2008 Woodie Awards
Playhouse in the Park presents Gothic thriller
Isenburg, Amber-Marie
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Fine Arts
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This year, Mobile's Playhouse in the Park will take a creepy turn from their normal Edger Allen Poe collection to "Nightmares," a collection of Gothic thrillers by Thomas Lakeman. While the playhouse remains silent on what their audience should expect, we can look at Lakeman's only two books: "The Shadow Catchers" and "Chill Water Cove" to get a gist of what the playhouse has to offer this Halloween season.
In "The Shadow Catchers," Mike Yeager is an FBI agent from Philadelphia, specializing in child kidnapping. His life changes when he mishandles a case and is suspended from the FBI. In order to revive himself, he leaves Philly and his lover, fellow agent Peggy Weaver.
Unfortunately, Yeager chooses the wrong town to run to. Just weeks before Yeager arrives in Dyer County, Nev., a young child is supposedly "accidentally" killed. Within days of his arrival, another child is murdered, and one child has gone missing. Yeager must not only prove to this small town that he is not the culprit, but also prove to the FBI that he is still capable of doing his job.
Unfortunately, the closest witness to the second killing and missing child is a half-blind woman whose stories are easily dismissed by the locals. Soon, one of the detectives of Dyer County is killed in a suspicious house fire. After this event, Yeager's FBI training kicks in full force. After some research, he sees a pattern in the events of the recent abductions and some incidents a few decades ago with the sheriff's daughter and her current boyfriend, Pete Fontaine. The sheriff despises his daughter's boyfriend. As the mystery unfolds, the sheriff will have more than enough reasons to hate the young man. Decades of lies and deceptions are unfolded in turmoil and the sheriff finds his family in danger. Ultimately, "The Shadow Catcher" deals with children's lives, abuse and murder. It is a story of a man's dark secret and its unfolding.
A sequel to Lakeman's first novel, "Chill Water Cove" is the story of Peggy Weaver, Yeager's lover and co-worker from the first novel. When Peggy was 10 years old, she and her friend Samantha were abducted while riding bikes through their town. Peggy escaped, but her friend did not. Samantha was returned, but the girls' abductor was never found. Weaver never forgave herself for running away.
In "The Shadow Catchers," Mike Yeager is an FBI agent from Philadelphia, specializing in child kidnapping. His life changes when he mishandles a case and is suspended from the FBI. In order to revive himself, he leaves Philly and his lover, fellow agent Peggy Weaver.
Unfortunately, Yeager chooses the wrong town to run to. Just weeks before Yeager arrives in Dyer County, Nev., a young child is supposedly "accidentally" killed. Within days of his arrival, another child is murdered, and one child has gone missing. Yeager must not only prove to this small town that he is not the culprit, but also prove to the FBI that he is still capable of doing his job.
Unfortunately, the closest witness to the second killing and missing child is a half-blind woman whose stories are easily dismissed by the locals. Soon, one of the detectives of Dyer County is killed in a suspicious house fire. After this event, Yeager's FBI training kicks in full force. After some research, he sees a pattern in the events of the recent abductions and some incidents a few decades ago with the sheriff's daughter and her current boyfriend, Pete Fontaine. The sheriff despises his daughter's boyfriend. As the mystery unfolds, the sheriff will have more than enough reasons to hate the young man. Decades of lies and deceptions are unfolded in turmoil and the sheriff finds his family in danger. Ultimately, "The Shadow Catcher" deals with children's lives, abuse and murder. It is a story of a man's dark secret and its unfolding.
A sequel to Lakeman's first novel, "Chill Water Cove" is the story of Peggy Weaver, Yeager's lover and co-worker from the first novel. When Peggy was 10 years old, she and her friend Samantha were abducted while riding bikes through their town. Peggy escaped, but her friend did not. Samantha was returned, but the girls' abductor was never found. Weaver never forgave herself for running away.
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