Joyce Walther writes Mysteries---and plays amateur detective. She's always prepared for some on-the-spot crime research if a case comes her way. But Joyce should leave police work to the experts. Because this time she may be playing more than detective---she may be playing the victim.

Joe's. People in Windville love that old diner at the far end of town. For them, coming to Joe's is a way of life. It may soon be a way of death.

Mordock's Cave is one of the wonders of the world: a place where thousands of sightseers every year take an awe-inspiring boat trip on a lake deep beneath the earth's surface and marvel at Nature's handiwork. But the darkness is also the home of things Nature never intended - things violent, bestial and obscenely evil. And when a sudden power failure traps a group of tourists underground, the unnatural creatures who dwell there emerge from the depths… *** From Publishers Weekly Fast-paced and tightly constructed, this novel by the author of The Stake combines the best elements of psycho-slasher thrillers, disaster epics and classic supernatural horror tales. When a power failure traps a tourist group deep in Mordock's Cavern, tour guide Darcy Raines leads a small team that attempts to break through Ely's Wall, a man-made barrier sealing off one end of the cave. Creepy Kyle Mordock, teenage descendant of Ely, the wall's builder, and son of the attraction's current owner, is along on the tour because of his morbid erotic fascination with the beautiful Darcy. Flashbacks reveal that he has recently inherited a longstanding Mordock family trait, namely, the propensity to rape and murder female guests of the Mordock Cave Hotel and dump the bodies in the sealed-off part of the cave. Laymon adds fiendishly clever topspin to this gruesome revelation, placing on the other side of the wall a danger grislier and more bizarre than any natural disaster or psychotic killer. Horror fans will relish this highly entertaining tale.

From Publishers WeeklyHere's another Halloween offering from Cemetery Dance, which, with last year's anthology October Dreams and the forthcoming anthology Trick or Treat, plus last year's Richard Laymon novel, Once Upon a Halloween, is emerging as a notable publisher of Halloween-related fiction. This is a slight tale, suitable for all ages but of primary interest to kids, about the adventures of one Timothy Maywood Usher Mouse. Timothy lives in a public library and yearns for the sort of adventure he's read about in the books that surround him. One day he works up his courage and leaves his shelter through a window, only to encounter a snake (that he fools with a piece of candy corn), trick-or-treaters and a cat, which he escapes by taking refuge in a jack-o'-lantern that rolls into a local river. When last seen, Timothy is sailing to unknown shores, enjoying the world from his perch atop the jack-o'-lantern's nose. Laymon, who died in February, is known for his meandering, you-are-there plots and tight, sensual writing. Here, though, the meandering seems almost arbitrary, offering just one obstacle after another thrown in the path of the intrepid mouse, and the prose lacks Laymon's usual punch and precision. Much more effective are Clark's full-color illustrations, which capture the mystery, magic and delicious terror of Halloween via bold, intense colors and dramatic angles of view. While it's not a major addition to Halloweeniana, this volume will appeal to Laymon completists, Clark fans and anyone who can't get enough of America's second-favorite holiday. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Meet the SOS---the Strange Occurrence Squad. This is the government's weapon against forces it won't admit to and can't explain. Theresa's a psychic, Clint's a tough cop, and Malcolm's an expert on everything weird. You won't read about them in the paper, but any werewolf could tell you their names. They're the ones we call on when our nightmares turn real.