Kate Pepper One Cold Night

One Cold Night

Kate Pepper

Onyx, May 2006, $6.99, 309 pp.

ISBN 0451412141

NYPD police detective David Strauss is a very contented man who is totally in love with his wife Susan and adores her younger sister Lisa who lives with them so she can go to a special school for talented musicians. In his personal life, the only problem is Susan keeps telling him she is not ready to have a child. Lisa, who was told she was adopted, wants to find her biological parents. Susan wants to give the two people she loves most what they really want.

She intends to tell David that she is ready to have his baby but first she tells Lisa she is her biological mother. Lisa is so disturbed she runs out of the loft late at night. When she fails to return, Dave and Susan go looking for her and evidence points to her being abducted. The investigation leads police to the conclusion that the man who abducted Lisa is the same person who abducted another young girl a year ago, who looks like Lisa, was also adopted and was born in the same general area. She has never been found and Dave's biggest fear is that Lisa will be lost to them forever.

Kate Pepper can always be counted on to write a good thriller and in ONE COLD NIGHT she succeeds her fans' expectations. The protagonist is a dynamic person who forgives his wife within hours of her startling revelation concerning Lisa. Readers will adore Lisa who is spunky and refuses to cower before the abductor. Fast pacing, shocking twists, and startling revelations and an exciting storyline are only some of the reasons the audience will enjoy this chilling thriller.

Harriet Klausner