The Stone Circle

There's something evil emanating form Boston Harbor in this supernatural thriller, and we aren't talking about the smell at low tide.

The plot features enough greed, ambition, and self-deception to stock a thriller of the more mundane variety. But on top of that, the author builds a ghost story to manipulate the protagonists beyond where they are prepared to manipulate one another.

A Yankee tycoon has begun to build a gambling casino on a private island in Boston Harbor. When workers unearth puzzling stone structures, progress is halted until an archaeologist can render a verdict.

The tycoon calls Peter Van Zandt, a scholar who has suffered both professional and personal disaster of late. Mourning the loss of his wife and struggling to raise their small son alone, Peter has seen his judgment falter and his reputation skid.

Working feverishly on the island, he becomes convinced that he has discovered a Celtic ritual circle of world-shaking significance. As he falls under the stones' power, he is haunted by spooky visions mingling the sanguinary history of the site with ghostly images of his wife.

Both Peter's sanity and the life of his son hang on his obsession. . . This is a story stripped for action, and action is what it delivers.