Arachnophobe (Three Steps Down Book 3)

As the spider wraps Emma in its web and drains the life out of her nightmares for days , the sword is filled with her power. Gideon opens up a portal for the Black Fairy to come through. Thankfully, Rumpelstiltskin runs into the spider house and saves Emma. It gets worse though. Emma was unconscious just long enough for the portal to open for a second.

That was enough time for the Black Fairy to appear in Storybrooke. Armed with a bag of jewels from Agrabah, he tracks down Blackbeard for a magic bean. He starts a game of poker, wagering his ship against a bean. He loses the hand but neglects to mention that his ship is back in Storybrooke.

Blackbeard uses the bean and Hook thinks of returning home to Emma. Hook and Blackbeard end up in Neverland, being chased by the Lost Boys. They find a boat by the water and Blackbeard uses it to abandon Hook to the feral children. Finally, while all this was happening, Regina was trying to break the sleeping spell placed on Snow and Charming. As he leaves, he directs Henry to the back of the book to find the source of his troubles. Aug 25, Rosario http: I was drawn to this one purely by the really intriguing setup.

Twenty years ago, a school bus carrying students from an expensive private academy disappeared into thin air. Not a trace was ever found. As the book starts, it's 2 years after that, and a starving, weakened young boy named Chris Jacobs walks out of the woods. He's one of the kids who was on that bus. We then move on to the present day, 18 years later. We find out that Chris was never able to provide any information, beyond the fact t I was drawn to this one purely by the really intriguing setup.

We find out that Chris was never able to provide any information, beyond the fact that he showed signs of torture. He had a head injury and even spent a few months in a coma, and after that he always claimed he could not remember a thing. The police have given up on finding anything, until the chance discovery of human remains in a barn deep in the woods. The skeletons are identified as the teacher who was on the school bus and all but one of the missing children. Michael Brody, a journalist, is the older brother of the one missing child whose body was not found.

He's determined to find out what happened to his brother, and for that he needs to talk to Chris Jacobs and somehow make him remember. But Chris is a very reclusive man who's living completely off the grid, and Michael's only hope of finding him is through his younger sister, Jamie. I gave up on this after listening to about 2 hours of the total It just wasn't very good. The writing was clunky and pedestrian I got bored of having every single POV character gushing about how other characters were oh-so-hot and oh-so-sexy , and the characters' reactions were too often on the baffling side.

They kept thinking and doing and saying things that came off as completely inappropriate for the circumstances. Like, Michael comes over to Jamie to discuss the discovery of the kids' bodies, and Jamie gets hung up on how his eyelashes are so dense and black and what a waste it is for a man to have such great eyelashes and she remembers every tube of mascara she's ever had to buy and These characters just didn't behave like real people.

Also, I didn't trust that the decisions by some characters to withhold crucial information really made sense, other than to make the plot work in particular ways. Chris is the most obvious one. With so many other kids missing and his very existence proof that more could be alive, I didn't quite buy that he would have been basically left alone after a little while. We are told early on that he does remember more than he says and that the killer threatened to get at his family, but surely that's the first thing his psychiatrists would consider when first talking to him?

I didn't buy that he wouldn't have been pushed a lot harder than he seems to have been, especially with the other missing children being from such wealthy, powerful families. I was also getting a bit queasy about the descriptions of what had happened to the kids.

There wasn't anything too graphic in the sections I read, but there was certainly the suggestion and some very firm hints. I wasn't sure I wanted to get more.

It also didn't help that the narrator, Luke Daniels, was frankly awful. He didn't narrate, he intoned. And he kept going off-text with what he put in the chracters' tones. Michael constantly sounded like a total arsehole especially when interacting with Jamie , and though some of his actual actions did cross the line, Daniels was adding things that weren't really there in the text. Also, the way he voiced the female characters was atrocious. They all sounded breathy and childlike and either whiny or close to tears. Not bad but not good either But if you've not read any of the previous novels, the rush of many different characters coming at you all at once in the first chapters would be, and was, confusing.

I had to re-read a few pages just to figure out who was who! But once I got them semi-straight, it wasn't too bad. The overall plot was good and the ending was a pretty big surprise. There were several times I just had to SMH though - too many coincidences and some behavior was utterly unbelievable In fact, there were so many acutely unreal moments I could barely finish the book Troopers who LET bad guys go?!

