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?

Dirk was feeling lost and lonely. His wife Patricia had announced that she was struggling to feel any purpose in her life and had decided to move into an apartment for a time period to sort things out. Dirk is strongly motivated to change something to put his family back together, and decides to sell his share of the business and invest in a summer resort based around a beautiful, remote, spring-fed lake in Arkansas. Unfortunately, he didn't ask enough questions about the history of the lake ... It wasn't until after he brings his three children to stay for the summer that he becomes fully aware of a history of missing persons. Patricia decides to stay at her apartment and continue sorting out her feelings. Within a few days, Dirk's fourteen-year-old daughter is attacked by something that came from the lake. She narrowly escapes with her life, due to the quick action of old Bill Ocherman, who fears that his son has already disappeared in the lake and had begun a nightly vigil. As Dirk struggled to make sense of what has happened, he decides to hire Rodney, a biology student that is also a highly experienced diver. Over time, Rodney learns more and more about the monster that is large enough to block the flow of the underground spring as it passes back and forth between the lake and some underground chamber. But Rodney, friend and expert diver Eddie, and Dirk's son Brad are unable to imagine the size, speed, and mind-boggling power of the strange, underwater behemoth.

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.

Gladys Swartz was a plain girl boiling with suppressed desire. In a book on the occult, she read of a bodily possession and conceived a devilish plan. She brought about her own death by accident, then, wandering the earth as a restless spirit, she attacked and conquered the body of the lovely Peri Lee. After a desperate battle, she drove the young girl's soul down into the depths of her psyche. Then she led the life of a lovely wanton, but, more and more she came to realize that she had committed a terrible crime. When the fiancé of the lovely young girl began to suspect that all was not well, a fight to the finish was fought in the dark halls of a haunted mind.

Sheba is impulsive, unconstrained by convention, and fond of men. When she comes into a small amount of money, she decides on a lark that she wants to purchase an old house-sight unseen-and turn it into a hunting lodge. The house and many surrounding acres are priced very attractively. She talks two sisters and her roommate Donna-her good friends-into quitting their jobs and coming to live and work with her, but each of them wants to give one- or two-week notice. Impatient, Sheba jumps in her car and drives to the house that she purchased, arriving after nightfall. Approaching the house she first must cross a bridge-so slippery, narrow. And the fog, thick, seeming to come out of nowhere, covering the windshield, smothering, blinding. Then blackness . . . and icy water. The hunters were puzzled when they found her the next morning on the shore. How could she possibly have escaped, with the car still under water, locked? In a panic, Sheba calls her friends and convinces them to immediately fly down and join her. They all arrive and move into the huge, dark, old multi-story house and begin preparing it as a hunting lodge. Strange things begin to occur almost immediately. Over time they learn that several persons have previously drowned by running off the bridge after dark. Why did Sheba survive? There also seems to be an unexplained presence in the house, and it seems to be getting stronger with each passing day. Donna-the calm manager-finally makes a trip to the attic and is puzzled by the things that she observes.

It still seemed incredible that she was the missing grand-daughter of an eccentric millionaire who recently passed away. But from the moment that she entered this strange house, Jo Anne began to discover that she had been willed a legacy of evil.

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.

When the crew bulldozed a sycamore tree right before dark, they saw several bodies lying under the tree roots. The boss left to fetch the police. Carl was the only witness as the bodies transformed to beautiful people that crawled out of the hole and simply walked away. Ridiculed for his story, Carl resolved to investigate. Several strange occurrences began that night. The most important development seemed to be the newly-built church Aeternita. Several neighbors were invited to attend nightly ceremonies. Those attending rapidly joined, then quickly yielded all will to the church. But, church members were strange. All young and beautiful, they seemed to mysteriously acquire new family members until they had "perfect families", with two children and a dog. The church promised eternal life, but at what cost?

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?

