Zoe Sharp First Drop

First Drop

Zoe Sharp

St. Martin's, Sep 2005, $23.95, 304 pp.

ISBN: 0312341695

Body guard Charlie Fox leaves England for Florida to protect fifteen year old Trey Pelzner, the son of a software company director, Keith. Currently in her fourth day on the job, she baby sits Trey with a trip to Adventure World which is why she feels like puking as they ride the roller coaster for the fifth time together; that is not even the dangerous Demon ride. When Charlie sees a man heading towards her charge, she charges at full speed to stop him. Charlie keeps them safe as the man fires at them.

Her calls to the Pelzner home and to her security teammates including her former lover and boss Sean Meyer go unanswered. She realized the adversary was one of the "cops" who escorted Charlie home after he was picked up for shoplifting. Feeling all alone and not sure who to trust, Charlie and Trey are on the run as the enemy encircles them as if they are sitting ducks in a wintry pond.

FIRST DROP is an exciting suspense thriller starring a very competent individual struggling in a foreign territory with no help in sight against powerful enemies while having no idea who they are. Throwing her off kilter is that the person who shot at them is the same cop who brought home Trey when he was caught shoplifting. The storyline is action-packed with the audience reading FIRST DROP in one sitting to see how Charlie extracts herself and her charge from what seems inevitable capture or death.

Harriet Klausner