Sitting in a governor's mansion parking garage and ZERO security? Good writing skills, but unfortunately when combined with truly lousy research, it really missed the point of a crime novel. Just a tiny bit of research would have made this a four or even five star novel but the way it is now? If there was a 2. Am using Kindle's keyboard and it's awful! Feb 03, Angela Risner rated it it was amazing. I have enjoyed all of Kendra Elliot's books, but this one is my favorite so far. I think that she took a tough subject and handled it delicately. Michael Brody, whom we met in Elliot's first book, is back.

He's a reporter, the son of a senator and a famous doctor. His brother was one of several children who disappeared while returning from a school trip. Jamie Jacobs' brother is the only known survivor of that trip. However, he has amnesia and can't help anyone. It's twenty years later and the bu I have enjoyed all of Kendra Elliot's books, but this one is my favorite so far. It's twenty years later and the buried secrets of that trip are about to be uncovered.

I don't want to say too much more about the story, because I don't want to spoil it, but I will say that the story does involve pedophilia. Elliot handled this subject very well - she doesn't hit you over the head with horrible descriptions. On the flip side, she follows in the path of great thrillers that allow your imagination to play out the rest of the scene.

And sometimes, what you imagine is worse than what is given to you. I highly recommend this book. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to her next one. This is book 3 in the Bone Secrets series and I definitely like it better than the first two books. Elliot found her stride in this one and there is a nice balance of suspense and romance. When there were stressful events occurring they were supporting each other and concerned versus in some novels where there i This is book 3 in the Bone Secrets series and I definitely like it better than the first two books.

When there were stressful events occurring they were supporting each other and concerned versus in some novels where there is suspense and stress and all the MCs are thinking about is sex and in those cases it seems so ridiculous. I think this book provided a good balance. The plot was really good with the Ghostman being the very evil villain. His evil deeds are more referenced without any gory details.

The two primary cops of Mason and Ray continue to be well developed and really do make good characters for this series. As in the other books in this series, I have liked the cover art and thought it was a very cohesive look for the whole series. I definitely enjoyed reading this one. This was a Kindle deal of the day so it cost me less than a euro.

I was a bit worried about reading 3 in a series, but in the event I think there are only a few connected characters? What can I say. But even then I really didn't like it. The basic story is fair enough, not a bad premise for a thriller although all the signposts are there to who the badd This was a Kindle deal of the day so it cost me less than a euro. There are some badly written sex scenes that were not needed at all.

But the biggest reason for me giving it one star are the characters. The cops, one messy one not. I'm sure this series will appeal to a lot of people. I'm not one of them. How in the world do I review this book?! It really twisted my head around! It gave me a nightmare about my own child, so saying that I identified with the characters is a good bit of an understatement!

The romance between Jamie and Michael seemed a bit off, as if it came on too fast, but there really wasn't much time devoted to the romantic side of things. This story was action packed! The twists were not easily figured out, and the surprise twist at the end really threw me! This was not a book How in the world do I review this book?! This was not a book easily put down, and trying to read it on a holiday weekend was probably not the greatest idea, cause food was one of the least of my concerns!

Definitely would recommend to others! This is the best book of the series so far. Another one of those "I never saw that coming" moment. Aug 23, Barb Shuler rated it it was amazing Shelves: Bodies are being uncovered in a field at an old Dairy farm. Not just any bones… children's bones. Old enough that there is only old brown bones to recover. Michael Brody, newspaper reporter gets wind of the bones They went on a field trip and somewhere on the way back they disappeared. Chris, one of the kids on the bus made his way out of the woods to a house two years later -almost dead- from dehydrated and emaciated.

But he remembered nothing of what had happened. Today, Michael is astonished to find his brothers remains are not there. What is going on here? After more searching Michael decides to track down Chris, the lone survivor of the incident. He sets out on a mission to find Chris, to make him talk to him. He has to remember something. But the kid lives off the grid and Michael knows the only person that may be able to find him is his sister, Jamie.

But will she help? Only one way to find out. So her and Michael Brody do not hit it off in the way he wants at first. But there is something about this woman that intrigues him. As more bodies are found the case gets even bigger. An underground bunker of sorts. They find the kids backpacks and personal things… as he and Lacy get the news from the cops Michael starts to tailspin. What had they done with him?

Michael again reaches out to Jamie, this time by stopping at her school… but as before he gets no where. The only thing that happen is his noticing her again. She is beautiful and the attraction between them is mutual. What can I say he is a smart man sometimes. LOL BUt as they try to sort through what they know and what other information they can find the bad guys are planning an attack of their own. Seems the one behind all of this is not happy with his ever trusty assistant. Only one child was supposed to be taken care of that fateful day. Not a bus full.

