"Third installment of ongoing series."

Three men, thrown together by fate, plan a deadly game of revenge: Each one will kill three people on another man's list. Now, after a string of murders, one of the players himself is dead and another in prison for life. The third man, Archer Lowell, just wants to be left alone after being released from jail and thinks that surely no one will know he never fulfilled his part of the bargain. But then a menacing stranger arrives and forces him to get back in the game.

FBI agents Will Fletcher and Miranda Cahill are more familiar than they want to be with the twisted scenario and set out to make sure Archer doesn't succeed, yet he seems to always be one step ahead of them. Worse yet, it's very possible that Miranda herself is on the hit list -- not to mention the fact that she and Will are former lovers and she's determined not to become involved with him again, even though the case has them working together nearly 24/7.

Meanwhile, another FBI operation is underway to rescue a kidnapped child from a cult, and the two cases eventually collide with unexpected and violent results.

This is the latest in an ongoing series by Ms. Stewart and is the weakest entry, in my opinion. Combining two intense stories diluted both of them and threw too many characters into the mix. There was also a lot of back-story -- some obviously necessary for new readers unfamiliar with the premise, but some of which was distracting and slowed down the action. I also felt there were too many villains in this book instead of one fully developed, truly threatening presence, as in the previous stories.

Readers will enjoy seeing familiar characters from earlier books again, and there is a payoff for those who have followed "the game" -- but this intriguing idea has lost some steam along the way. The ending of this book hints at another sequel, which I hope will be back to Ms. Stewart's usual high quality.

Reviewed by Lenore Howard
Posted July 10, 2004

She was an agent with killer connections...

Summary

Three devious prisoners vow murderous revenge. Now the third is free.

FBI Special Agent Miranda Cahill has always played by the rules: always maintain a respectful professionalism, and never mix business with pleasure. Except when it comes to fellow agent Will Fletcher. Their on-again, off-again relationship has left painful scars even he has never seen. Now, a series of murders has the two agents racing to outwit a killer before he can strike again. Miranda and Will know that lives depend on identifying intended victims and tracking them down before the killer does. But as they begin to unravel this homicidal agenda, it becomes clear that Miranda may be the last and final target in a twisted game. With the clock ticking, time is running out on a killer who is determined to cross Miranda's name off his hit list . . . permanently.