Eye of the Beholder
Merline Lovelace
Mira, Nov 2005, $6.99
ISBN: 0778322300

In Morgan Falls, Oklahoma, USAF Reserve Captain Miranda "Randi" Morgan attends the funeral of her friend, lover, and fellow pilot Captain Tyler Keane, who died in combat. Tyler's father Sam blames Randi for his son's death, vowing vengeance.

Oklahoma University physics professor Dr. Pete Engstrom visits Randi to arrange for his research team to study the Heavener rune stone on her property. Reluctantly she agrees to allow him access, although she worries that wealthy Sam is using this to cause her trouble. Soon Randi finds herself in a custody fight with her ex over their four year old son whom she ignored, and Sam who claims he is Spence's grandfather. Adding to her troubles is someone who wants her dead, even as she falls in love with the physicist who reciprocates her feelings.

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER is a superb romantic suspense thriller, which contains a subplot involving reservists coming home in body bags, that will grip the audience with how much our soldiers and their families sacrifice, including their lives for the war on terrorism; no one else, in spite of the President's claims, otherwise including this reviewer and the White House, sacrifice for this effort. The storyline is action-packed as Randi struggles with her former mentor Sam, wanting to harm her at all costs as he blames her for his son's death. Though one final twist seems unreal, Merline Lovelace provides a deep tale of how a hurting grieving parent can suffer a battle fatigue like syndrome, when a son or daughter dies in combat.