New romantic thriller novel goes 'Beyond the Edge' in its Burgaw setting

Back in 2017, Cindy Horrell Ramsey published "Edge of Sanity," a romance/thriller set in and around her hometown, Burgaw.

She returns to the territory, and the characters, in a new sequel, "Beyond the Edge" (Loggerhead Press, $20 paperback.)

Ramsey, author of "Boys of the Battleship North Carolina" and "Trying Not to Drown," warns that it's probably a good idea to read "Edge of Sanity" first. There's a lot of back story.

In "Beyond the Edge," it's the late 1960s again, and Emily Gillespie is recovering from the death of her abusive husband, Dan.

She's re-established contact with Rob, her old classmate, a nice guy who takes her on boat rides to Hutaff Island and treks to the mountains. Rob makes it clear he'd like to be more than a friend.

But after years of abuse and betrayal — another scumbag swindled her out of Dan's insurance money — Emily finds it hard to put her trust anyone.

Then, it all starts happening again.

First, the mysterious phone calls at all hours. Then, Frank, a sinister sheriff's deputy, starts pulling up outside Emily's farmhouse — just to check, it being so secluded. Why, anything could happen to a woman living alone with small children. (Frank, by the way, is an old buddy of Dan's.)

Then other characters from Emily's past start showing up, demanding something secret that Dan was holding onto. Emily's house is ransacked.

Before long, Emily finds herself enmeshed in an FBI sting operation.

Meanwhile, Rob moves off to New York to advance his art career and starts spending lots of time with a slinky art dealer. Is Emily out of the picture?

As in "Beyond the Edge" Ramsey mixes romance, suspense and Pender County locales, something the former Pender Post editor knows well.

Book notes

Two Wilmington writers have pieces in the winter 2023 issue of The Oxford American, the venerable Southern culture journal now based in Conway, Arkansas.

Novelist Clyde Edgerton ("Raney," "Walking Across Egypt") contributes a short story, "Hearing Aids," about an older gentleman pondering who should inherit his hearing aids.

Maggie Boyd Hare, an MFA student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, has a profile of the Southern indie-pop band Paramore.

Hare is poetry editor of UNCW's literary magazine, Ecotone.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Cindy Horrell Ramsey's romance thriller Beyond the Edge set in Burgaw