Call the Devil by His Oldest Name

January 26, 2004
Cherokee Mary Crow, the assistant DA of Deckard County, Ga., and her old nemesis, Stump Logan, return in Bissell's third thriller, which is no less gripping than her lauded debut, In the Forest of Harm
. Long presumed dead, Stump has crawled out of his hole with a new identity and a sinister plan to eliminate Mary. His bait: Mary's three-month-old goddaughter, Lily, daughter of Mary's ex-lover Jonathan Walkingstick and his new bride, Ruth. Mary has just finished her closing arguments for a kiddie porn conviction when she learns that Lily has been kidnapped. As Mary follows the kidnapper's trail, it becomes apparent that the kidnapper is far more interested in Mary than Lily. Bissell slips plenty of information from her earlier books into the story to keep readers up to speed, and some will be pleased to note that this book contains significantly fewer gruesome elements than her previous shockers. Though details of child endangerment and child pornography are still stomach-churning, Bissell's strong writing and clever, didn't-see-that-coming denouement will keep readers enthralled. If Bissell can better flesh out her characters' motivations, she may soon be keeping company with the likes of Tami Hoag and Sandra Brown.