Sam Beach

The Rise of Seth Sam Beach

Seven gruesome animal attacks and a 5,000-year-old secret. Private Investigator Dusty Garner much prefers to stay in the background, keeping out of sight from prying eyes. Leading an easy-going life in Cider Lake, Tennessee - a town holding two gas stations, three diners, a Holiday Inn, but small enough to not have a McDonald's - she couldn't ask for anything better. After tying up a seemingly unconnected case involving three 18-year-old best friends, she turns her attention back to Tammy Barker's missing person's report. Within a week of it landing on her desk, the number of missing women had grown to five. Now, one by one, they turn up in different parts of the city, savagely attacked by animals. They must bring in an expert. She reluctantly agrees. Jonas Sparx - with his sarcastic one-liners - is the handsome, charismatic animal specialist. When Dusty is unaffected by the charm that most women - and men - find irresistible, he is intrigued. Soon, he realizes that Dusty needs to know the truth, no matter how farfetched it sounds. The two face problems which force them to trust each other to stop an age-old supernatural being - three thousand years tends to warp one's mind a bit - from fulfilling an ancient scroll's dire forewarning. If all that isn't bad enough, Dusty's clandestine past starts to catch up to her.