Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Love Me To Death-Allison Brennan

Love Me To Death
Allison Brennan
Ballantine, Dec 28 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780345520395

Six years ago, Lucy Kincaid met a seemingly nice man on-line. When they finally met in person, he proved to be a psychopath. He attacked her, but she survived while her molester died.

Since the assault, Lucy dreams of becoming an undercover FBI agent. In the meantime in DC waiting for the feds to call, she works obsessively as a volunteer for Women and Children First! Her role is to lure web predators and other sex offenders into traps. However, Lucy becomes concerned with her endeavor when she realizes several of those she busted have been executed since leaving prison. A friend and business cohort of Lucy’s concerned brothers, private investigator Sean Rogan, tries to keep her safe. They are attracted to one another, but are hesitant to act on their feelings. Meanwhile Lucy probes the connections that seem chaotic, but at the same time the FBI is scrutinizing her actions as she is more than just a person of interest in what is believed a serial killer’s vendetta.

Love me to death is a taut “FBI” romantic suspense thriller starring family members from Sudden Death and Cutting Edge. The story line is fast-paced but driven by obsessed Lucy who is stunned to realize someone is following up on her efforts to capture sex predators by killing the psychopaths. Although purposely serpentine with surprising but fun chaotic misdirection and red herrings that confuse the heroine (and readers), this approach enhances the investigation that Lucy and Sean conduct. There are also a ton of support characters who can overwhelm the reader at times trying to remember who’s who, but this also adds to the fog of a convoluted inquiry as Allison Brennan provides a tense twisting thriller.

Harriet Klausner

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