From Publishers Weekly
The personal becomes the political for Boston sometime-sleuth Tom Bethany when he accompanies his pregnant lover, ACLU executive Hope Edwards, to an Arlington, Va., abortion clinic. As Edwards is recovering, the clinic is picketed by televangelist and Senate-seat hopeful Rev. Howard Orrin and his Life Force activists. Bethany and Edwards befriend Kimberly, a disturbed and pregnant 14-year-old, as they evade the aggressive demonstrators. The next day, they learn that she has committed suicide. Meanwhile Edwards becomes a Life Force target: her family is plagued by abusive anonymous phone calls and her house is picketed. Tom, who is of the I-know-where-you-live-and-am-willing-to-hurt-you school of etiquette, decides to straighten out both the reverend and the older, married man who seduced Kimberly. The major mysteries here concern the extent of sleazy Rev. Orrin's ambitions and the nature of Tom's "master plan" to give the pastor his just reward in this life. Doolittle's ( Bear Hug ) rich imagination and offbeat sense of humor, neatly blending wit and raunch, give this story considerable energy, but it is not for everyone--especially not readers who wonder if the ends justify the means.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
The fourth entry in the Tom Bethany series finds the Boston PI confronting both personal and professional crises. His longtime lover, Washington ACLU lawyer Hope Edwards, is pregnant and has decided on an abortion. While she's undergoing the procedure at a Virginia abortion clinic, the facility is attacked by antiabortion "Life Forcers" led by televangelist Howard Orrin. The melee is televised, Hope becomes the focal point of Life Force harassment, and a young girl whom Tom befriended at the clinic is so traumatized by the Forcers that she commits suicide. With his sense of justice wounded by the death of the youngster and his protective instincts roused by the attacks on Hope, Tom swings into action. Aided by a high-school friend of the suicide victim, Tom hatches an elaborate scheme to bring down Orrin and his empire. Bethany's liberal political beliefs are very much a part of the action here and in the other series entries. For those in sympathy with this point of view, he makes a great hero. Another strong entry in an excellent, underappreciated series.
Wes Lukowsky
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
