Andi Lawrence is a clinical psychologist who logs-on attempting vicarious understanding of her psychotherapy patients. Their growing fascination with on-line companionship seems neurotically irrational. Before her own chat room experiences, she presumes electronic communication to be sterile and impersonal. Reports of nearly instant relationships are certainly mental fabrications, or perhaps scams targeting lonely people.

Grant Kingsley has been a chat room visitor for a long time. His style has been to restrict himself to casual mingling without personal disclosure or commitment. When he "meets" Andi, she is a web neophyte fleeing electronic sexual predators. Inexplicably, he is drawn to her electronic persona. Even through a CRT monitor, she radiates a palpable tension and uncertainty. The distressed "damsel" initially elicits the rescuer in Grant, but they quickly assume coequal roles.

The book's strength lies in the depiction of their developing relationship. The author is masterful. His two main characters are lonely, but far from pathetic. As their avatars (electronic pictorial representations) collide, one conversation leads to another. Chat room encounters lead to personal email and phone calls. Closings progress from "All the Best" to "Love" at the speed of electronic transmission.

This is a poignant love story drawn in a medium foreign to many readers. This method of romance is closely detailed, but the analysis is warm rather than coldly theoretical. The reader easily appreciates the aphrodisial power of a keyboard.

Both friends and enemies may lurk along the information superhighway. An evil observer blocks the couple's original transmissions and subtly inserts messages of his own. Simultaneously, a highly unusual "friend" attempts to thwart the interception campaign. The true relationship of the virtual opponents becomes clear only at the novel's conclusion.

Grant, a California horse trainer, with significant extracurricular talents, arranges a meeting with Andi, the NY shrink. Their rendezvous – invaded by evil – causes the lovers to question each other's authenticity. Grant unmasks the impostor, unpacks his wartime utility chest, and launches a frenzied search and recovery mission.

If this novel has a weakness, it lies in the introduction of high-tech, horrific science fiction. The true nature of Grant and Andi's friend is not a real plot surprise; nevertheless, there is disappointment at such incongruity inserted into this carefully crafted novel. On the other hand, the pair's final encounter with their Internet friend is a touching probe of morality and interpersonal responsibility.

--Steve Nemmers