Run-of-the-mill case leads to unexpected danger in "Dead Heat"

In "Dead Heat" by Jacey Ford ($7.99, Berkley Sensation Book), private investigator Daphne Donovan is drowning in a sea of guilt.

A former FBI agent, Daphne feels she could have prevented the Sept. 11 hijackings, or at least one of them, if she had just convinced her superiors to go after the terrorist she was tracking back in September, 2001. She was unable to do that and that terrorist turned out to be one of the hijackers.

Feeling responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans and frustrated by the restrictions the FBI placed on her, Daphne quits. She's now a private investigator and her new case is working for bank president Keith Melman.

Melman, 42 and divorced from a cheating wife, is dating 24-year-old Nicole Solem. Keith has noticed a change in Nicole's behavior and burned once by his ex, he hires Daphne to find out if Nicole is stepping out on him.

Daphne's new case doesn't lead to a cheating girlfriend, but it does lead her to a red-hot affair with an ex-Navy SEAL and a plot for revenge that includes the murder of Daphne's client.

Figuring out why Keith was murdered and who did the deed is of the utmost importance, because if Daphne fails to find the answers, then the deaths that follow would make the events of Sept. 11, 2001, seem like a walk in the park.

If you like pulse-pounding suspense, "Dead Heat" should be your next pick at the bookstore.

Bad guys can't "Blackout" heroines toughness

Book dealer Margo Scott's day isn't starting off on a happy note. In Annie Solomon’s "Blackout," Margo goes to bed one night with the trees still bare of leaves and wakes up the next day to flower-filled spring day.

Margo finds out that she's, supposedly, been in Spain for the past month on the trail of a rare book. Only she doesn't remember any of it. Then things really start going downhill.

The police question Margo about the murder of Deputy Director Frank Temple of the Terrorism Control Force. Margo, of course, doesn't know a Frank Temple -- at least none that she remembers. And since her memory is about as solid as a slice of Swiss cheese at the moment, that's not saying much.

Then there are the unremembered skills she discovers she has: She can take a grown man in a fight, knows her weapons and is an expert at handling knives -- and we aren't talking the kitchen variety here.

Margo needs to find answers, especially when evidence shows up linking her to Frank Temple's death and she becomes a target herself.

And then there's Jake Wise, is he friend or foe? All Margo knows is that he keeps showing up and he seems to want to the same thing Margo does: answers.

"Blackout" keeps the action coming at a fast and furious pace as Margo and Jake seek to discover if Margo is a murderer or ... or something worse.

"What Price Love?" answered in new Cynster novel

Lady Priscilla Dalloway of County Kilkenny, Ireland, is on a mission to find her twin brother in "What Price Love?" by Stephanie Laurens ($22.95, HarperCollins). After a falling out with their father, the Earl of Kentland, Rus (his heir) left home.

Horse-mad Rus has always dreamed of training an Irish Derby champion, but the earl doesn't agree that that's an appropriate occupation for his heir. Rus leaves home to follow his dream, getting a job as an assistant stableman at Lord Cromarty's stables.

Priscilla finds out some disturbing information about Lord Cromarty's former assistant stableman -- he quit his job because, as he told his cronies there "was something going on that he didn't hold with." But Pris can't ask him what because Paddy O' Loughlin has disappeared and is presumed to be dead by his friends.

Priscilla wants to warn her brother, but before she can take steps to do so, she receives a letter from Rus, telling her that he's discovered what he thinks is plot by the head stableman at Cromarty's to run some kind of illicit racing scheme.

Rus doesn't know what the racket is exactly, just that it involves some kind of register so he's traveling to Newmarket with the Cromarty racing string to try and discover and expose the plot. Only Rus doesn't know about O'Loughlin's fate.

Priscilla is determined to help Rus, so she, her Aunt Eugenia and her aunt's goddaughter, Adelaide, set off for England. But once in England, Priscilla discovers that Rus too is missing and that Harkness, the Cromarty's head stableman has offered a reward to anyone sighting Rus.

Now Priscilla has to find out what this register is and how it figures into the scheme her brother is investigating in order to figure out some way to find and help him. But she hadn't counted on Dillon Caxton, protege of Demon Cynster, and Keeper of the Register of all racing horses in England.

Introducing herself to Dillon as "Miss Priscilla Dalling," Pris bats her eyes and asks to get a look at the Register. Immediately suspicious, there have been several attempts at the Jockey Club of break ins to steal said register, Dillon refuses.

Now comes the battle of wits between a woman desperate to save her brother and a man entrusted with sacred trust he won't break.

Fans of Cynster novels can rejoice as Laurens' has penned another winner.

"Wolf At The Door" takes you to the Others world

Werekin, shapeshifters, vampires, witches, demons, oh my -- you'll find them all in Christine Warren’s "Wolf At The Door" ($6.99, St. Martin's Paperbacks).

They've been living among us before man first stepped out of the caves, but once humans proved to be such a prolific race, the Others decided it was wiser to blend in and pass for humans. That's all about to change.

Here's the deal: The European Council of these mystical creatures have decided it's time for the great Unveiling. You know, time to let humans know that they exist and aren't just a figment of fairytales or horror stories. The reason they've come to this conclusion is that they've learned that the Light of Truth, a fanatical religious sect whose mission is to out the Others so that humanity can exterminate them, are going to move against them soon.

Werewolf Sullivan Quinn and Others of like-mind worked to convinced the the European Council that the only way to counter the Light of Truth is to beat them to the punch and out themselves. Quinn and his delegation are in New York to convince the American Council that by outing themselves, they'll take away the Light's greatest weapon. Cause sure as shooting the Lighters would present the Others as monsters who must be destroyed.

Of course the American Council isn't too thrilled with the idea, so they decide to ask Foxwoman Cassidy Poe, a cultural anthropologist, for help. They want her to ascertain just how much of a threat the sect is. Cassidy already thinks the Unveiling is a very bad idea since humans do have a tendency to destroy what they fear, but she'll do what the council asks.

However, if the Others can't stop the chain of events that the Lighters have set in motion, there won't be a choice to make.

"Wolf AT The Door" is a fun read and I can't wait to read more about the Others.