Description:

As a nurse and youth counselor at Eugene, Oregon’s Planned Parenthood clinic, Kera Kollmorgan has endured her share of harassment from fanatical abortion foes. But it only strengthens her resolve. Then a bomb blast rips through the clinic and, soon after, a teenage girl Kera recently treated is found naked and murdered in a dumpster. Kera fears the bitter abortion war in her small community has reached a terrifying new level.

The sexualized killing of Jessie Davenport hits close to home for Detective Wade Jackson. Raising his teenage daughter alone, he understands better than anyone the predatory world that threatens young women. But he never expects his grim investigation will lead to a teenage Bible-study club, the dark underside of high school life, and even the halls of political power. Now he must confront two shockingly different suspects with nothing in common—except a taste for sex and violence.

As Jackson’s manhunt intensifies, Kera becomes a marked woman, stalked by a crazed crusader. And when the fates of the detective and nurse intersect, a world of righteous rage, sexual secrecy, and chilling obsession threatens to blow them apart.

Review

There is much to enjoy in The Sex Club, especially in its deeply-developed characters and timely, intelligent plot. But the major pleasures come from the author s risky decision to tell her story from multiple points of view. Thus we follow Ruth into her kitchen as she bakes cookies and builds more bombs while holding conversations with God, who assures her that the only lives that matter are the lives of the unborn. We follow poor, tortured Kera, who wonders if one of her own young clients is a murderer. Most intriguing of all, we follow the conflicted Jackson as he deals with his alcoholic ex-wife and his own rebellious daughter, who he suspects may be a member of the Sex Club. This chilling book offers a rare insight into the kind of religious fundamentalism which preaches that any horrific act is acceptable if it is carried out in God s name. A thrilling, eye-opening read. -- Mystery Scene magazine

--Mystery Scene magazine

L.J. Sellers rips current social issues from editorial pages, wraps them in exciting, multi-faceted mysteries, and delivers thrilling reads. Pick up any Sellers mystery and you ll find the full package lovable, flawed human beings with interesting, imperfect lives; twisted, mean-spirited villains that we love to hate; good guys who aren't so good; bad guys who have standards; a suspenseful tale with enough plot twists and red herrings to keep the mystery fascinating to the last page and leave the reader begging for more. -- Charlotte Phillips, author of the Eva Baum mysteries --Charlotte Phillips, author of the Eva Baum mysteries

--Charlotte Phillips, author of the Eva Baum mysteries

L.J. Sellers has written a fine debut mystery novel that explores religious fanaticism and its effects on the lives of various people. The characters are well developed, the plot plausible and well executed with an unexpected twist at the end. I look forward to reading more books by this talented author. --Bloodstained Book Reviews --Bloodstained Book Reviews

About the Author

L. J. Sellers is a native of Eugene, Oregon, the setting of her thrillers. She is a former award-winning journalist and editor, and current standup comic, cyclist, social networker, and mystery-conference attendee-as well as a skydiving and thrill-seeking fanatic. A long-standing fan of police procedurals, she numbers John Sandford, Michael Connelly, Ridley Pearson, and Lawrence Sanders among her favorites. Her own novels, featuring Detective Jackson, include The Sex Club, Secrets to Die For, Thrilled to Death, Passions of the Dead, Dying for Justice, Liars, Cheaters, & Thieves, and Rules of Crime. She's also penned three standalone thrillers: The Baby Thief, The Gauntlet Assassin, and The Lethal Effect.