HUNTED - Karen Robards
Gallery Books (Hardcover)
ISBN: 978-04516-7871-0
Romantic Suspense/Thriller
December 2013

NEW Orleans, Louisiana, Just Days before Christmas

The city's French Quarter was bad enough at normal times, but the holidays always seemed to bring more crime. NOPD homicide detective Reed Ware dwelled upon that while clearing up the paperwork after a mother was shot and killed in front of her five year-old daughter. Reed hated this kind if thing. Before he got home, he got a call from another young person who recently lost his mother. Hollister (Holly) Bayard is a young street tough Reed has taken under his wing along with Holly's thirteen year-old brother Ant (short for Anton). Holly has been trying to convince Reed his druggy mother was killed by cops and has been detecting on his own. Holly's phone call brings Reed to a cemetery where four people have been shot through the forehead…one of them young. Using a stolen cell phone, Holly had taken pictures of the scene from hiding and claims cops were involved. Finally convinced there is something to Holly's suspicions. Reed takes the evidence to his superintendent…and is fired.

The next day is Christmas Eve, and Caroline Wallace is called away from a date to perform her job as a hostage negotiator for the Jefferson Parish police department. She recognizes the hostage taker as Detective Reed Ware, whom she once had a teenage crush on. The Christmas ball is a lush one, and who should be the main hostages but the New Orleans police superintendent—her own father—and the city mayor?

So far HUNTED is a top-notch thriller full of tension and atmosphere. It continues on with a developing relationship between Caroline and Reed along with danger to Holly and Rat. Romance takes center stage for a while as Caroline and Reed are fugitives…he's taken her hostage while on the run.

With its complex plot and excellent characters, HUNTER is a winner, and I highly recommend it as a fast and satisfying read.

Jane Bowers