WHITE HEAT

Author: Brenda Novak ISBN: 9780778327950 8/2010 SUSPENSE Publisher: MIRA

PARADISE? IN NAME ONLY… Nate Ferrentino and Rachel Jessop are operatives for Department 6, a private security company, and they’re going undercover to expose a new and dangerous cult. This group has taken up residence in the Arizona desert, in a ghost town called Paradise. Members worship at the feet—and in the bed—of its charismatic leader, Ethan Wycliff. On his orders, they tried to stone a woman to death. And they’re implicated in the disappearance of a teenage girl. To expose the Church of the Covenant, with its arcane rituals and debauched practices, Nate and Rachel must pretend to be married. That’s the only way they can get in—but being Nate’s “wife” is the last thing Rachel wants. She and Nate have a one-night history that’s just an embarrassment to her now. But they don’t have a choice. Wycliff has to be stopped.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I'm hooked. Completely hooked! Brenda Novak's new Dept. 6 Hired Gun series opens with a bang! I've got to tell you, I was bummed when I turned the last page of WHITE HEAT. It was that good!

This is the perfect summer read. I wish I had read it at the beach, with the sound of sea-lapping shore in the background. It would have ramped up the heat a notch—not that the story needed any help; I just can't resist beach reading! Anyhow, this first installment shows inside the world of a mind-boggling cult. The pair assigned to infiltrate the group are Nate and Rachel, who just so happen to have a bit of history between them. Trying to uncover the truth behind the cult before anyone else is harmed proves difficult enough for the two, but it doesn't seem to be as hard as dealing with the chemistry between them!

Strong writing, fast-paced action, and characters who are wonderfully likeable make WHITE HEAT a must-read. I loved it, and I'm looking forward to the next book in this series, BODY HEAT, due out in September. Bravo!

Kay James