Under the Beetle's Cellar

Mary Willis Walker

ISBN 10: 0553476769 ISBN 13: 9780553476767

Publisher: Random House Audio, 1995

Synopsis

Kidnapped by a cult of secretive and dangerous religious extremists calling themselves the Hearth Nazarenes, Vietnam vet Walter Demming, an Austin, Texas school bus driver, and eleven of his young charges have been held underground in the cult's highly-fortified compound for forty-six days. The team of federal negotiators assigned to the case makes little progress, and little by little all hope of rescuing the hostages ebbs away.

Under The Beetle's Cellar

Two years prior to the school bus hijacking, Molly Cates, crime reporter for the Lone Star Monthly, had the bad luck to interview the leader of the fanatical cult, Samuel Mordecai -- an interview straight from the lower reaches of Hell. Mordecai was fascinatingly charismatic, and Molly left the interview having felt trapped, abused and mesmerized by a madman who kept her literally pinned to her chair while he ranted on about his apocalyptic visions for the demise of mankind.

The experience left Molly feeling haunted, but as time passes and hope for the children dims, it seems Molly is the only one with enough information about the maniacal Mordecai to serve as the conduit between him and the hostage negotiators.

Culminating in an explosive psychological confrontation so harrowing, you'll race to the terrifying finish, Under The Beetle's Cellar is a bone-chilling tale tipped from today's headlines, and more frightening than our worst nightmares.

About this title

From the Publisher:

"The author and heroine of The Red Scream return in an audiobook so terrifying, so filled with squirming suspense, it's bound for the bestseller lists. When Kirkus Reviews greeted Mary Willis Walker's last book, The Red Scream, with "welcome to the big time," they weren't kidding. That novel established Walker as an author with "the kind of clout that sets publishers' mouths watering" (The Philadelphia Inquirer). And now she has done it again, with an unforgettable tale ripped from the headlines and more terrifying than our worst nightmares. Kidnapped by a cult of religious fanatics, an Austin school bus driver and eleven of his young charges have been held underground at the group's highly fortified compound for forty-six days. While a team of federal negotiators begins to lose all hope of rescuing the hostages, crime reporter Molly Cates sets out to discover everything she can about the cult's iron-willed leader, Samuel Mordecai. And as the clock ticks inexorably, she takes the role of Clarisse Starling opposite Mordecai's Hannibal Lecter, engaging in a psychological confrontation as harrowing as any in The Silence Of The Lambs. Tough, terrifying, and relentlessly heart-wrenching, this is a tale whose images no reader will ever forget.

About the Author:

Mary Willis Walker won an Agatha for her first novel (which was also nominated for the Macavity and the Edgar) and the prestigious Edgar with her second, THE RED SCREAM. She lives in Austin, Texas.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Audio
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0553476769
• ISBN 13: 9780553476767
• Binding: Audio Cassette