Synopsis
One by one, the girls disappear from their beds at night. Each one is pretty, with long dark hair. And each one is found brutally murdered.
Special Agent Steven Thatcher has sworn to find the serial killer preying on this small town. As the investigation pulls him one way, his family pulls him in another. A widower haunted by loss, he now worries about his son Brad slipping away. But there's a bright light in his life: his son's teacher, Jenna Marshall, has reached out to help. She's beautiful, kind, and considerate--and slowly, tentatively, she and Steven are starting to fall in love. But both have been hurt before--badly. And as the two try to find the courage to bare their souls, a murderer who has slain many looks for the real treasure he craves. He sets his traps. And waits. For Jenna...
Publishers Weekly
Offering heart-racing thrills, both in the bedroom and the forensics lab, this second romantic intrigue from Rose (Don't Tell) showcases her growing talent. Rose has created complex, realistic characters in high school teacher Jenna Marshall and Special Agent Steven Thatcher, whose eldest son, Brad, is in Jenna's class. Though Steven, a widower, is in the midst of a search for a serial killer who targets cheerleaders in their small North Carolina town, he takes time to visit Jenna when she calls to tell him that Brad, who used to be a high achiever, is flunking out of chemistry. When they meet, their own chemistry takes over and they find themselves falling in love, despite their troubled romantic pasts and the fact that Jenna may be next on the killer's list. Rose populates her novel with vivid characters-like Steven's seven-year-old son Nicky, who was a character in Rose's previous novel-and stokes the tension to a fever pitch, throwing in shocking twists each time the story threatens to settle into predictability. Though some of Steven and Jenna's lovers' quarrels deteriorate into melodrama, readers will hardly notice as they rush to the novel's thrilling conclusion. (Feb.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.