Contract killer falls in love with a surgeon. Dr. Rennie Newton was the forewoman of the jury that acquitted Ricky Lozada of a murder charge-and he shows his undying gratitude by killing her distinguished colleague Dr. Lee Howell, knowing that Rennie will be next in line as Chief of Surgery at Fort Worth hospital. Lozada is a cold-blooded psychopath whose homicidal inclinations showed up early: he once attempted to suffocate his retarded brother by stuffing a foam baseball into his mouth. A few more murderous experiments convinced him he'd found his calling, though he runs a TV repair business as a cover. Enter Wick Threadgill, the FWPD cop who's obsessed with bringing his brother Joe's killer-Lozada-to justice. Wick has been placed on indefinite leave, owing to his explosive temper and anxiety disorder, but he still stalks Lozada, who's now stalking Rennie (when he's not collecting scorpions and shaving all his body hair). Curious about the preternaturally calm, cool, and collected surgeon, Wick finds out that this isn't the first time she's been the object of obsessive lust. In fact, she used to be famous as a local Lolita who seduced her father's business partner (her father shot him). As Lozada increases his unwanted attention on Rennie, Wick observes her ever more closely, noting her daredevil equestrian skills and other risk-taking behavior. What does it all mean? There's not much time to figure it out as the two men spy on each other, Wick bribes a hooker for information about Lozada, then finds the hooker in his motel room, dead, and is himself stabbed with a screwdriver as he looks at the body. Wick is rushed to the hospital, where he survives (barely) thanks to Rennie's skill, and a capably constructed climax ties all up, leaving Wick and Rennie free to trade romantic banter over platefuls of pancakes. Pretty good suspenser from the hugely popular Brown (Envy, 2001, etc.).

Dr. Rennie Newton thought she was doing the right thing when she voted to acquit contract killer Ricky Lozada while serving on a jury. After all, the prosecution had not proved its case. But when Lozada is released, he begins calling her and leaving her flowers. When a rival doctor at Rennie's hospital is murdered, suspicion falls on Rennie, and the police suspect she has a connection to Lozada. Detective Wick Threadgill, who has deeply personal reasons to hate Lozada, begins to investigate Rennie. Though he discovers surprising information about her past, he does not believe that she is in league with Lozada. When he approaches Rennie to garner information, Wick is surprised to find himself attracted to her, despite the fact that she rebuffs his advances. Rennie battles both her growing attraction to Wick and the fear that Lozada may have been behind the death of her colleague. Lozada, who hates Wick as much as Wick hates him, is angered by Wick's attentiveness to Rennie and steps up his plans to remove Wick from the picture permanently and to make Ronnie his. This novel delivers a menacing villain and page-turning suspense. --Kristine Huntley

An anonymous gift of roses shows up inside the locked house of surgeon Rennie Newton, signaling the unraveling of her carefully ordered existence. The murder of a close colleague further plunges her into even more difficulties when she becomes the prime suspect of the Fort Worth PD. She forms an uneasy alliance with detective Wick Threadgill, a homicide investigator on indefinite leave from the department, who comes back to solve the case and fall in love with her. Unfortunately, she looks guilty. Brown ventures into pretty dark territory here: the workings of a sociopath's mind. The suspense and the sexual tension build and build, leaving the listener breathless and willing to forgive the rather bloated prose. Tom Wopat has his Texas accents down, but don't expect any sense of place or character development in the author's latest best seller-this one is totally plot driven. An enjoyable story, but the listener will forget it as soon as the last tape is complete. Mind candy for the masses; libraries should purchase accordingly.-Barbara A. Perkins, Irving P.L., TX (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Brown's latest thriller pits the infamous Ricky Lozada, an unscrupulous killer for hire, against Wick Threadgill, a wily, disgruntled detective on leave from the force. Threadgill's former partner, Oren Wesley, lures him back with the news that Lozada-against whom Threadgill has a personal vendetta-has murdered a respected doctor. The author ups the stakes by giving Threadgill and the killer the same love interest: Dr. Rennie Newton, a no-nonsense surgeon who unwittingly attracts Lozada's obsessive attention while serving on a jury that acquits him for murder. Newton's secret past raises doubts about where exactly her loyalties lie, and Brown deftly builds suspense around the romantic aspect of her story. She also scores points for her insight into the sociopath's mind, despite a rather facile explanation of how he went bad. (Not everyone with a handicapped younger sibling who gets all the parents' attention ends up a ruthless killer.) Similarly, the underlying reason for Dr. Newton's startling transformation from a young adult who lived on the wild side to a cold, controlled professional is too pat. Worst of all, Brown's prose seems aimed at an audience of eighth-graders, padded throughout with a slew of adjectives, useless descriptions and catch phrases ("Is that your final answer?"). But once things get rolling, the plot crackles with tension moving toward the final showdown between Lozada and Wick. Brown fans will not be disappointed. (Oct. 8) Forecast: Brown is a regular on bestseller lists, and a huge ad campaign-print, TV and radio-pretty much guarantees a repeat performance. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved