DEAD HEAT

Author: Jacey Ford ISBN: 0425204618 3/2006 SUSPENSE Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATION

Tracking a bank president's fiancee takes a stunning turn when the man suddenly dies—and the woman Daphne is following turns to her for help. She wants Daphne to prove that his apparent suicide was really murder. What Daphne uncovers is the link between an influential Saudi businessman and a vengeful biochemist prepared to unleash a fatal plot against America's top CEOs. Fortunately, Daphne finds an ally—and an explosively sexy new lover—in ex-Navy SEAL Sam Bryson. Unfortunately, Sam has his own surprises—like that four-letter word Daphne's learned never to trust again. Now, with a relationship and an investigation in dead heat, Daphne and Sam are plunged into a whirlpool of extreme passion and dangerous power that could put more than a woman's heart at risk.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Jacey Ford is back in fine form with her third Partners in Crime novel. DEAD HEAT is a fantastic suspense roller coaster with a heroine you can really understand.

Daphne Donovan is a former FBI agent who left the Bureau after 9/11. She feels responsible for the disaster, because she couldn't get the higher-ups to listen to her about her research into one of the terrorists. She knows she could have prevented them from succeeding. She's defensive and world-weary. Deciding she doesn't want responsibility again, she's wasting her time away as a private investigator, trailing cheating spouses and the like.

Her latest assignment leads her to Florida, with another job chasing a possibly cheating girlfriend. What she finds there is a much more complicated situation. She also manages to acquire a new lover so outrageous in his self-confidence that she can't push him away. A retired Navy SEAL, Sam Bryson can't help but understand what she's been through. He's also got the skills to help her crack another case of terrorism that she's stumbled onto.

I loved DEAD HEAT. Make sure you pick it up, and the two previous books, DANGEROUS CURVES and I SPY, as well. The books don't need to be read in order.

Heather Hiestand