COLD AS ICE

Author: Anne Stuart ISBN: 0778323560 11/2006 SUSPENSE Publisher: MIRA

The job was supposed to be dead easy—hand-deliver some legal papers to billionaire philanthropist Harry Van Dorn's extravagant yacht, get his signature and be done. But Manhattan lawyer Genevieve Spenser soon realizes she's in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that the publicly benevolent playboy has a sick, vicious side. As he tries to make her his plaything for the evening, eager to use and abuse her until he discards her with the rest of his victims, Genevieve must keep her wits if she intends to survive the night. But there's someone else on the ship who knows the true depths of Van Dorn's evil. Peter Jensen is far more than the unassuming personal assistant he pretends to be—he's a secret operative who will stop at nothing to ensure Harry's deadly Rule of Seven terror campaign dies with him. But Genevieve's presence has thrown a wrench into his plans, and now he must decide whether to risk his mission to keep her alive, or allow her to become collateral damage....

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Peter Jensen is the stuff wet dreams are made of.

The would-be hero of Ms. Stuart's dark, moody COLD AS ICE is a walking cloud of testosterone. I wasn't sure Jensen could compare to BLACK ICE's (this story's prequel) hero, Bastien Toussaint. That bad boy was extraordinary.

Jensen could. He did.

In COLD AS ICE (as in BLACK ICE), Ms. Stuart gives readers a dangerous, emotionless male lead who becomes almost heroic (and definitely more human) by the end of the story.

Jensen is a ruthless, icy cold operative in The Committee, a super secret organization dedicated to keeping bad things from happening worldwide. Trouble is, The Committee can be just as ruthless as the terrorists the group is trying to destroy. Innocents caught in the cross-fire are also eliminated for the greater good.

Ms. Stuart delivers some superb characterizations in COLD AS ICE. Jensen and his heroine, innocent Genevieve Spenser, are both beautifully sketched. In the beginning of COLD AS ICE, these two complicated—and flawed—characters are not exactly admirable or likeable. But throughout the story Ms. Stuart cleverly weaves past events into the text that shaped their lives. And with her skillful pen, Ms. Stuart makes this pair more—much more.

In addition, the evil, utterly charming villain, Harry Van Dorn, is chillingly portrayed. Good ole boy Harry is one of the best bad guys I've read in many a day. These three—Jensen, Genevieve and Harry—are the heart and soul of the character-driven COLD AS ICE.

Slick, fast moving, thrilling and often disturbing with a deliciously sexy romance between an unlikely pair, this engrossing tale is brilliantly executed.

COLD AS ICE is dazzling.

Debbie Jett