"A fine reading experience"

Attorney Lindsey Paxton was the best trial lawyer around, but the Hudson case haunts her as she got him off, but he raped and killed a woman just after he obtained his freedom. Lindsey leaves DC for Manhattan and stops practicing law to join the FBI.

When her father is diagnosed with cancer, Lindsey returns home hoping to persuade her dad's ex-junior partner consultant Mark Reeves to take over the firm. Mark refuses, but feels for the obviously shook up Lindsey. He agrees to mentor her until she can run the firm. He also accepts being first chair if she assists him on defending Williams, a case that seems eerily identical to that of Hudson as the female victims in both were raped before dying and all look like Lindsey.

This engaging legal thriller romance hooks the audience from the moment Lindsey comes home to a case that is identical to the one that had her give up her law practice. Lindsey's ﷯﷯﷯relationship﷯﷯﷯ with Mark and her somewhat estranged father (due to her refusal to practice law) adds a humanizing element to the fast-paced tale. Although the villain and his reasoning seems out of left field, sub-genre readers will appreciate the instincts of the lead couple as they fall in love while defending a client, and seeking the identity of the unknown killer who eventually will come for Lindsey if not stopped.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 15, 2004