HALOS (4.5) mean blessing. That's what Alessi Moore believes. A halo around the sun leads her into a town called Charity, where her only valuable possession, a red Mustang convertible, is stolen immediately. No one can believe anyone in this devout Christian town could be a thief. After all, they have the Pact—but Alessi isn't in on the secret. Yet. Stuck in the wintry village with no money, no wheels and no appropriate clothing, the Florida girl is given a job by grouchy bookstore owner Steve. They make a truce when she poses as his girlfriend to fend off the single townswomen. As Steve and Alessi's romance bumps along, someone starts playing cruel jokes on her. Then the horrifying details of the Pact come out, and Alessi flees Charity straight into the arms of the crazed thief. Will Steve and the townspeople wake up to the evil in their midst before it's too late? Kristen Heitzmann's latest grips the reader from the first page. The spiritual take-away concerning pride, forgiveness and the deceitfulness of the human heart is outstanding. (Jan., 288 pp., $12.99)

—Jill Elizabeth Nelson