But the job was done so what could he do. It was 18 years later too. But what the assistant could do for him was find Chris. That again, is easier said than done. Michael gets a number that Jamie calls after he leaves her house the first time traced and finds a location for Chris. It pays to have people on your good side. But then he gets a call from the local sheriff and knows where to go. Even finding out her brother has a kid and had a woman in his life.

She is torn but Jamie knows her brother wants to be off the grid and she wants him left alone. Michael shrugs it off and decides to just go alone. When she does he -instead of leaving- attacks her. And she attacks back, even getting in a few good hits once the man tells her he is her brothers attacker. I mean, really how stupid can you be?

He taunts her, gets his ass beat and lets her see his ugly face. After he runs off she calls the cops. They respond along with EMS and after she is patched up from being cut on glass and having a gun pressed into her cheek, tearing the skin she calls Michael. He was heading out of town but turns around and comes to her.

He needs to make sure she is really okay. After he makes the other officers call the detectives in Portland Jamie and he talk. They talk to the cops more at the station and she runs through what happened again. This is when Michael finds out they found pictures in the holding cell under the ground.

The man's arms were in plain view. They blew up pictures of the arms, only the arms and compared that to a sketch Jamie drew and it was the same man. He really was the one that hurt Chris. Jamie decides to go with Michael to find her brother. She has to find out what happened to him. Would he be in danger now? Once they arrive in the backwoods little town they meet with the sheriff, have dinner and check into the town's only hotel -which is a bed-n-breakfast- and spend the night together. When they arrive at the house the next day it is empty and has been tossed. Once they are back in town they ask questions and the panic sets in.

Are they hurt, dead? Does the tattooed man have them? Back at the hotel Michael leaves Jamie in the room to rest while he goes to get dinner. He also reminds her to stay in the room…. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to desensitize yourself to your target situation all at once. Therefore, what you must do is desensitize yourself to the situation bit by bit. In order to work your way gradually through the target behavior, you must construct what is called an anxiety hierarchy , which is a list of component situations related to your target situation B arranged in order from least to most frightening, or situations leading up to your target behavior.

More detailed instructions will be given later on in the manual. Those, then, are the basic principles involved in desensitization. Here is a brief summary of the steps you will go through in desensitizing yourself: First, you will construct an anxiety hierarchy , which is a list of those situations involved in and leading up to your target situation ranked in order from the lease disturbing to the most disturbing.

Then you will train yourself in deep muscle relaxation. You will then go through a series of desensitization sessions.

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You will then imagine a scene representing the weakest item on your hierarchy while maintaining your relaxed state. A given step on your anxiety hierarchy must be repeatedly imagined until you no longer exhibit anxiety at the presentation of it. You will then imagine the next higher anxiety-producing step, and so on. Thus, the anxiety cues are gradually decreased until you can present the most frightening step without feeling any anxiety whatsoever.

So, when you can feel entirely comfortable and relaxed when thinking of your target behavior, your real-life target situation will shortly begin to be progressively less anxiety-producing. Experience with patients has proven this method of relaxing while imagining to be quite effective in reducing anxiety. The purpose of the first half of this manual is to teach you precisely how to construct an anxiety hierarchy, learn deep muscle relaxation, and desensitize your self to the steps in your hierarchy, thereby helping you reduce the anxiety you experience in your target situation.

Thus, the first half of the manual is divided into three sections: The anxiety hierarchy is a list of situations relating to your target behavior to which you react with varying degrees of anxiety. The most disturbing item is placed at the bottom of the list and the least disturbing at the top. In working on the hierarchy, you will begin with the top item on the list that is, the least disturbing item and work step by step through the hierarchy to the last item the one which produces the greatest anxiety affecting your target behavior. Thus, the hierarchy provides a framework for desensitization, through relaxation, of progressively more anxiety-producing situations.

Construction of an anxiety hierarchy can aid you in three ways: It helps you verbalize your problem and set it down in terms of concrete situations which you have, or perhaps will, come up against in real life. You will begin to analyze your problem further by breaking it down into situational components which will make it easier for you to see what specific things about the target behavior cause you anxiety; how they are related to anxiety-provoking situations other than your target behavior; and how the problem may be systematically approached.

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You will place the problem in a form that can be treated by this method. Some people say that merely constructing the anxiety hierarchy has therapeutic value. They have an increased understanding of the problem and a clearer idea of how and why they experience anxiety in certain social situations. Constructing a good hierarchy is very important since it provides the framework for approaching the problem.

