SENSELESS - Mary Burton
Zebra Books
ISBN: 978-1-4-4201-1019-7
January 2011
Romantic Suspense
Alexandria, Virginia - Present Day
It has been ten years since Eva Rayburn's life turned into a nightmare. Only seventeen at the time and a freshman at Price University , Eva possessed a photographic memory and tutored students. A year-end party with her sorority sisters went horrifically wrong; when Eva was carried out of the burning building, she had been beaten and raped, and branded onto her shoulder was a four-pointed star. The body of rich, bad boy Josiah Cross was also removed. At the trial, her sorority sisters testified against her. How could they say she killed him? Her half sister Angie wanted to help, but she had to stand by helplessly as Eva was convicted.
Finally released from prison, Eva returns home to Alexandria . Her quiet world explodes when she arrives late to her job at the halfway house. Or what is left after the fire. Eva flees the scene, but not before she sees that a cop has spotted her.
Detectives Deacon Garrison and Malcolm Kier arrive at the crime scene, and Deacon gets a gut feeling something is off. The halfway house is destroyed, and the body of a lone female is discovered, stabbed and branded with a four pointed star. The branding seems familiar to Deacon. Looking around, he spots Eva, and after he interviews her, he believes she has something to do with this murder. It doesn't take Deacon long to uncover Eva's past, and Deacon believes she was railroaded. He wants answers, and Eva needs to believe he is there to help her. The dead bodies are not random; they are a part of Eva's past. The killer won't stop until Eva is dead. Even more upsetting, Deacon finds himself drawn to Eva and it's mutual.
SENSELESS is not only a romantic suspense but a bone chilling thriller. Eva's drive to start her life again makes her an inspiring heroine. Secondary characters are an eccentric group; some are good, other not. Her sorority sisters turned their backs on Eva, but now she is trying to help them. Can she? With a large cast of characters, Mary Burton has balanced the relationship between Deacon and Eva, adding a splash of tenderness along with the lies, betrayals, and deaths.
What I really enjoyed about SENSELESS, is that the villain is as elusive as evil. The story gives nothing away to the identity of the killer. The twists and turns had me glued to the pages. I highly recommend SENSELESS. It will be followed in February by a companion novel entitled MERCILESS.
Enjoy, folks.
Deborah C Jackson.