Three years earlier, Ketti had fled along with daughter Babette and newborn son Danny, leaving son Patrick with his father. She had tried to stay hidden, and relied on Babette to care for Danny while she worked nights. One evening, Babette as awakened by loud sounds. She went into the baby's room to find her brother Patrick fighting with her mother. Ketti seemed to be trying to kill Patrick! After the police were called, it was found that Danny was no longer living. A crib death? The same thing that had happened to her other baby brother Billy right before they ran away. With Ketti temporarily jailed to sort things out, Patrick was taken to a Boy's Farm and Babette to a foster home. Before separating, Ketti told Babette to get the Wolfsbane from a drawer in the bedroom and to be careful around her brother Patrick. Babette was convinced that her mother was now insane, and felt that she must do something to stop her mother from trying to kill Patrick! She was completely unaware that the her brother was now responding to an insatiable thirst, and had returned for a bloody reunion of unspeakable evil.

"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?

CHILDISH GAMES ... GRISLY CONSEQUENCESAmanda was shocked and mystified when Alex apparently committed suicide. How could he have slashed his wrists in the bathtub and then slit his own throat? And why did the police not recognize that a rope around his hands had been removed? Young, sensitive Haley had seen the rope and the "Other", but kept it to herself. When her 15-year old sister Cassie led the older kids to try to contact Alex through a séance, an apparition looking exactly like Haley suddenly appeared. The Other was jumping a red striped rope and singing. The same jump rope that had been around Alex's hands?Cassie unfortunately agreed to an illicit rendezvous with Shawn at midnight in the woods. When Cassie and Shawn did not return, Haley was suspicious and frightened. You see, the Other had appeared again-jumping rope and singing its mournful song.Rachel had also seen the apparition and became concerned that something deadly and evil was stalking the family. But, who would believe her? Surely, the events that followed Alex's death so closely could not be just coincidence. What had really happened to Alex in the bathtub? Haley was too scared to talk. Scared of seeing the Other again ... scared of feeling the jump rope tighten around her own fragile throat ...

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.

Ellen brought her "Aladdin's Lamp" home from a garage sale. Violence was suddenly a part of their lives. Trouble seemed to follow even after moving to a different town, and after each incident there was a strange smell of smoke in the air.

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 . . .

Heather was young and beautiful, but had ongoing man trouble. She decided to allow her older sister to care for her two daughters from a previous marriage. As a parting gift, Heather gave the girls a beautiful doll . . . Zenoa. The doll, with those penetrating brown eyes, was a reminder of a mother's love-wasn't it? The doll that seemed to have motives of its own . . . and would persist for decades to come. The doll that surprised and overpowered those no longer useful to her. In the dark the deadly doll could pass for … a human. But it sought power to seal the transformation. It needed the legitimacy that came from home ownership. The current owners should beware. This is the 5th of five "evil doll" books from Ruby Jean.

In the house that had been in his family for generations, Grand-dad had raised sisters Laura and Fawn after their parents were killed in an auto accident. Believing that her beautiful older sister Laura was stealing her true love, Fawn left home at age nineteen. Over the next eighteen years, Fawn's unsuccessful marriage resulted in two kids-Andy, eleven, and eight year-old Susan. Fawn had stayed away all these years, but felt obligated to return when Grand-dad passed away. It turned out that Laura had also married and had three girls, Jill, Erin and Kara, before her husband was killed in a boating accident. The kids, especially Susan and Kara, hit it off immediately. While out exploring, Andy, Susan and Kara found an interesting old trunk in the trash-pile, found a way to pry it open, and discovered inside it a gorgeous old French walking doll. Laura soon worked out that the found doll, bearing the nametag 'Millicent', was a virtual twin to Victoria, the antique doll that was the most valued part of the doll collection at the Antique Village that she managed. Why had Grand-dad insisted that such a valuable doll be discarded? Laura decided to take Millicent to the Antique Village, but then changed her mind and was driving back home when she collided with a truck and ran off the road. Laura survived, but was left in a deep coma. The policeman returned Millicent to the family at The Mansion, as locals called the house. Roger Hamilton, the driver of the truck that Laura had hit, was bothered by what he had seen prior to the accident, and tried to get close to the family to warn them. The family, especially Erin and Martha, who had been the housekeeper for decades, began to uncover parts of the history of the house and the dolls. Victoria, Grand-Dads sister, had died during a fall from the third-floor balcony. That explained why a gate was in place to prevent anyone from going to the third floor. First Erin, then Martha were killed. Could the doll Millicent somehow have been responsible for the deaths? Martha had known. Roger knew and wanted to help avoid further tragedy. And Laura, in a coma, began to have out-of-body experiences that showed her the REAL family history. Was Millicent out to kill the entire family?