|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Susan Ryker, an artist and teacher, is at the airport to pick up a fellow colleague. A man, bleeding, staggers from the men's room and collapses against her. As she glances over the crowd her eyes meet with those of a man who she doesn't realize is the assassin. She is unable to identify the assassin of the Canadian Minister of Finance. Under pressure from the Canadian Solicitor General's office, the FBI, and the police of her small town of Booker Bend, Oregon, she eventualy sketches a portrait of the assassin as she saw him. She becomes the target of the assassin who must eliminate any witness to his act. After a number of attempts on Susan's life, the FBI and local police try to persuade her o enter the Witness Protection Program. This means that she must never see her beloved daughter, Beth, now in college in California, and her best friend, Jan; that she must abandon her life as she knows it. The only person sympathetic to her position is Detective Gene Udell. Susan is taken to a supposedly safe house, but the assassin who they now know as "Jack", manages to locate her. The house explodes, killing all of her protectors. Susan, having no confidence in the police's ability to protect her, flees into the mountains where she is tracked by the assassin. She doesn't realize Jack has planted a homing device in her cigarette case. In the mountains she encounters a stray Great Dane who she names Kenzie. They adopt each other and form a lasting bond with each other. Susan reaches a point when she decides to turn the tables on Jack and become the pursuer instead of the victim. She returns to Booker Bend, and instigates a series of forays against Jack. When he is unable to locate Susan to eliminate her, and when he realizes what she is doing, he changes his focus and leaves for California to kill Beth. Susan realizes what he is doing and races to Beth to circumvent Jack. There is a race against time and a final confrontation with a surprising ending. This is a well told story with suspense sustained throughout. The action is riveting. The attempts by the assassin to kill Susan are compelling. Susan's travail in the mountains is full of terror. The ullimate reversal of the roles of Susan and Jack is ingenious and realistic. The relationship between mother and daughter, and between best friends is well developed. The Great Dane, Kenzie,is a delightful addition to the story. In addition to the suspense there is a touch of romance which adds to the story. This is one of the most enjoyable and compelling books I have read in a long time.
Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer, September 2003
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
