The Saturday Review

TOXIN
Author: Paul Martin Midden http://paul-martin-midden.omnimystery.com/
ISBN 978-1-58982-492-8
Genre: Suspense/Mystery

From the back cover:

Can the United States withstand an assault from within? Jake Telemark, a junior U.S. Senator, is ensnared in a plot he can scarcely believer-one that targets him along with his friends and associates. Called upon to re-open a part of his life long hidden, Jake must confront his past as he faces rising turmoil in the nation he loves and serves. The beautiful Isadore Hathaway beckons him, supports him, and directs him to pick up arms on behalf of himself, his country, and in the end, their relationship

Toxin is a fast moving story of political intrigue that begins with an innocuous lunch date with a beautiful woman, a lunch date that ends with a seemingly insane request – kill twelve men before they can overthrow the government. The wrong decision will not only bring about the downfall of the US government, but cause the death of Jake and Isadore themselves.

Middin does a good job of putting the protagonist, Jake, in the proverbial position of “a rock and a hard place.” He also keeps the story from lagging with a fast pace of non-stop action. I’d like to see a bit more development of his heroine than he gives us, but telling a thrill-ride kind of story in first person hinders him from giving us her point-of-view.

Bottom line: If you are an action/suspense/political thrill-ride fan, you’ll enjoy Toxin.


Reviewed By: Debbie Kaufman

Ratings: 4 Petit Fours & 1 Hot Tamales

HOTSHOT

Author: Catherine Mann
http://www.catherinemann.com/
Berkley Sensation
ISBN 978-0-425-22833-3

If buff bods, confident males, and men with big, fast machines are your thing then Catherine Mann’s HOTSHOT is for you. Major Vince Deluca is asked to help protect Shay Bassest, the daughter of his childhood mentor. Shay has been targeted by a killer who doesn’t want her to tell a Congressional Committee about gang activity in Cleveland. Shay, a nurse, runs a teen center.

Through death threats, people killed outside the teen center, a drive by shooting, a blown up car, a bomb strapped to a youth, and an unwed teen’s baby being delivered while flying in a plane, Vince and Shay get to know each other again.

They find their attraction from fifteen years ago, as teens themselves, hasn’t faded. Vince has been running from his broken home, father in prison and almost becoming a gang member. Shay, depressed while in college tried to kill herself. They both have dealt with their issues and have recovered to become healthy people. Vince and Shay strip away their barriers from the past to recognize that they can have a future together.

HOTSHOT is fast moving, suspenseful, exciting and worth the read.

Reviewer: Susan May
Rating: 4 Petit Fours and 4 Hot Tamales