Midnight Rain opens with a mysterious and compelling setup: late one night a woman receives a phone call from her abusive ex- husband, who lies in a coma hundreds of miles away. She’s positive it’s him, but how is that possible? Like most stories featuring such a puzzling premise, the ultimate explanation isn’t as intriguing as the setup, but thanks to the author’s skill, this is still a superlative example of the familiar made fresh.

Phoebe Rain lives an isolated life, vigilantly avoiding any close relationships. Years ago she escaped her abusive husband Michael, a vicious, controlling man who attacked her both physically and emotionally. He told her he would kill her if she ever tried to get away from him. He almost made good on the promise, tracking her down to the school where she worked and killing two children before she managed to stop him.

Now, Michael lays in a coma far from Phoebe’s home in Florida, but she continues to live in fear. She works out of her home, doing tarot card readings over the phone for the Psychic Sisters Network. One night, she receives a call from a man who is all too familiar: Michael. He makes the same threats that he’s coming after her, leaving Phoebe terrified. But when she checks with the hospital, she learns that Michael is still comatose and not expected to ever wake up. The phone company also has no record of a call coming through her line at the time. She would know his voice anywhere and has no doubt it’s him. There just doesn’t seem to be any explanation how that could be.

The next day she meets her neighbor, Dr. Alan MacKerrie. The emergency room physician has emotional scars of his own. Several years ago, his wife tried to leave him, taking their young daughter with her. They didn’t get far, perishing in a car accident. Alan continues to mourn for his beloved daughter and hasn’t gotten close to anyone since their deaths. Then, shortly after he meets Phoebe, he sees his daughter’s ghost calling to him.

He’s not the only one. The girl appears to Phoebe in her apartment, asking her to go see Alan. Phoebe ignored the warnings of spirits who appeared to her before the school shootings. She can’t sit by again, no matter what the cost to herself. As a scientist Alan is skeptical of Phoebe’s claims, but she knows things that only his daughter could know. Then the girl reveals her motives for appearing: something dangerous is coming that threatens both their lives, and they will need each other to survive.

Holly Lisle’s vivid, sympathetically drawn characters are the best part of this intensely emotional read. They’re both haunted people who should fascinate readers who enjoy tortured characters. Phoebe, in particular, is a strong, multi-dimensional heroine, even though her backstory (poor little orphaned trailer park girl wooed by rich, handsome psycho) borders on cliche. Scarred inside and out, she’s a fighter caught in circumstances that would push most people to the brink. She’s definitely terrified, but she has a core of toughness that makes her an easy heroine to root for. Heroines with psychic abilities are seemingly everywhere these days, but Phoebe never felt like a common character I’ve read numerous times before. She’s a distinctive and memorable person all her own. Likewise, the villain is nothing most romantic suspense readers haven’t seen before. He still works as a character because he is truly frightening and all too believable.

Alan isn’t quite as compelling as Phoebe, although the scenes involving his memories of his daughter and his interactions with her spirit are very touching and ultimately quite moving. This is really a book that engages the emotions, from the loneliness and melancholy of the characters to the terror of the suspense. The author’s writing has a sense of immediacy that really places the reader in the moment. There are many small moments that worked for me. For instance, the details of Phoebe’s work on the psychic hotline and the people she interacts with are very interesting.

The initial chapters are wonderfully moody and atmospheric, but the conventions of the genre start to take over midway through the book. The FBI turns out to be frighteningly inept and easily stymied, allowing the villain to pretty much strike unopposed. There’s one Big Misunderstanding where I honestly heaved the book against the wall and let it sit there for a while until I could get past my annoyance. The characters manage to get past it so quickly that it’s pointless. There are a few predictable moments that are strictly out of the thriller handbook. I should also note that the villain’s actions become increasingly bloody and gruesome in the final third. None of it crossed the line in becoming too much for me to handle, but squeamish readers may be more disturbed than I was.

Midnight Rain is a good example of a familiar story lifted above the mundane because of the strength of the execution. The plotting is nothing special, but the author’s writing is strong and her characters are compelling. This is an emotional and suspenseful read. There’s a lot of romantic suspense out there these days, most of it not very good. Here’s one that is.