Books by Ruby Jean Jensen

Heather was forced to go live with her Uncle. Uncle Reece, her mother''s brother, felt obligated to take her in. But, Aunt Pansy and her cousins resented that she was upsetting their lives. Heather hoped that her mother would soon save her. Coming home from school one day, a strange old man caught her eye and carefully laid a package on the lawn for her. When she opened it she found an old fortune teller''s pendulum. Experiments soon progressed, and Heather seemed to have a unique ability to make the pendulum move when she held a person''s hands and focused on their future. Some of the predictions were frightening! The pendulum might point at-DEATH, or UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS. Nicole encouraged Heather to host a fortune-teller booth at the upcoming Halloween carnival at school. Miss Upton, Heather''s sixth-grade teacher, was immediately supportive of the idea. In fact, Miss Upton seemed to be trying to get closer to Heather. Heather certainly did not want to be a teacher''s pet! Everything seemed to come together the day of the carnival. The pendulum''s predictions seemed to be coming true! At the same time, she was hearing weird noises in her Uncle''s house. While Heather began to learn more about the history of the house, she also began to remember more about the day that she had followed some older kids out to the sand pits-the day that Antol had drowned. Might all of these things be somehow connected?

CHILDISH GAMES ... GRISLY CONSEQUENCESAmanda was shocked and mystified when Alex apparently committed suicide. How could he have slashed his wrists in the bathtub and then slit his own throat? And why did the police not recognize that a rope around his hands had been removed? Young, sensitive Haley had seen the rope and the "Other", but kept it to herself. When her 15-year old sister Cassie led the older kids to try to contact Alex through a séance, an apparition looking exactly like Haley suddenly appeared. The Other was jumping a red striped rope and singing. The same jump rope that had been around Alex's hands?Cassie unfortunately agreed to an illicit rendezvous with Shawn at midnight in the woods. When Cassie and Shawn did not return, Haley was suspicious and frightened. You see, the Other had appeared again-jumping rope and singing its mournful song.Rachel had also seen the apparition and became concerned that something deadly and evil was stalking the family. But, who would believe her? Surely, the events that followed Alex's death so closely could not be just coincidence. What had really happened to Alex in the bathtub? Haley was too scared to talk. Scared of seeing the Other again ... scared of feeling the jump rope tighten around her own fragile throat ...

Amy and Jodi hardly remembered their father who lived and worked in a carnival, but now they were going to live with him. Their lives were soon disrupted by two mysterious murders that were somehow related to the history of the House of Illusions.

Ellen brought her "Aladdin's Lamp" home from a garage sale. Violence was suddenly a part of their lives. Trouble seemed to follow even after moving to a different town, and after each incident there was a strange smell of smoke in the air.

Winifred had always blamed Daniel for the disappearance of her fifteen year-old daughter Charlene. No body had been found. She had been terribly lonely since the loss, and kept Charlene’s room in the big house just the way she had left it. For twenty-six years, Daniel had been constantly tormented by the death of Charlene, his cousin and his sweetheart. He knew things about Charlene that no one else ever knew. Daniel was restless, and could not stay with his family, even though he loved them. After starting yet another relationship, he suggested that new wife Ronna and the three kids go to California to live with Winifred. Ronna felt that she had no other choice. Upon arriving, it quickly became apparent that Winifred was not as friendly as she had seemed in her letters. She was especially cold towards Kim, Ronna’s daughter from a previous relationship. Ten-year old Kevin explored the huge old barn, then struck up a friendship with Carl, a boy from a neighboring house. Don't go near the river, his aunt had said. But Kevin was bored and not inclined to listen. Kevin and Carl soon decided to go swimming. Their discovery of something trapped beneath the river bank launched a chain of events they could not hope to understand. Kevin tried to explain what had happened, but his family simply could not believe him. Within a few short days, it was apparent that lives were endangered—by something dark and evil, caught in the shadow worlds between life and death. Something seeking revenge …

