Reviews of Too Near The Edge
 
Reviewed by Diane Kasperski
http://www.armchairinterviews.com/reviews/cat
egories/mystery/too_near_the_edge.php
December, 2006
Adam Meyer is deeply troubled and needs to
get away. Everyone recommends going hiking
at the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately for Adam
someone pushes him over the edge to his
death. However, the police rule his death as a
suicide and do not do any investigating.
Cleo Sims is a grief counselor with a
controversial way of helping her patients. She
has a special therapy called the Contact
Project. The Contact Project helps clients get in
touch with loved ones who have died so that
there can be closure.
Sharon Meyer desperately wants to see if the
Contact Project could help her contact Adam.
She doesn't accept that Adam killed himself as
they were so happy.
The more Cleo finds out about details
surrounding the death of Adam, the more
suspicious she is that his death was no
accident.
Who could have killed him and why? There are
quite a few suspects. All of them have secrets
and all of them want to keep their secrets
hidden at all costs.
Cleo believes deeply in her Contact Project.
Tyler, a true 'surfing dude,' is a spirit that she
unintentionally contacts during her first time in
the "apparition room." He pops in and out of
Cleo's world every once in a while, giving her
clues. The problem is the clues are in surfer's
lingo and very vague. The one consistent
message is that she "needs to ride the wave to
the end."
Cleo's biggest problem throughout is--whom
can she trust? What was bothering Adam so
much that he had to go away to think about it?
The mystery deepens and gets more
complicated the more she finds out, all leading
to a very exciting and unexpected standoff
towards the end.
Armchair Interviews says: Murder,
suicide--which is it?
© 2006 CASI Publishing, All Rights Reserved
http://www.bookpleasures.com
Reviewed by Jennifer Andrew
http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/idx/17/
2374/Mystery/article/Too_Near_The_Edge.html
December, 2006
Too Near The Edge is set in present day
Boulder Colorado and is told in the first
person by a character named Cleo, short for
Cleopatra.  Her profession as a Medium and
Grief Counselor brings her into touchy
situations but she never thought it would lead
her into a world of intrigue, mystery and
murder.  Cleo is asked to help a grief stricken
single mother who lost her husband Adam in
a tragic accident but her client, Sharon, thinks
her husband could have been murdered.  
Using Cleo’s techniques at helping her clients
to contact their loved ones, Sharon gets clues
from beyond the grave to help solve her
husband’s mystery.  Cleo has problems of her
own when Sharon’s life starts to interfere with
her livelihood, which forces Cleo to take a
stand for her beliefs and come to the aid of
her client.
The prominent characters in the novel move
the story along to build suspense.  Cleo gets
visited from time to time by Tyler, a surfer
apparition who gives her clues in slang surfer
language that she has to decipher.  Her
“boyfriend” Pablo thwarts her profession while
Erik, a fitness trainer and nutritionist, tries to
pawn his herbal business on her.  Dr
Waycroft, Sharon’s father, is an overbearing,
self-righteous behavioral psychologist who
ends up making Cleo’s life unbearable if she
insists on standing in his way.  The reader will
be able to identify with many of these
characters in the book as well as the minor
characters who play a role in the flow of the
story.
Too Near The Edge gets a hold of you from
the first page and you can’t seem to put the
book down.  The author makes you keep
reading to see what Cleo is engaged in next.  
The reader gets carried away by Cleo’s actions
and ends up rooting for her drive to do the
right thing and hope she doesn’t blunder into
any trouble.  Lynn Osterkamp makes the
reader frown at Pablo’s insensitivity towards
Cleo’s situation but you end up breathing a
sigh of relief when he comes through for her.
The interesting thing about this novel is that
it appears to be three mysteries entangled
into one.  The reader must figure out what
happened to Adam as well as experience the
sequence the characters have to go through
to figure out Adam’s demise.  The third
mystery lies with Dr. Ahmed, the physician in
charge at the retirement home in which Cleo’s
grandmother resides, and what he’s involved
in.
This exciting novel by Lynn Osterkamp is
recommended to anyone who loves mysteries.
 Throw in humor with a paranormal twist and
you have an adventure on your hands.
Jennifer Andrew
Freelance Writer / Book Reviewer
Book Reviews: http://booksiloved.com/38/
Website:  http://www.femmevip.com