THE CRYSTAL SKULL

A young woman with psychic powers must topple a mysterious killer in this supernatural thriller sequel.

InThe Diamond Rose (2020), Amanda Griffith was celebrating graduation from medical school when a solar flare awakened her psychic abilities as a Sentinel 10, by far the most potent kind. Amanda learned that Sentinels all over the world battle evil on behalf of the Committee, a secret society whose members possess great longevity. In the course of her duties, Amanda fell deeply in love with Alain Proctor, “a murderous, manipulative psychopath” who could be normal in her presence. He died a year ago; now, emerging from heartbreak, Amanda is set to marry James Graves, an Air Force pilot, who also lost his soul mate. The two may not be a perfect fit, but they’re realistic: “We’re the next-best thing for each other. Which means it can last.” When an unknown murderer begins slaughtering Sentinels, Amanda is the only one powerful enough to take on the enemy. She develops a daring plan involving an Aztec crystal skull while pondering a white cat that keeps turning up—a sign that Alain may still be alive. In her second Sentinel 10 novel, Valenti challenges her hero to dig deep for answers and confidence. Seeing the determination with which she steps up to the plate gives her appeal and makes her somewhat over-the-top accomplishments (superpowered psychic, anesthesiologist, gorgeous ex-model) less annoying. The book also nicely clarifies its somewhat nebulous concepts, as with a frustratingly dodgy entity that “can glide along the space-time fabric, like a flashlight along a blanket: the light seems to make contact with the area it glides on, but it never really does.”

An entertaining blend of murder mystery, romance, and the paranormal.