Joan Johnston, A Stranger's Game

A Stranger's Game

Joan Johnston

Pocket, Mar 2008, $25.00

ISBN 9780743454384

Ten years ago Merle Raye Finkel was convicted of killing her abusive father Austin police detective Big Mike; something she dreamed of doing many times when he assaulted her or her stepmother or flushed her live turtle down the toilet to punish her, but she never did. When she was freed from an Austin youth facility, she changed her name to Grace Caldwell and began a quest to uncover the identity of the true killer.

Her clues begin to point towards FBI Assistant Special Agent Vincent Harkness, whose current assignment is security for the president's visit to the University of Texas at Austin. Grace meets FBI Supervisory Special Agent Breed Grayhawk, who she hopes will provide her insider info about his superior. As they fall in love, he hides her when he realizes the Feds are gunning for her; especially when he knows she is innocent yet accused of planning to assassinate the president.

This is an interesting Bitter Creek FBI romantic suspense starring an intrepid heroine and the gutsy hero who risks his career and his freedom for the woman he loves and believes in even when the evidence condemns her. The storyline is action-packed and filled with entertaining twists. Although a spin involving a Texas Ranger is more a set up for the next tale and feels out of place in A STRANGER'S GAME, series fans will appreciate this dynamic entry.

Harriet Klausner