"Complex and Fast-Paced Suspense"

The husband and wife FBI team of Savich and Sherlock are coming down from the high of apprehending a killer of young children when they learn that Lily Savich Frasier is in the hospital. They arrive in Hemlock Bay, California only to conclude that Lily's husband and father-in-law are trying to drive her out of her mind so that she will commit suicide.

With her brother and his wife at her side, Lily faces down the Frasiers before returning to Washington DC with the eight valuable paintings she inherited from her grandmother, an internationally acclaimed artist. When she shows the pictures to art broker Simon Russo, Lily learns four are forgeries. Simon and Lily travel to Hemlock Bay to confront her in-laws and the local art curator about the scam perpetrated against her. In the meantime romantic sparks fly between Simon and Lily.

Catherine Coulter has written another superb contemporary suspense novel with just enough romance to make both genres quite pleased with the tale. Savich and Sherlock play critical and prominent roles, but the spotlight shines on Lily and Simon, two strong minded individuals teaming up to insure justice is served. The complex story line moves forward rather quickly as Ms. Coulter has outdone even her usual high quality work with this sure shot best seller.

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted June 15, 2001

Summary

After five consecutive New York Times-bestselling FBI novels, Catherine Coulter is a major player in contemporary suspense. "Her suspense thrillers seem to get better and better," exclaims the Midwest Review of Books. Hemlock Bay continues the streak. FBI Agent Dillon Savich is on a challenging case involving the kidnapping of two teenage boys, when trouble boils up in his personal life. His younger sister, Lily, has crashed her Explorer into a redwood in California's Hemlock Bay. Is it another suicide attempt, the second since the loss of her young daughter some seven months before? Savich and his wife and fellow agent, Lacey Sherlock, discover that four of Lily's paintings-left to her by their very famous grandmother, artist Sarah Elliott, and now worth millions-are at the heart of an intricate conspiracy. Lily and art broker Simon Russo are thrust into ever-widening circles of danger that radiate from a notorious collector's locked room.

Dillon Savich and his sister, Lily, both have to face their worst fears to survive.