"Powerful political romantic suspense"

Mary Catherine "Riley" O'Brien loves her father Senator Carter O'Brien. Just as important is he fact that she believes in him and actively supports his front running campaign for the presidency. Currently Riley provides a speech at an Atlanta abortion clinic. Atlanta Journal- Constitution homicide reporter Jacob "Jake" Mahoney covers Riley's stop because his paper's political reporter is "ill". After she finishes her speech, Riley walks to her friend's car, but mistakenly tries to enter Jake's similar-looking vehicle. The car explodes and Jake saves Riley's life.

Not long afterward Riley goes to the home of Chief of Police Douglas Mitchell where she runs into Jake who is on an investigation. They find Douglas dead, an apparent suicide victim. Jake and Riley work together to learn the truth even as the pair falls in love. If they survive their quest, which is turning into one of justice for an unfortunate individual, will Jake realize Riley is much deeper than his hollow me-only ex-wife?

Though coincidence is overused and the front-runner and his family refuse Secret Service protection will jar readers, DARK OF NIGHT is a powerful political romantic suspense tale. The attraction between the lead couple is so intense that the audience will need asbestos gloves to keep from burning a finger. Jake and Riley make the story line move forward as the audience will like both of them and hope they come through the ordeal to insure justice occurs even at the cost of an almost First Family.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted February 7, 2002

Summary

When she was only eight years old, Riley O'Brien survived the unimaginable: the deaths of her mother and sister. As a result she vowed never to desert her father, a brilliant young congressman whose star was on the rise. Now, twenty- one years later, after trading her dreams of a normal life for his ambitions, Riley stands by her father's side as he makes a bid for the presidency. Growing up in the political spotlight, she has become an expert at hiding her feelings behind the surface of her regal beauty. But her defenses are about to be shattered.

Investigative reporter Jake Mahoney resents wasting his time covering an ice princess at a presidential campaign rally. But when a car bomb throws him--literally--on top of the candidate's daughter, Jake quickly realizes that Riley O'Brien is pure fire. No one has ever gotten under his skin like this before. Their attraction is instant, and possibly fatal, as dangerous secrets from the past explode into the present, destroying one life after another in a nightmare of blind ambition...