Patricia Lewin Out of Time

Out of Time

Patricia Lewin

Ballantine, Jan 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0345479629

After completing a case that ends in tragedy, FBI Crimes Against Children expert Alec Donovan goes to Miami instead of reporting in because he needs solace and only the woman he loves Dr. Erin Baker can provide t. However, before they can share dinner, CIA operative Bill Jensen arrives asking Erin to help the Company whom she used to work for by offering her the only carrot she would accept.

Erin is to go to Cuba where her biological father Dr. Emilio Diaz works for Doctors for Life. She has not seen him in years since he vanished from her and her mother's lives. While visiting her dad under the guise of a teacher (not a stretch as she is a professor), Erin will try to learn what happened to Agent Joe Roarke. Though angry at her dad, Erin goes to Cuba and finds fatherly love, but something much more sinister too.

OUT OF TIME, the sequel to OUT OF REACH is a terrific romantic suspense tale with much of the emphasis on the action and relationship between father and daughter; the love subplot between Alec and Erin takes a back seat to a degree, but never vanishes from the minds of the audience. The story line is fast-paced as Erin seemingly reconciles with her father who explains why he disappeared even as she looks into what happened to Joe while an anxious Alec is prepared to leave Florida as a one man cavalry. Fans will appreciate this strong thriller.

Harriet Klausner