Rebecca York, Beyond Control

Beyond Control

Rebecca York

Berkley, Aug 2005, $6.99, 336 pp.

ISBN: 0425204421

Wealthy recluse Leonard Hamilton a offers deal to Pulitzer Prize journalist Jordan Walker that the latter cannot refuse. In exchange for his cooperation in writing an authorized biography with no strings attached, Jordan is to learn what really happened to his son Todd, who recently died in a boating incident on Chesapeake Bay along with his alleged boyfriend Glenn Borrow. Unbeknownst to either man, the Crandall Consortium is interested in Todd also especially since he and Glenn somehow busted into a highly guarded facility Maple Creek in Princes George County, Maryland. Interestingly, a friend asks Congressional Aid Lindsay Fleming to look into what happened to one of the Maple Creek guards.

At Senator Conroy's party, though strangers Jordan and Lindsay exchange a warm embracing glance across a crowded room. When they meet, he touches her hand and both are stunned. That night he dreams of seeing her naked while she fantasizes in her sleep of being with him. As the two connect, they work together to learn what happened at Maple Creek with neither prepared for the danger they encounter or for the love they feel.

BEYOND CONTROL is fun fantasy romantic thriller that plays out on two interwoven levels. The storyline is action-packed from the opening sequence when Maple Creek is invaded and never slows down until the lead couple learns what happened there and to Todd. The tale also contains a delightful romance between Jordan and Lindsay that starts off with A Strangers in the Night encounter at Conroy's gala and plays out on physical and paranormal planes. Though the military-scientific complex seems delightfully over the top, Rebecca York provides a strong suspense-laden romantic tale.

Harriet Klausner