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Annie Frame
The Quiet Road

Summary

Frankford Lucas is the chief superintendent in the police force. He is well respected and well thought of… however, he has a secret. Ever since childhood he has visited The Quiet Road in his dreams. He thought it was a good place, this Quiet Road, but events unfold to prove otherwise. Gruesome murders are being carried out on his patch and trophies turning up in his flat with no rational explanation. Who is slaughtering the innocent victims and why? Profiler Lenny Docker introduces a clairvoyant into the investigation and The Sarsaparilla Duchess, seems to know more about Frankford Lucas than she should – even more than he does himself! In time Frankford Lucas learns the true secret of The Quiet Road and realizes he is dealing with a force beyond his control. Can he save his soul from darkness, and can he save the souls of others who cannot help themselves? The Road is long as is the investigation leading the reader on an intense journey they will not forget in a hurry! (Source)

Review

A quiet road. Innocuous, right? Safe, even. Familiar.

Wrong, wrong, oh so very wrong.

Annie Frame’s The Quiet Road introduces the reader to Frankford Lucas, a Chief Superintendent in the police force. He has no family, other than a cat, Old Whiskey, but is well respected and well thought of in his profession. He has also has an amazing lucky streak, being able to climb the ranks of the police force not only because of his skill and determination, but also because the job that he aims for seems to miraculously become free, due to others misfortunes.  He also, since his childhood, has been visiting a Quiet Road in his dreams, where he is greeted by a figure in a dark cape; his constant companion on this Road.

Frankford starts to have strange variations of the Quiet Road dreams, and brutal murders occur – even stranger, keepsakes from the murders start to appear in Frankford’s flat, and he begins to see that the Quiet Road isn’t as safe as he once thought.

The first page of The Quiet Road piques the reader’s interest – it feels as intimate as reading some stranger’s diary, and as impersonal as reading a police report – which is fitting, considering the main character’s profession. I felt that I was pulled into the little intricacies of Frankford Lucas’ life very, very quickly – from office politics of the police station, to Frankford’s night trips to the Quiet Road. Annie Frame’s (and Frankford’s) descriptions of people and places are very brief and to the point, but it’s enough to give the reader the idea of why that particular person or place is important to the overall story. The images these short descriptions give made me dread Frankford’s falling asleep and his meeting the cloaked figure on the Quiet Road; a journey that would reveal what the nature of the next murder would be. I’ll admit, there were points where I had to stop reading the book because of the intensity- and the fact that it hit almost all the points that are guaranteed to scare the crap out of me in the horror genre.

Here’s the important part, though. I never felt that I could really abandon Frankford Lucas to his journey alone.

As it becomes more and more obvious that there is a very important link between Frankford, his dreams, and the murders taking place; Annie Frame takes her character (who is a staunch nonbeliever in the supernatural at the beginning) and the reader on a very comprehensive journey into the world of occult; mediums, old souls, older souls, soul mates, this life and the next are all explored in this book. She also manages to give a very interesting view on the debate of psychology versus the existence of the supernatural (two of my very consistent loves), and, leaves the reader with a very important and potent message; one that resonates strongly with me. But, of course, you’ll have to read the book to find out what that is!

This book is really an amazing ride, and worth every freak-out moment for me.

To see more from Annie Frame, please see OBS staff Member Rose’s review of Annie Frame’s Imprint (here)

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