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Time and care must be devoted to it. As was stated above, the hierarchy is a list of the situations related to your target behavior which you react to with graded amounts of anxiety. Such a hierarchy is constructed in three steps. Now, please get a pencil and some paper and follow the instructions closely. Write down as many situations as you can think of in which the problem occurs. If you are nervous with strangers or members of the opposite sex, for instance, write down these specific situations in which you experience difficulty. Write down all you can think of. Your list will include some situations which are worse than others.

Some will be very frightening, some hardly frightening at all, and some in between. This can increase your insight into the causes of your anxiety and make it easier to create a good hierarchy. Of course each person is unique, but there are often similarities between hierarchies. Now arrange these items in order from the least upsetting to the most upsetting by thinking about each one and imagining just how bad it would be to be in that situation.

Now build your final hierarchy. Most people include about items you may have more beginning with items so mild that they are practically non-frightening. You might have to invent some very mild items such as having someone say the word A girl for guys who are afraid of A girls , or looking at the picture of a professor for people who are afraid of those with high status , etc. The final items, of course, should be the most severe items from the original list. This ranked list of anxiety evoking items constitutes the hierarchy that you will use in your treatment.

Modifications additions, combining of items, and further breaking-down of items on the hierarchy may be made at any time during the desensitization therapy. To aid you in constructing your hierarchy, we have included five sample hierarchies below. Studying these hierarchies will give you a good idea of how they are constructed and should help you construct yours. These are, however, samples only to show you the form.

You must construct your own hierarchy which applies to your specific case. Anxiety when interacting with members of the opposite sex. Being with a member of the opposite sex who is a member of my family. Being with a member of the opposite sex I know very well, who is not a member of my family. Seeing a member of the opposite sex I know fairly well. Smiling at a member of the opposite sex I know fairly well.

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Talking to a member of the opposite sex I know fairly well. Seeing a member of the opposite sex I know slightly or not at all on campus. Smiling at a member of the opposite sex I know slightly or not at all. Saying hello to a member of the opposite sex I know slightly or not at all. Meeting a very attractive member of the opposite sex for the first time.

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Talking on the phone a short time with a member of the opposite sex. Talking in person for a short time with a member of the opposite sex. Talking for a long time e. Asking out or being asked out by an attractive member of the opposite sex. Being on a date with a very attractive member of the opposite sex. Anxiety when interacting with my boss. At home the night before I go to work, thinking about my boss. Driving to work, thinking about my boss. Walking into the building, thinking about my boss. Entering the office or the room where I work.

Greeting and talking to those I work with about the boss. Seeing the boss from afar. Smiling at the boss. Saying hello to the boss and exchanging greetings. Asking the boss a short question about my job. Asking the boss a more detailed question. Listening to the boss give instructions and then performing them. Talking with the boss on a more personal level.

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Listening to the boss evaluate my work. Seeing a stranger from a distance. Walking through a group of strangers. Seeing a stranger walking towards me. Looking at a passing stranger who is also looking at me. Being spoken to be someone who sits near me in class. Being approached by and talking to someone in my class. Being approached by and talking on a more personal level with someone I know slightly.

Meeting two or three strangers. Meeting a group of strangers Talking briefly with a stranger I just met. Talking at length with a stranger I just met. Talking briefly with two or three strangers. Talking at length with two or three strangers. Talking briefly with a group of strangers. Talking with a group of strangers I just met. Introducing myself and initiating conversation with strangers. Anxiety when interacting with a certain person.

Smiling at the person. Saying hello to the person. Asking the person how he is. Asking the person a short, factual question e. Asking the person a more detailed question that takes longer to answer. Telling the person a short experience I had. Telling the person my opinion on a non-anxiety arousing topic.

Asking the person two or three questions and responding to his answers. Telling the person something about myself, like my family. Talking back and forth with the person for a long time about a factual topic. Talking back and forth with the person on a more personal level. Approaching the person and beginning a long conversation. Fear of speaking up in class. At home, the night before I go to class. Driving to school before the class.

Walking to my class. Walking inside the classroom. Looking around at the people in the room. Walking in and saying hello to someone in the room. Sitting down in the front row. Nodding or agreeing with a comment made in class. Asking the professor a question from the front of the room. Asking the professor a question from the back of the room. Answering a short question from the front of the room.

Answering a short question from the back of the room. Answering a longer question. Making a comment on a particular point to the class. This hierarchy was designed by a student for himself.