The Menace Within

Amanda Morely had a flash of fear when she went into her aunt’s empty darkened house, unreasoning fear because she did not suspect that below her, in a secret room, Ellie Peale’s killer was pacing with angry impatience. In fact neither Amanda nor her aunt, who had been rushed to the hospital that afternoon with a disabling stroke, had known the cleverly concealed bomb shelter existed. Only Harvey Sweet, petty criminal and part-time handyman, remembered it was there, the perfect hiding place for the killer, his half brother Claude.The inexplicable disappearance of Ellie Peale, a young supermarket clerk, was widely featured in the news. Even if the girl’s body were not found, it would be prudent for her murderer to get out of Albuquerque as soon as possible. If all went as Harvey had arranged, Claude would leave the shelter that night and be in another state by morning. Then Amanda appeared, cutting off his escape. Because she was taking care of a friend’s two-year-old daughter, she could not be lured from the house. Somehow the formidable brothers would have to prevent her from wrecking their plans. But Amanda, preoccupied with the crises in her own life, was blind to the signs of danger.The Menace Within is a spellbinding novel of love and fear, of the terrifying experiences of a young woman and of the people who in various unexpected ways are concerned with her desperate situation.