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Class Assignment: Save A Life

By K. SUE COLLINS

Published: March 9, 2008

"Obedience," by Will Lavender (Shaye Areheart Books, $24)

Will Lavender's debut novel, "Obedience," is a story within a story demanding the reader's complete alertness and the ability to surrender to the tale. It is a mystery threaded with psychological suspense.

The unsuspecting students at Winchester University taking Logic and Reasoning 204 are unprepared for what awaits them. The instructor, Professor Williams, has no syllabus or books for his students, only a single assignment for the six-week course:

Find a hypothetical missing girl named Polly, and if you are unable to within the six weeks, she will be murdered. At first, this scenario seems intriguing. But soon students Mary Butler, Brian House and Dennis Flaherty find themselves consumed with the case.

Similarities from their lives are entwined with elements of the case. Suspects from Polly's world intrude into their existence. They wonder whether Polly is real and what will happen if they cannot find her.

Professor Williams' past is clouded with uncertainty and accusations.

Is he offering his students a logical puzzle, or are his motives much more sinister? Mary, Brian and Dennis search for clues, only to find Polly resembles another missing-person case. Thrust into a race against time, the students must unravel Polly's disappearance before the semester ends.

Lavender's first novel suggests he has a bright future. The novel is briskly plotted with deft narrative. "Obedience" builds to a swirling conclusion. It becomes a place where morality is blurred and intentions drift astray.

K. Sue Collins of Tampa is a crime novelist.