Laurie R. King - Folly

Praise for the works of
Laurie R. King
Folly

EXTRAORDINARY SOLITUDE IS RARELY THIS ENTICING. A MOVING MYSTERY.

People

ONE OF THE MORE MEMORABLE PIECES OF SUSPENSE WRITING YOULL READ THIS YEAR. FOLLYIS AS MUCH ABOUT MADNESS AND HUMAN RESILIENCY AS IT IS ABOUT CRIME AND CONSTRUCTION.

The Ottawa Citizen

BEAUTIFUL PROSE AND INTRIGUING CHARACTERS.

Publishers Weekly

MESMERIZING.

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

KING KEEPS THE PAGES TURNING in a tale thats sure to delight her fans.

Booklist

MOVING AND ARRESTING.

Booknews from The Poisoned Pen

FORGETCASTAWAY, FORGETSURVIVOR. For a true tale of survival, pick up Laurie R. Kings Folly. King crafts a tale that is part mystery, part spiritual journey. FASCINATING.

Romantic Times

KING MORE THAN SATISFIES.

Houston Chronicle

Compelling a novel of intense psychological suspense A SPLENDID READ.

Mystery Lovers Bookshop News

Folly is a story of survival, of discovery, of rebirth, and of hope. But there is so much more. Infinitely more I WAS TOTALLY ENTRANCED.

Mystery News

Beautiful LAURIE KING IS ALWAYS WORTH READING.

The Purloined Letter

Compulsively readable King has done her homework.

San Jose Mercury News

Absorbing TREMENDOUSLY FRESH and complex.

The Toronto Star

Intimate and MOVING.

The Seattle Times

A Darker Place

A NAIL-BITER THRILLER.

The New York Times Book Review

Laurie R King once again astonishes with her skills in A Darker Place SUPERB.

The Washington Times

CASTS A SPELL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR more visceral than any serial killer melodrama and that, for the thoughtful reader, offers intellectual rewards as well.

The San Diego Union-Tribune

A LITERARY THRILLER TO END ALL LITERARY THRILLERS.

Booknews from The Poisoned Pen

Terrific The many fans of Laurie R Kings two series will not regret that she takes us in a different direction and to a Darker Place. A REAL PAGE-TURNER

The Drood Review of Mystery

KING ALWAYS WRITES WELL, AND HER STORIES SWEEP ALONG WITH AN INEXORABLE FORCE that comes from a power greater than mere skillful plotting. A Darker Place is a fine study of sympathy and how it clouds our judgment about integrity.

The Boston Globe

King is an original and skilled writing talent, and WAVERLY IS ONE OF THE MORE FASCINATING NEW PROTAGONISTS TO COME ALONG.

The Plain Dealer

Murky, complex, deeply disturbing and aptly titled HIGHLY ORIGINAL.

The Denver Post

King brings to the schizophrenic nature of undercover work an astute understanding. Horrifying. Anne is an intriguing character, afflicted with memory loss (her relationship with her FBI handler is worth a book in itself). And the delicate maneuvers that get her into the heart of the targeted community even as she teases out its secrets carry their own fascination.

Houston Chronicle

PROVOCATIVE FASCINATING the climax of the novel is stunning.

The Providence Sunday Journal

KING APPLIES HER RENEGADE TALENTS TO A SUSPENSEFUL TALE in which a woman penetrates the treacherous realm of religious cults. [Ana Wakefield] is a complicated and enigmatic heroine who perfectly fits the task of illuminating the shadowy world of religious cults.

Publishers Weekly

Absorbing King smoothly weaves FASCINATING facts into a suspenseful narrative without ever losing sight of her characters flawed humanity.

The Orlando Sentinel

King, whose Sherlock Holmes pastiches make it clear that she never takes up a familiar form without making it her own, produces AN UNDERCOVER THRILLER NOTABLE FOR ITS INTENSITY, ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL NUANCE, AND ITS AVOIDANCE OF THE MOST OBVIOUS ACTION-MOVIE CLICHS OF THE GENRE.

Kirkus Reviews

King has deservedly received the Edgar and Creasey Awards for her THOUGHTFUL, INTELLIGENT, INNOVATIVE, IMAGINATIVE mysteries. Her latesta suspenseful and provocative psychological thrilleris another winner.

Booklist

Kings intelligent, richly descriptive prose provides the intricate detail of a procedural as well as artfully rendering all the emotional nuances of some fresh and compelling characters.

Mostly Murder

A DARK BUT COMPELLING JOURNEY.

The Seattle Times

Other Mystery Novels by Laurie R. King

Mary Russell Novels

THE BEEKEEPERS APPRENTICE

A MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN

A LETTER OF MARY

THE MOOR

O JERUSALEM

JUSTICE HALL

Kate Martinelli Novels

A GRAVE TALENT

TO PLAY THE FOOL

WITH CHILD

NIGHT WORK

A DARKER PLACE

For my Rod and staffall the hands at Buckholdts
Builders, living proof that honest craftsmanship is not lost:
Tony, Raymundo, Tom, Steve, Ian, John, Ryan, Mauricio,
Cindy, Antonio, and in memory of Pablo.
Thanks, guys.

With thanks to the following individuals who shared their various technical expertise with a writer, and who are not to be held responsible for what she did with the information.

Rod Buckholdt
Bruce Decker, for the Freon smugglers
Michael Gray
Joyce Nordquist
Heidi Smith
The San Juan County Sheriffs Department
All the brave men and women who wrote of their
experiences with severe depression and mental illness

And with apologies to the geography and population of San Juan County in Washington State, for that same writers impertinence in adding one island and an assortment of troublesome individuals to an already perfect corner of the globe.

Folly (from OF, fol, fool):

1. lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight

2. a foolish act or idea

3. evil, wickedness; criminally or tragically foolish actions or conduct

4. an excessively costly or unprofitable undertaking

5. an often extravagant picturesque building erected to suit a fanciful taste

(from Websters Ninth New
Collegiate Dictionary)

Preface

The gray-haired woman stood with her boots planted on the rocky promontory and watched what was left of her family pull away. The Orca Queens engines deepened as the boat cleared the cove entrance, and its nose swung around, a magnet oriented toward civilization.

Go, she told them silently. Dont slow down, dont even look back, just leave.

But then Petras jacketed arm shot out from the boats cabin, drab and shapeless and waving a wild adolescent farewell. Raes own hand came up in an involuntary response, to wave her own good-byeexcept that in the air, her wave changed, the hand reaching forward, stretched out in protest and cry for help, as if her outstretched fingers could pull them back to her, as if she were about to take off down the beach, scrambling desperately over rocks and water to call and scream