Book #61 - Locked Doors

Desert Places left a gap between it’s ending and Stirred. I wanted to know what happened to Kite and how Andrew Thomas ended up being kidnapped, so I picked up Locked Doors, the sequel to the prequel to Stirred.

In this one Andrew Thomas is in hiding, living quietly by himself in a remote Yukon town. No one knows who he is, and he expects to live out his days as a part time cook, suffering alone for his sins. He thinks Kite is dead, having left him to die at the end of Desert Places.

But Kite isn’t dead, and goes on a kidnap/killing spree in North Caroline, with the idea that he can attract Thomas to the area. He kidnaps the neighbor’s widow and kills others, brining Violet, a pregnant detective, on his trail, which leads to Okakroke Island, part of the Outer Banks.

It works, and Thomas also tracks Kite down to Okakroke, where his parents live. He’s followed by a wannabe writer that recognizes him from the Yukon and the story gets interesting. It’s somewhat predictable, but Kite’s parents are as crazy as he is and help him. He ends up kidnapping the detective and Thomas, but they manage to survive. The book ends on the ferry referenced in Stirred where Thomas rescues King and kills Kite’s parents.

The book is exciting, more so than Desert Places, but it still leaves gaps between this book and Stirred. Stirred summarizes some of the story at its end, but not enough. I was disappointed in that. However I enjoyed reading this book, which is definitely a horror thriller. Be warned.