Lauren Bach Project Eve

Project Eve

Lauren Bach

Zebra, Jun 2005, $6.50, 319 pp.

ISBN: 0821776320

In Richmond, Virginia, Jimmy Purcell persuades his cousin private investigator Rachel Anderson to take on US Senator Thurston Benjamin IV as a client though she believes politicians are pains as image means everything. Benjamin explains that his beloved wife suffers from leukemia diagnosed just after her daughter Cindy died in a car accident. He recently went through Cindy's things only to find a journal that says she was pregnant, but never mentions whether she gave birth. He admits he doubts the veracity because of the source, but wants Rachel to find the child if there is one though that will end any White House aspirations. His stepdaughter attended Shepherd's Cross College in West Virginia where the associated powerful Shepherd's Cross Church headed by influential William Hanson runs a black market baby ring.

CIA operative Elijah Trent, who has a past with Rachel, encourages her to go undercover at Shepherd's Cross College. Reluctantly Rachel agrees only to LEARN OF PROJECT EVE, female students brainwashed to become perfect spouses for selected sexual predatory politicians. However, exposing the school seems improbable as William's power reaches to the top of the Hill and across the pond to the White House.

Except for the righteous politically activist religious right, fans of romantic suspense will vote up for this tense thriller filled with numerous twists and turns, perhaps too many. The storyline is action-packed as courageous, obstinate Rachel learns that image is not the issue, survival is. Elijah is her perfect counterpart as an alpha male willing to die for Rachel, but frustrated with how she ignores his dictates. Lauren Bach composes a fine tale of intrigue that the sub-genre's mainstream readers will enjoy.

Harriet Klausner