Gone by Lisa Gardner (Bantam, $25, 0553804316, January 31)
Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag (Bantam, $26, 0553801988, March 21)
The Delilah Complex by M. J. Rose (Mira, $6.99 mass market, 0778322157, January)
---
Last week I broke an ankle bone in Tunisia. This week I'm wearing "the
big black boot," popping pain meds, and am housebound. In between
whining for snacks, what's one to do? Read thrillers, of course. I
started with Gone by the always-reliable Lisa Gardner. It
begins on a rainy night on the Oregon coast with the discovery of an
abandoned car with engine running, passenger door open and a purse
still on the seat. The owner of the car is Rainie Connor, a woman with
a troubled past, who has appeared in previous novels by Gardner. Her
recently estranged husband, former FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, is
certain his wife has been abducted. The local police are initially
skeptical, until a ransom note is received. The novel cuts back and
forth between Rainie's struggles to keep herself (and a child later
kidnapped) alive and the sometimes contentious team attempting to find
her and the boy. Edge-of-your-seat (or sofa) suspense and a
claustrophobic atmosphere of constant rain combine to make a compelling
read.
---
Tami Hoag used to write really good romance novels, then became one of
the first romance authors to try suspense, and now writes really good
thrillers. Prior Bad Acts is one of her best, and brings back Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska from Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust.
When Minneapolis judge Carey Moore is brutally mugged after her
controversial ruling on an accused serial killer, they are called on to
protect her, and do so reluctantly--they don't agree with her decision,
decrying her liberal viewpoint. But the accused escapes from jail, the
judge is kidnapped and the plot twists begin. Throw in a cop who
believes justice has been thwarted, the troubled stepson of one of the
murder victims and the judge's husband who is leading a sleazy double
life, and you have the proverbial page-turner, with a little romance to
leaven the drama.
---
The Delilah Complex is M. J. Rose's sixth novel, and broke
through my jet-lagged muzzy brain with a snap. Edgy sex has a way of
doing that. Members of a women's very exclusive club, the Scarlet
Society, come to sex therapist Dr. Morgan Snow for counseling after one
of their male recruits has gone missing and a photograph of his
lifeless body turns up in the Times. The club enlists men for
the purpose of domination, and needless to say, secrecy is an issue for
them, even as the body count and matching photos start to grow in
number. Complicating Dr. Snow's therapy sessions and sleuthing is
handsome detective Noah Jordain, with whom she has a bit of history.
She also has a thirteen-year-old daughter, can't cook, loves to garden
on her balcony and is happily more dimensional than most protagonists
of this genre. The story is suspenseful, surprising, shivery without
being gory and--did I mention this?--sexy.--Marilyn Dahl
Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag (Bantam, $26, 0553801988, March 21)
The Delilah Complex by M. J. Rose (Mira, $6.99 mass market, 0778322157, January)
---
Last week I broke an ankle bone in Tunisia. This week I'm wearing "the
big black boot," popping pain meds, and am housebound. In between
whining for snacks, what's one to do? Read thrillers, of course. I
started with Gone by the always-reliable Lisa Gardner. It
begins on a rainy night on the Oregon coast with the discovery of an
abandoned car with engine running, passenger door open and a purse
still on the seat. The owner of the car is Rainie Connor, a woman with
a troubled past, who has appeared in previous novels by Gardner. Her
recently estranged husband, former FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, is
certain his wife has been abducted. The local police are initially
skeptical, until a ransom note is received. The novel cuts back and
forth between Rainie's struggles to keep herself (and a child later
kidnapped) alive and the sometimes contentious team attempting to find
her and the boy. Edge-of-your-seat (or sofa) suspense and a
claustrophobic atmosphere of constant rain combine to make a compelling
read.---
Tami Hoag used to write really good romance novels, then became one of
the first romance authors to try suspense, and now writes really good
thrillers. Prior Bad Acts is one of her best, and brings back Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska from Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust.
When Minneapolis judge Carey Moore is brutally mugged after her
controversial ruling on an accused serial killer, they are called on to
protect her, and do so reluctantly--they don't agree with her decision,
decrying her liberal viewpoint. But the accused escapes from jail, the
judge is kidnapped and the plot twists begin. Throw in a cop who
believes justice has been thwarted, the troubled stepson of one of the
murder victims and the judge's husband who is leading a sleazy double
life, and you have the proverbial page-turner, with a little romance to
leaven the drama.---
The Delilah Complex is M. J. Rose's sixth novel, and broke
through my jet-lagged muzzy brain with a snap. Edgy sex has a way of
doing that. Members of a women's very exclusive club, the Scarlet
Society, come to sex therapist Dr. Morgan Snow for counseling after one
of their male recruits has gone missing and a photograph of his
lifeless body turns up in the Times. The club enlists men for
the purpose of domination, and needless to say, secrecy is an issue for
them, even as the body count and matching photos start to grow in
number. Complicating Dr. Snow's therapy sessions and sleuthing is
handsome detective Noah Jordain, with whom she has a bit of history.
She also has a thirteen-year-old daughter, can't cook, loves to garden
on her balcony and is happily more dimensional than most protagonists
of this genre. The story is suspenseful, surprising, shivery without
being gory and--did I mention this?--sexy.--Marilyn Dahl