Annabell Lee

The Mute started digging in the sooty refuse that surrounded Truck’s old porch. It seemed as good a place as any to look for some new clue. Maybe something there would flash a hint, would give him at least part of the map he was supposed to have gotten from that inept CIA agent Samuel Hill. Maybe, if he worked hard into the night, if he never stopped believing… maybe he could still find the girl. Maybe he would even find her in time to save her.

Book:Annabel Lee by Mike Nappa, Revell, 2016

Genre: Suspense/Horror

Target Audience: Boys and Girls 18+

Subjects: Death, Divorce, Faith, Fear

Summary: Don’t start to get comfortable. As soon as you let your guard down, things happen. People die. That’s how life works. At least for Truck, the Mute, Samuel and the girl. Although, the girl doesn’t really know. She doesn’t remember. Her life is crazy strange, but consistent and relatively calm. Until the day her uncle shoves her in an underground bunker with a flesh eating dog. Samuel doesn’t know of the girl. All he knows is that some treasure of Truck’s is hidden and it’s his job to turn the map over to the Mute, who knows exactly what the treasure is. The Mute doesn’t know where the treasure is hidden, only that it’s his job to find it before it’s too late. Only Truck knows all the pieces. And he’s dead. Soon, they will all be dead as well if they can’t make it to the treasure that is Annabel Lee before Truck’s murderers do.

Notes: This is the first in a suspense series about a divorced couple who sort of run a detective agency. The wife still runs it, but the mystery of Truck’s missing treasures brings her husband back into the picture. It’s a very graphic book, giving downright disgusting details of the violence. The premise is that there is a group of people who believe the blood of Annabel Lee holds some unique characteristic that makes them stronger when mixed with their own. At birth she was basically a lab rat, existing just to have them be constantly taking her blood, leaving her just enough to survive to give them more. After being rescued, she was raised by one of her rescuers – Truck – but has now been found by one of the “Blood Eaters” as they are called. They killed the rescuer and are seeking her. She is trapped in the underground bunker, awaiting another rescuer. The two men Truck entrusted with part of the puzzle have to race against time and the murderers to get to her before she runs out of food and water. There are hints of spiritual elements in the story. Trudi (the ex-wife) is a believer but still so caught up in the emotional upheaval of the divorce, her faith has weakened. Annabel Lee feels very drawn to this God and is seeking Him. She finds a Bible in the bunker and she prays, and things happen that seem to be a result of her prayers. The spiritual elements are mostly questions the characters have, doubts they have, woven in amongst the dangers.

Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 3/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

 Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.