Murders hidden in the wrath of a tornado

This week, I read “The Breathtaker” by Alice Blanchard, and it was amazing. The city of Paradise, Oklahoma, boasts a population of about 22,000 but still maintains a small-town feel.

Police Chief Charlie Grover grew up there, but life hasn’t been easy. At 37, he carries many painful memories plus the scars from severe burns sustained when a fire destroyed his family’s home, killing his mother and little sister. Compounding his misery is the recent death of his beloved wife, Mia. Now he’s trying be a good dad to Sophie while working the crazy hours of a cop.

Paradise is situated in the middle of “tornado alley,” but few of the residents have basements or storm shelters. It’s early April when a freak twister slams into the area.

Charlie surveys a path of death and destruction when he gets a call from his assistant chief, Lester Deere. He’s at the home of Dan and Jenna Peterson and reports that Dan, Jenna and Danielle are dead.

Others have been killed in the tornado, but something about these deaths seems off. Charlie follows his instincts and orders an autopsy. The coroner finds that they were impaled on handmade weapons. He also finds defensive wounds, but he is appalled to see that each has had a tooth pulled and replaced with an older tooth.

Who would risk his life to murder during a tornado? While the weather is quiet, Charlie works other cases and tries to keep Sophie away from local bad boy Boone Pritchett. Tornado season brings another storm and more murders.

Charlie is convinced that whoever is doing the killing knows a whole lot about predicting where tornadoes will touch down. He contacts the Wind Function Facility in Montoya and meets Rick Kripner and Willa Bellman. The pair uses the wind tunnels to test many things, including storm proofing materials.

Through them, he learns a great deal about how tornadoes are rated and tracked. Willa and Rick are both avid storm chasers and eagerly drop everything to follow potential “high F” storms. Charlie is sure that the killer is a storm chaser. So is his estranged father, Noah.

Each time he thinks of his father, Charlie remembers his parents fighting and the many beatings that left his back scarred. He’s never asked, but believes Noah set the fire that fateful night. Noah was a drunken monster, but was he a cold blooded killer?

As Charlie and his department chase down leads, they unearth the secrets and clues. Contact with nearby sheriffs turns up additional information, and he develops a picture of the killer.

When a new storm begins to form, Charlie discovers that his daughter is missing. As soon as he sees that she’s not with Boone, he knows that she’s with the killer and he’s taking her directly into the deadly storm. For once in their lives, Noah and Charlie, work together to intercept the killer before he harms Sophie or the storm takes her.

The climax is descriptive and “breathtaking.” Blanchard has other books featuring mysteries combined with the furies of nature, and I think I’ll try to find one.

AT A GLANCE
BOOK:
“The Breathtaker”
AUTHOR: Alice Blanchard
PUBLISHER: Blue Gown Books
PUBLISHED: April 3, 2018
PAGES: 410

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