Rachelle Dekker produces yet another thriller. Dark with its themes, Nine is disturbing.

Lucy has no memory and is in search of who she is. Zoe has no desire to remember who she used to be. Together they make an unlikely team, since neither knows who is chasing them or why. When all else fails they head to Haven Valley, the ghost town community in the woods of Kentucky, sequestered behind a red rope where Zoe’s worst nightmares took place.

This was a disturbing book given the likelihood of today’s scientific prowess. I found myself both riveted and uncomfortable at the same time.

Character development was excellent and I couldn’t ask for better. This story moved along quickly and unfolded in depths. Dekker captures the various aspects of society too: foster system, religious cult, FBI and even dooms-day preppers. Dekker is brilliant.

My only desire was to see more association with Silas and Haven Valley when Dekker reconnected the story to The Girl Behind the Red Rope. I was hoping for more there. But perhaps her purpose is clear: the only power the past has over you is in the secrets you hide.

Leslie Crouse