Böcker av Ruby Jean Jensen

At age sixty-five, Emily Alexander fell and broke her hip. Since she had been living alone and had no friends to help out, she was forced to recuperate in Willowbrook Care Center. Carefully maintaining her hidden identity, she registers with her alias Maggie Winters. Fortunately, she quickly makes friends with roommates Florence and Hazel, a pair of eighty-somethings that likely will live out their days at Willowbrook. Having spent much of her life playing piano professionally, the residents were the thankful beneficiaries of her impromptu concerts. Feeling trapped and impatient with being confined, Emily's thoughts drift back over her life. She had always been seeking the purpose of her life, but never seemed to find it. Why did it happen that most were chosen, but a few, like her, were not? She had struggled to fill the hollow darkness in her heart. Her occasional dreams, vivid and lifelike, often sustained her as she grappled with one heartbreak after another.Emily looked forward to regaining her independence and resuming the simple lifestyle, hidden from professional snoops, that she shared with her dog Minnie. At some point, she had accidentally learned too much of the truth. Would they still be looking for her? Was she just being paranoid? And the question always in her heart, what could this bit of knowledge possibly have to do with her mission in life?

Felicia, at age 14, gave birth to a beautiful child that took the name Jeremy. Despite Felicia's attempts to explain that she had done nothing to cause the pregnancy, her mother refused to believe her. Mrs. Stewart, desperate to protect their reputations, claimed the child as her own. She brought in nurse after nurse to care for the baby, but each nurse lasted only a short while. There was something about this baby ... Felicia couldn't help but love her baby, especially the way he called her. Tiny hands . . . reaching out to her in the dark . . . clutching. But not there when the lights came on. As Jeremy grew and became more powerful, people around him began to die. But to Felicia . . . he was Such a Good Baby.

After her parents passed away, Tara sought to escape the inevitable marriage to the wealthy Albert if she stayed in town. After traveling to San Francisco with almost no money, during a heavy rain she found shelter with a small group of people that seemed to be penniless and without resources. She learned that young Amy, one of this "family", was pregnant and needing help. After the men returned from an evening outing, they expressed an urgent desire to leave. Mysteriously, they had a car and money. The journey to Louisiana, where the family of one of the men owned an abandoned house, began immediately. Arriving, they soon learn that the former tenant had recently been dead inside the house. Tara and Amy take a room that includes a disturbing picture above the fireplace-a painting that is signed with the name "Samael". After learning that a stairway to the third floor had been completely sealed, they decide to open it. This was not a wise decision ... Can Tara continue to protect Amy and the baby? Scott Yates, the real estate agent who has fallen in love with Tara, stands ready to assist.

THE NIGHT THE CHILDREN CAME HOMEIt all started the night of Dalton Walsh's revival meeting... when the earth beneath his tent trembled with a kind of vengeance. It was as if some force from beyond knew about the terrible crimes that had transpired in this little town and finally wanted to reveal the evil that lived there.Then the sightings began. All those lost, almost forgotten children; kids who hadn't aged a day in all the years since their disappearance-like the teenage boy who still wore the same clothes he'd last been seen in or the golden-haired little girl who still clutched that same doll.Reverend Dalton didn't know why the children had picked this moment to come home, but he did know one thing; now was the time for a terrible truth to be finally revealed. Now was the time for . . . THE RECKONING

No one heard the gunshots. Just as no one ever heard Celia's screams or those of her children for all these years. But in the isolation of the Florida swamps, Celia has silenced her cruel husband forever.Or so she thought . . .Now, Celia and her three children are on the run. Relying on an underground network of helping families, Celia is heading for northern California and a brand new life. But someone is following Celia. Someone who knows her every secret destination. And who intends to keep his promise ...I'll get you, Celia. You kill me and I'll come back as your worst nightmare.

A pattern was developing, maybe even intensifying. The dream would come to Magret-the baby, its head rising right out of the earth, its piercing eyes staring at her. Then she would wake to find that she had been screaming. As she rocked and wept, she reminded herself over and over that this was only a dream ... just another nightmare. But then Magret's daughter Sheena and her friends reported seeing a little girl, an infant, in the forest behind their house. Surely there was some other explanation for what they thought they had seen. Sergeant Stoddard took the report seriously enough to search the woods, but found nothing. Then came another sighting, followed by a brutal murder in the house beyond the woods. Magret reluctantly began to examine her dreams and relive her childhood-when she had lived close to the woods and had attended the nearby, abandoned old church. Suddenly the killings no longer seemed random. Magret now knew the truth. But how could she face it? What terror awaited her children if she failed to pacify the revenge-seeking child?

