by Sandra Brown
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From the book
In spite of the cacophony under the marble dome of Antwerp's Central Station, Donovan Rush heard the distinct tap of high heels about ten feet behind him. The main terminal echoed with a hundred different languages and shook with the shrill whine of high-speed train brakes on the platform levels, but the music of that familiar feminine drumbeat reached his ears and slowed his step.
The footsteps grew closer, preceded by a whiff of peppery perfume, a whisper of a silky sleeve, a subtle clearing of a woman's throat...and she passed him without a glance.
But he stole one, and then stayed two strides behind her just for the fun of it.
Mahogany waves clipped in a careful French twist revealed a slender column of a neck, squared but narrow shoulders casually draped in a bloodred scarf. Hip-hugging black leather pants molded to a heartbreaker of a backside then tapered over long, lean thighs.
And then there were the noisemaking shoes. Five inches if they were a centimeter, platforms, open toes and little silver buckles that he'd like to unfasten with his teeth.
Deadly.
Too bad he'd only be in Antwerp for the brief hour it would take to pass security at the Beurs voor Diaman-thandel, meet with the client's sightholder, take delivery of two million dollars worth of rough-cut diamonds and get back on the Thalys for the return trip to Paris.
There was no time for lovelies clad in leather. Especially when his boss had sent a text from New York just moments ago reminding him that the client for this routine diamond drop, Boisvert Jewelers, was run by a CEO who evidently did not tolerate tardiness. Lucy Sharpe had ended her brief text with three simple words: don't be late.
When the owner of the Bullet Catchers—and queen of understatement—issued a warning like that, no one who wanted to keep his job with her elite security firm would dare disobey. Especially not because he was, uh, sightseeing.
The woman in front of him slowed almost imperceptibly, glancing to her left, then quickly pretending she hadn't.
Donovan did the same, noticing a man outside a cafe entrance, a cell phone to his ear, but his gaze on the leathers, as well. That made him human, since Donovan would guess that most male eyes in the terminal would take the same trip his had.
But the highly trained bodyguard in him noticed the woman's hesitation, the change in her heel-to-toe tempo and the aura of awareness that shot up around her.
She shifted to the right just as the man ended his call. When he took a single step forward, she turned on one of those spikes and beelined in the opposite direction.
The heels clicked into a trot.
The gold-embellished station clock read twenty-one minutes to ten. Donovan had been doing the Antwerp diamond drops long enough to know he needed twelve minutes to clear security at the Bourse, and two minutes to cross the cobblestone street that led there. That left seven minutes to follow his instinct...and a woman who'd just upped her speed from purposeful to petrified.
The man hustled toward her, small and spare and quick on his feet, smoky gray eyes locked on the lady, one hand in the pocket of a loose-fitting jacket.
With the reassuring weight of a Glock under his sport jacket, Donovan kept his attention evenly divided between the two people. She took a sharp left toward stairs leading to the upper level train platforms, snaking her way through the crowd with a quick burst of speed.
She paused once to glance over her shoulder, her gaze locking on Donovan's for a split second before she looked away. At the top of the stairs she blended in with a pack of...
About the Author-
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Sandra Brown is the author of fifty-seven New York Times bestsellers, including SMOKE SCREEN (Simon & Schuster 2008).
Brown began her writing career in 1981 and since then has published over seventy novels, most of which remain in print. As of 1990, when Mirror Image made The New York Times bestseller list, each subsequent novel, including reprints of earlier books, have become Times bestsellers.
Sandra and her husband Michael Brown live in Arlington, Tx.
Reviews-
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Starred review from April 9, 2012
If a person is known by the company she keeps, then the company of the 30 romance and suspense writers in this stellar all-original anthology speaks volumes about bestseller Brown. From Lori Armstrong’s sexy “Holding Mercy” to Vicki Hinze’s sweet “Wed to Death,” there’s romance aplenty. But there’s also loads of suspense, including Lee Child’s “I Heard a Romantic Story” and Cindy Gerard’s “Dying to Score.” Hankering for a flight of romantic fantasy? Take a trip to a bizarre Savannah neighborhood in Dianna Love’s “Deadly Fixation” or to the Chicago of Patricia Rosemoor’s “Hot Note.” The action spans the globe, imparting a real feel for locales as diverse as the Mexican jungle; Halifax, Nova Scotia; London, England; and south Texas. There are familiar characters such as Allison Brennan’s Lucy Kincaid (“Vacation Interrupted”) and new ones readers are sure to want to see more of, like William Simon’s Nicholas White (“Spider’s Tango”). Chockablock with nifty plot twists, these stories aren’t to be missed. -
June 1, 2012
The third International Thriller Writers anthology (after Thriller 2: Stories You Just Can't Put Down) offers 29 stories of romantic suspense by authors who range from veterans with many books in their arsenal (e.g., Lee Child, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Heather Graham) to those who have only recently made their debut. Though one or two pieces are forgettable, the collection as a whole is a cornucopia of delights. Readers will find sexy, edgy stories; spooky, supernatural, and paranormal suspense; heavy action; great twists (some of O'Henryesque brilliance), tales of black ops featuring female (and male) heroes, naked women, hard men, and husbands/wives/honeymooners/lovers in peril. Not to mention hostages, terrorists, traitors, kidnappers, murder victims (of course), sympathetic vigilantes, bad cops, prison gang enforcers, stalkers, cross-dressers, drug cartel hit men, bodyguards, and much more. As editor Brown notes in her foreword, romantic suspense is a potent mix of genres giving readers an emotional thrill that crackles with electricity. VERDICT Hang on, fans, you're in for a wild ride! In the end, love may be murder, but it also conquers all--or make that almost all. Highly recommended, with something for everyone. [The reviewer is a member of ITW but has never met or corresponded with the authors.--Ed.]--Ron Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson
Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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