Friedman, Hal

Over the Edge

Meg Foley's had three teaching jobs in the last four years, but when the comfortable, affluent suburban New Jersey school district offers her a post replacing a middle school teacher who died in a tragic accident, it looks as though she's finally found her niche. Her students--bright, motivated overachievers--are a far cry from the inner-city kids who were her last charges. But there's something going on in her classroom that worries her. Her eighth graders are keeping a secret about the way Mrs. Wilkens died, and when Meg tries to get to the bottom of it, bizarre things begin to happen. A stranger tries to push her car into the path of an oncoming truck; a pervert plays a sick joke on her; and a gang of marauding kids terrifies her. When Dan Jarrett, an L.A. cop who was her late father's partner, comes to her rescue, he's stonewalled, too--by the police chief whose grandson may be involved in Mrs. Wilkens' death, the principal and school board who want to cover it up, and especially the quiet little community that wants Jarrett and Foley to go back where they came from. The author is particularly skilled in evoking adolescent angst, and readers of this tidy little suspense novel will hope to encounter Dan Jarrett again in another outing by the author. --Jane Adams

An eight-grade class trip from a supposedly perfect and affluent little town to a state forest ends in a horrifying moment when a revered teacher plunges to her death from a towering cliff. If the students present witnessed the events leading up to the accident, they're not telling.

No one in the elite and tight-knit suburb of Knollwood, New Jersey, seems to know what really happened to the teacher. Worse yet, no one seems to care. Except Meg Foley. A young, single woman used to instructing inner-city kids, Meg gladly accepts a replacement position in this cushioned community. But in the eyes of her new students she sees a chilling hint of past terrors, and Meg is determined to find out the cause.

In her search for the truth, Meg raises painful questions that the people in the town would rather not answer: Was the teacher not what she seemed, not even close? Did a rebellious clan of teenagers take their revenge on a tough, critical authority? Or was it some greater evil that no one dares to acknowledge?

The hornet's nest Meg stirs quickly results in antagonism from school and local officials, as her quest probes a lot more than just a tragic but isolated incident. When unseen forces in the community target her as their enemy, first with threats, then with violence, Meg can no longer handle the danger alone.

At her request, Meg is joined by maverick Los Angeles police detective Dan Jarrett, her father's partner before his death in the line of duty. Jarrett must protect Meg and discover the truth about a teacher who never expected the result of her last assignment and a town that fiercely protects its own.

Mrs. Wilkens prayed silently for someone to help her. She looked over her shoulder as she continued to flee. She couldn't see or hear them any longer but was certain they were still behind her, somewhere.

By the time she saw what was just ahead of her, it was too late to stop, and she let out a blood-curdling scream that pierced the quiet at the edge of the earth.

A Hunting We Will Go

Katyln quickly realized that she'd left her office door unlocked, a careless habit that could have just become a terrible mistake.

Bolting from her desk, she lunged for the door and twisted the insubstantial metal lock until it clicked. The mechanism jiggled when she tried it and gave little assurance it would hold if someone tried to force it. The glass door put her on display, like a parakeet in a cage with a nasty cat on the prowl. No place to run, no place to hide.

If Starman had come for her, there would be no one to hear her scream.