"Ten-agers" Greta and her cousin Derek are constant companions. Upon finding an old well, of course they must pry off the rotten wood cover. Derek fetches his Dad''s fishing rod. He soon hooks a beautiful gold ring with a red stone setting, followed by an ornate piece of cloth. It becomes apparent that there is a body in the bottom of the well ... the police must be called in.Greta immediately takes possession of the ring. She must possess that ring! Without knowing why, she turns the ring toward her palm to make it less noticeable. Curiously, she soon becomes haunted by a strange, terrifying feeling-that someone is following her. Someone like a shadow. She also starts hearing a whispered voice telling her to do bad things. Is this voice only in her head? Then comes the murder. Greta, nearby at the time, remembers nothing. But, she can''t shake the nagging feeling that she is somehow responsible, even though she has been saying No, No, No to the whispers! As the murder investigation proceeds, dark family histories are slowly revealed.

Heather was forced to go live with her Uncle. Uncle Reece, her mother''s brother, felt obligated to take her in. But, Aunt Pansy and her cousins resented that she was upsetting their lives. Heather hoped that her mother would soon save her. Coming home from school one day, a strange old man caught her eye and carefully laid a package on the lawn for her. When she opened it she found an old fortune teller''s pendulum. Experiments soon progressed, and Heather seemed to have a unique ability to make the pendulum move when she held a person''s hands and focused on their future. Some of the predictions were frightening! The pendulum might point at-DEATH, or UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS. Nicole encouraged Heather to host a fortune-teller booth at the upcoming Halloween carnival at school. Miss Upton, Heather''s sixth-grade teacher, was immediately supportive of the idea. In fact, Miss Upton seemed to be trying to get closer to Heather. Heather certainly did not want to be a teacher''s pet! Everything seemed to come together the day of the carnival. The pendulum''s predictions seemed to be coming true! At the same time, she was hearing weird noises in her Uncle''s house. While Heather began to learn more about the history of the house, she also began to remember more about the day that she had followed some older kids out to the sand pits-the day that Antol had drowned. Might all of these things be somehow connected?

Amy and Jodi hardly remembered their father who lived and worked in a carnival, but now they were going to live with him. Their lives were soon disrupted by two mysterious murders that were somehow related to the history of the House of Illusions.

Winifred had always blamed Daniel for the disappearance of her fifteen year-old daughter Charlene. No body had been found. She had been terribly lonely since the loss, and kept Charlene’s room in the big house just the way she had left it. For twenty-six years, Daniel had been constantly tormented by the death of Charlene, his cousin and his sweetheart. He knew things about Charlene that no one else ever knew. Daniel was restless, and could not stay with his family, even though he loved them. After starting yet another relationship, he suggested that new wife Ronna and the three kids go to California to live with Winifred. Ronna felt that she had no other choice. Upon arriving, it quickly became apparent that Winifred was not as friendly as she had seemed in her letters. She was especially cold towards Kim, Ronna’s daughter from a previous relationship. Ten-year old Kevin explored the huge old barn, then struck up a friendship with Carl, a boy from a neighboring house. Don't go near the river, his aunt had said. But Kevin was bored and not inclined to listen. Kevin and Carl soon decided to go swimming. Their discovery of something trapped beneath the river bank launched a chain of events they could not hope to understand. Kevin tried to explain what had happened, but his family simply could not believe him. Within a few short days, it was apparent that lives were endangered—by something dark and evil, caught in the shadow worlds between life and death. Something seeking revenge …

Ten-year-old son Timmy had already missed the opportunities to go to summer camp with one of his buddies. When family acquaintance Dan offered to take Timmy to the mountains for two weeks for hiking, camping, and taking pictures of wildlife, his parents thought that was a great idea. Lots of fun, a perfect vacation. Timmy tried to argue against the trip, as he had never felt really comfortable around Dan. However, his parents won the argument and off he went. The closer they got to the cabin, the less friendly Mr. Walker''s smile became. The scarier the sound of his voice. After driving all day, Dan and Timmy arrived at a remote cabin. But Timmy was very, very, drowsy, and had some very strange dreams that first night. He awoke in the morning surprised to find that he was not the only child in the cabin. Thirteen-year-old Rex, eight-year-old Dale, seven-year-old Joey, and even five-year-old Susie shared bunkbeds in a common room. He quickly sensed their dread, felt their terror, and heard their screams in the night. Over the next few days, "Uncle" Dan seemed to change personality from one minute to the next. And he was constantly telling the children that they should strive to please "Little Mother". If they made Little Mother happy, perhaps he would introduce them to her. In fact, Dale was chosen for the introduction one evening. But, the next morning Dale was nowhere to be found. Timmy slowly became aware that Dan had no intention of keeping his promises to Timmy''s parents . . . Then he peeked through the keyhole of the forbidden locked door and saw the blood-curling horror that awaited him. He began to make plans, although he had little hope of escaping the deadly welcome of their Home Sweet Home . . .