Cindy Dees: Target

Target

Cindy Dees

Silhouette Bombshell, May 2005, $4.99, 304 pp.

ISBN: 0373513569

Diana Lockworth is a conspiracy theorist working for the Feds seeking out the real terrorist threats from the myths. She catches someone trying to enter her home computer, but he escapes after a brawl between them. The cops not only fail to take her seriously, they become concerned when they see her wall of pictures of President-elect Gabe Monihan. Diana explains to the cynical cops that she has been following him ever since the failed suicide bomber tried to kill him just before the election. Not long afterward she gets a cryptic message from the Delphi of Oracle insisting that a viable threat to kill Gabe exists.

Diana begins making inquiries as she tries to learn four of the five Ws (she knows why) to insure the safety of the next president. However, someone knows that she is on to them and plans to kill her first. As she risks her life to keep Gave alive, she is attracted to him; he reciprocates, but the mission comes first.

This fast-paced, action-packed political thriller hooks the audience from the moment that the intruder attacks Diana in her home and never lets up until the final attempt to kill Gabe occurs. Diana is an interesting bureaucrat chasing down conspiracies to see if any might lead to terrorist action. Probably for the first time in his political career Gabe plays second fiddle to the courageous Athena Academy graduate. Cindy Dees provides a tense cat and mouse suspenseful novel.

Harriet Klausner