From Publishers Weekly
Prolific bestseller Johansen subjects gutsy Jane Maguire to more troubles in her latest thrill ride. Jane, the adopted daughter of forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, was threatened by one serial killer in 1999's The Killing Game and another in 2004's Blind Alley , so it's no surprise that she's in danger again. The once troubled adolescent is now a brilliant Harvard student and talented artist who spends her summers at far-off archeological digs in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but she's still haunted by her resemblance to Cira, a woman who lived 2,000 years ago in the latter city. Suddenly she's being ambushed in alleys. Does the attempted kidnapping have something to do with Blind Alley 's climax, in which Eve; her husband, Joe Quinn of the Atlanta PD; soldier of fortune Mark Trevor; and Jane, the bait, triumphed over the psychopath who was killing women who looked like Cira? You bet it does, as Trevor turns up in Cambridge, enigmatic but still definitely magnetic, determined to protect Jane from danger due to new developments regarding Cira, "the femme fatale of the ancient world." Seems all kinds of notorious criminals are after Cira's lost gold, but some people have mass murder on their minds. Action, romance, castles, bomb plots and a booby-trapped hideaway in snowbound Idahoβwhat more could Johansen fans want? Agent, Andrea Cirillo at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. (May)
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From Booklist
The legend of Cira and her gold intrudes once again on Jane MacGuire's life. In Blind Alley [BKL Ag 04], the streetwise adopted daughter of forensic sculptor Eve Duncan and Atlanta detective Joe Quinn became a serial killer's pawn. Now she's a target for terrorists who believe she has the key to a lost treasure. When one of Jane's childhood friends is killed, she realizes that she must find out why, especially when, as before, Scotland Yard's handsome Mark Trevor becomes involved. He has tried to keep Jane out of his latest escapade, but he swoops in to the rescue, bringing her to Scotland to keep her safe. Never completely on the right side of the law, Jane questions Trevor's motives while trying to keep in check the sexual tension between them as they try to quell a deranged madman who is after Trevor and the lost treasure. Along the way, Jane discovers that many people are trying to find the truth about Cira, and that Jane herself is perceived as the reincarnation of that fabled Roman figure. Johansen delivers a top-notch sequel filled with great chases, original characters, and intricate plot twists, creating a unique supernatural twist on the classic thriller. Patty Engelmann
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