From Publishers Weekly
Readers who like their psychological thrillers complex, melodramatic and almost completely implausible will find Miscione's third Lydia Strong novel (
Angel Fire;
The Darkness Gathers) right up their alley. Everything comes in pairsâ€"murders of an artist's ex-husbands, possible twin villains, missing twin childrenâ€"to such a degree that the book should have had a second jacket. The novel begins as New Yorker Strong, a true-crime writer, jogs along the streets of lower Manhattan toward the Brooklyn Bridge, worrying about two major dilemmasâ€"she has just learned that she is pregnant, and the psychopath who killed her mother 15 years before is back on the streets and stalking her. Then comes the savage murder of the second husband of famous painter Julian Ross, who lost her first husband in a similar brutal attack 10 years earlier. Hired by the artist's imperious but touching mother to prove that Julian (acquitted by a jury in the first murder) isn't guilty of the second, either, Lydia, lover/partner Jeff Mark and their associates two-step their way through a convoluted plot with more strands than a DNA sample. A certain amount of suspense is generated along the way, especially for readers who can suspend disbelief, but Miscione finally loses her gamble by doubling her ante one time too many.
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From Booklist
Miscione's third Lydia Strong novel finds the tough-as-nails crime writer pregnant but refusing to slow down despite the fact that Jed McIntyre, the serial killer who murdered Lydia's mother, is on the loose and out for blood--Lydia's, among others. As she jogs through Manhattan, tailed by Aussie bodyguard Dax Chicago, Lydia yearns for the day when Jed is finally out of her life. Meanwhile, the mother of famous New York artist Julian Ross hires Lydia's firm to investigate the murder of Julian's second husband. Some of Miscione's characters are a little overblown--serial murderer McIntyre seems as incapable of dying as the bad guy in a low-budget horror film. However, a fascinating subplot involving the community of homeless people who live in tunnels beneath Manhattan keeps the plot from becoming too cartoonish. And Miscione avoids the temptation to tie up Lydia and her boyfriend-partner Jeff's relationship in a neat little bow. A steadily developing series, not without rough spots but with a strong central character.
Jenny McLarinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
