When a young girl is abducted and manages to escape her captor, she and Ana form a bond that transcends the usual law officer and victim roles. The man they seek is a serial rapist and murderer whose method of attracting his prey is simultaneously chilling and pathetic. Ana is determined to capture him but is hampered by her own conduct.

This portion of the story concerning the rapist and his methods and eventual capture is very well written and quite graphic. However, the letdown comes when he fails to reveal any of his motivation. Having done so well up to that point it is disappointing that Smith cannot finish the story for her readers.

Ana begins an affair with Andrew Berringer, one of the local detectives but her passion leads to obsession. As they investigate a nearby bank robbery and track the killer, Ana’s stress level accelerates to the point that she tries to kill her lover. This tends to interfere with her pursuit of the rapist.

That Ana certainly has a skewed vision of relationships is obvious in her attitude towards Andrew. “Riding the Harley, playing golf, seven layer bean dip, and the Lakers on TV… and the sex was good…” constitutes the basis of a sound relationship for her. Indeed she is so shallow that one wonders why she overreacts and shoots him. Did she think he wouldn’t take her for rides on his Harley anymore?

Uneven is an apt description of this tale. Once Ana’s motivation is explained and her actions justified, the reader still has a feeling that things are not right. Her story is as full of gaps as the killer’s. No Good Morning, Killer for me; I say “good grief.”

--Jane Davis