Guilty
Karen Robards
Putnam, Apr 2008, $24.95
ISBN 9780399154614

Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Kate White prosecutes her first case in court when embarrassingly her cellphone chimes. Judge Michael Moran'"the moron'tells her to shut it now; Kate worries her young son Ben needs her when the shots are fired by the defendant'"Little'Julie Soto. Moran is dead with his head blown off and two other prisoners join in the melee. Soto abducts Kate to allegedly use as a hostage while escaping.

Kate manages to escape while believing she killed Soto in doing so. However, she is not free as someone stalks her and Ben even breaking into their home. Philadelphia Police Detective Tom Braga leads the official investigation into the courtroom murder and its aftermath. He thinks Kate's escape was planned by her captors and that Soto lives. As he tries to keep the single mom and her son safe, Tom begins to connect the dots leading back to when 1994 Baltimore when fifteen years old Katrina Kominski was part of the foster care system.

This exciting urban thriller works because the audience believes that fully developed Kate and Ben are in deep trouble, and that Tom feels a deep need to protect them from Soto and who knows who else. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Kate's cellphone rings a Pussycat Dolls tune and never slows down until the final biting confrontation. Karen Robards provides a strong entertaining romantic suspense.

Harriet Klausner