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Wow! Where has Sandra Brown been all my reading life? In 2008, she was named Thriller Master by the International Thriller Writer’s Association, and, after reading her latest novel, Lethal, I couldn’t agree more. Lethal is the first romantic thriller in a very long time that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. The suspense is so—well—lethal that I almost chewed my nails to the quick before the end.
Two years ago, Honor Gillette’s police officer husband, Eddie, died in a traffic accident, leaving her alone to raise their four-year-old daughter, Emily. Content to allow her husband’s father and friends to pretty much take care of things for her, she fell into a kind of complacency. That changes when Emily finds a sick man lying on their lawn. When Honor rushes out to help him, he sticks a gun in her side and tells her that if she does exactly as he says, she and her daughter will remain unharmed.
Lee Coburn left seven men brutally murdered down at the docks where he worked. Now he’s on the run, and he needs to find what Honor’s husband hid before his death—something extremely valuable that places Honor and Emily in grave danger. No one can be trusted, not even Eddie’s father, Stan, an ex-Marine—and especially not the police.
Lee and Honor aren’t the only ones looking for Eddie’s secret. A crime boss known as The Bookkeeper will not stop until it’s uncovered and everyone associated with it is dead.
Talk about being stuck to a book like glue! I couldn’t even pull myself away from Lethal long enough to get some sleep. The suspense is so acute that it was almost painful enough to cause me to tug at my hair with both hands (if I could have let go of the book long enough to do so). I finished this nearly 500-page crime thriller within hours.
Honor Gillette is one of the most believable heroines that I’ve ever come across in my reading history. She’s entirely feminine, yet she’s tough enough not to fly into hysterics in the face of danger. She’s also not stupid, which is such a refreshing change of pace for romantic suspense.
Lee Coburn is full of mystery and surprises, and he’s totally and completely male, which makes him incredibly attractive as a hero. It’s so much fun to watch this tough guy trying not to be effected by a four-year-old’s innocent trust in him.
Filled with heartfelt drama, nail-biting suspense, and thrills on top of thrills, Lethal will leave you gasping for breath at every turn of the page. I can’t wait to go back and dig into author Sandra Brown’s backlist.