Ten-year-old son Timmy had already missed the opportunities to go to summer camp with one of his buddies. When family acquaintance Dan offered to take Timmy to the mountains for two weeks for hiking, camping, and taking pictures of wildlife, his parents thought that was a great idea. Lots of fun, a perfect vacation. Timmy tried to argue against the trip, as he had never felt really comfortable around Dan. However, his parents won the argument and off he went. The closer they got to the cabin, the less friendly Mr. Walker''s smile became. The scarier the sound of his voice. After driving all day, Dan and Timmy arrived at a remote cabin. But Timmy was very, very, drowsy, and had some very strange dreams that first night. He awoke in the morning surprised to find that he was not the only child in the cabin. Thirteen-year-old Rex, eight-year-old Dale, seven-year-old Joey, and even five-year-old Susie shared bunkbeds in a common room. He quickly sensed their dread, felt their terror, and heard their screams in the night. Over the next few days, "Uncle" Dan seemed to change personality from one minute to the next. And he was constantly telling the children that they should strive to please "Little Mother". If they made Little Mother happy, perhaps he would introduce them to her. In fact, Dale was chosen for the introduction one evening. But, the next morning Dale was nowhere to be found. Timmy slowly became aware that Dan had no intention of keeping his promises to Timmy''s parents . . . Then he peeked through the keyhole of the forbidden locked door and saw the blood-curling horror that awaited him. He began to make plans, although he had little hope of escaping the deadly welcome of their Home Sweet Home . . .

Heather was young and beautiful, but had ongoing man trouble. She decided to allow her older sister to care for her two daughters from a previous marriage. As a parting gift, Heather gave the girls a beautiful doll . . . Zenoa. The doll, with those penetrating brown eyes, was a reminder of a mother's love-wasn't it? The doll that seemed to have motives of its own . . . and would persist for decades to come. The doll that surprised and overpowered those no longer useful to her. In the dark the deadly doll could pass for … a human. But it sought power to seal the transformation. It needed the legitimacy that came from home ownership. The current owners should beware. This is the 5th of five "evil doll" books from Ruby Jean.

In the house that had been in his family for generations, Grand-dad had raised sisters Laura and Fawn after their parents were killed in an auto accident. Believing that her beautiful older sister Laura was stealing her true love, Fawn left home at age nineteen. Over the next eighteen years, Fawn's unsuccessful marriage resulted in two kids-Andy, eleven, and eight year-old Susan. Fawn had stayed away all these years, but felt obligated to return when Grand-dad passed away. It turned out that Laura had also married and had three girls, Jill, Erin and Kara, before her husband was killed in a boating accident. The kids, especially Susan and Kara, hit it off immediately. While out exploring, Andy, Susan and Kara found an interesting old trunk in the trash-pile, found a way to pry it open, and discovered inside it a gorgeous old French walking doll. Laura soon worked out that the found doll, bearing the nametag 'Millicent', was a virtual twin to Victoria, the antique doll that was the most valued part of the doll collection at the Antique Village that she managed. Why had Grand-dad insisted that such a valuable doll be discarded? Laura decided to take Millicent to the Antique Village, but then changed her mind and was driving back home when she collided with a truck and ran off the road. Laura survived, but was left in a deep coma. The policeman returned Millicent to the family at The Mansion, as locals called the house. Roger Hamilton, the driver of the truck that Laura had hit, was bothered by what he had seen prior to the accident, and tried to get close to the family to warn them. The family, especially Erin and Martha, who had been the housekeeper for decades, began to uncover parts of the history of the house and the dolls. Victoria, Grand-Dads sister, had died during a fall from the third-floor balcony. That explained why a gate was in place to prevent anyone from going to the third floor. First Erin, then Martha were killed. Could the doll Millicent somehow have been responsible for the deaths? Martha had known. Roger knew and wanted to help avoid further tragedy. And Laura, in a coma, began to have out-of-body experiences that showed her the REAL family history. Was Millicent out to kill the entire family?