Under the Beetle's Cellar: A Molly Cates Mystery by Mary Willis Walker

From the Publisher

The author and heroine of The Red  Scream return in a novel so terrifying, so  filled with squirming suspense, it's bound for the  bestseller lists. When Kirkus  Reviews greeted Mary Willis Walker's last book,  The Red Scream, with "welcome  to the big time," they weren't kidding. That  novel established Walker as an author with  "the kind of clout that sets publishers' mouths  watering" (The Philadelphia  Inquirer). And now she has done it again, with an  unforgettable tale ripped from the headlines and  more terrifying than our worst nightmares. Kidnapped  by a cult of religious fanatics, an Austin school  bus driver and eleven of his young charges have  been held underground at the group's highly  fortified compound for forty-six days. While a team of  federal negotiators begins to lose all hope of  rescuing the hostages, crime reporter Molly Cates sets  outto discover everything she can about the cult's  iron-willed leader, Samuel Mordecai. And as  the clock ticks inexorably, she takes the role of  Clarisse Starling opposite Mordecai's Hannibal Lecter,  engaging in a psychological confrontation as  harrowing as any in The Silence Of  The Lambs. Tough, terrifying, and relentlessly  heart-wrenching, this is a novel whose images no reader will  ever forget.

Publishers Weekly

Again featuring journalist Molly Cates, Walker's latest suspense tale concerns a religious fanatic who abducts a busload of schoolchildren. (June)

Library Journal

One would think that Walker's The Red Scream (Doubleday, 1994), which won an Edgar Award, would be a tough act to follow. The intrepid author, however, exhibits no signs of sophomore jinx in this spectacular sequel featuring Texas journalist Molly Cates. Samuel Mordecai, a fanatical, self-proclaimed prophet, kidnaps a busload of schoolchildren and their driver, a detached Vietnam veteran, and holds them beneath a heavily armed compound. While Cates delves into Mordecai's bizarre past and federal authorities attempt to negotiate with him, it becomes clear that the hostages are doomed. The final 30 minutes of Under the Beetle's Cellar are almost painfully suspenseful, and listeners will surely draw parallels with the horrifying incidents in Waco, TX, involving David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. Judith Ivey reads well, and the hokey music is used sparingly. The abridgment is adequate, but listeners may find the nonstop action a bit disconcerting. All in all, this is a good addition to the suspense collections of libraries that can't wait for an unabridged edition.-Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal"

Product Details

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Table of Contents