Rampage - Softcover

The teenaged daughter Claire, who is now the age Madlen was when she used to slip out and go down to the river, has "lost track of herself." Fatherless, suddenly yanked from her familiar suburban California environment to this strange, slow town in Iowa, Claire finds herself adrift, vaguely searching for something. A series of portents gather danger about her: an old woman dies in the mud while walking confused in a rainstorm; a murderer kidnaps (or rescues?) a small child and comes back home to Rampage to hide; Madlen's father's young wife is pregnant but has a leaky womb; and Madlen is going slightly mad as she revisits in her mind the tragic events surrounding her mother's death. Claire unconsciously begins to repeat Madlen's old patterns, including wading at night in the river.

This elegant, chilling novel moves slowly--developing several characters with a sure, steady hand--and yet the mysterious allure of an unseen element that one character calls "some place dark and unspeakable" keeps you turning the pages, wondering how the gathering tension will eventually resolve. The climax is a sudden, sharp shock, bringing all the threads together in a single violent sequence.

Susan Taylor Chehak has crafted a powerful tale of non-supernatural horror that will reward those who are patient enough to fall under its spell. Long after you've finished reading it, Rampage will linger in your mind. --Fiona Webster

Rampage:

"In writing at once exquisitely grim and lyrical, Susan Taylor Chehak looks through the crosshairs to target a raw and unnerving American locale....Rampage illuminates the harsh, innate purity of violence enacted in pursuit of home and belonging."
--Maria Flook, author of My Sister Life

Smithereens:

"It's the telling little details, particularly of teenage angst and of domestic life, that make the novel rich."
--Los Angeles Times Book Review

Dancing on Glass:

"Written in prose of almost hypnotic lyricism."
--New York Times Book Review

Harmony:

"Almost gothic in tone...the reality will push buttons in nearly everyone."
--Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Story of Annie D.:

"A vivid evocation of place, of an inexorably changing world."
--The Wall Street Journal