novels, and much dialogue is spent explaining the concepts of this psychic's world to the reader, even if both characters should have known that information. An underlying sense of darkness and threat threads through A DEADLY WEB, and certainly some scenes lead the reader to wonder who is on what side, leading to suspicions that what is happening might not be the whole story, yet the threat to Tasha and other psychics is evident. This suspense of the situation carries the story for little direct confrontation takes place. The characters are interesting, believable, and drive the story, but for better understanding, readers might want to start with the first volume.

Robin Lee