cover image Broken

Broken

Cynthia Eden. Avon, $7.99 mass market (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-234956-9

Eden (the Dark Obssession series) launches a suspense series with a fast-paced and erotic thriller about the Last Option Search Team (LOST), an Atlanta-based private agency that specializes in tracking down missing persons. LOST founder Gabe, a former Navy SEAL, falls almost instantly for Eve, an amnesiac who comes to LOST convinced she's a survivor of an Alabama serial murderer called the Lady Killer. Eve falls just as hard for Gabe, and when her life is threatened, the LOST team heads to Alabama's Gulf Coast to get answers. Eden isn't shy about getting her characters together right away. The romance and mystery are both uncomplicated, but the suspense is ratcheted up constantly, and the large group of secondary characters ensures both danger and some gruesome deaths. With a solid cast of LOST employees as future protagonists (all with their own dark backgrounds and secrets) and plenty of well-delivered romance and sex, this novel works well on its own and as a starting point for the series. Agent: Curtis Brown, Curtis Brown, Ltd. (U.K.). (Mar.)