You'll Hear from Us

The author's first mystery has many elements of a soap opera: love, sex, blackmail, murder, a teenager coping with divorce, a kidnapped child, an attractive woman and a dedicated cop. These potentially intriguing ingredients, however, never rise above a mediocre blend. In Kansas City on business, Houston advertising executive Suzanne Hilbourne becomes conscious in her hotel room with a blurry memory of the previous evening. She has been brutally raped, and discovers on the bathroom mirror the message, ``you'll hear from us.'' Back home, the divorced Suzanne contacts an old high school friend, Tony MacIver, now a homicide detective, to help her find her assailants. He learns that a handful of women across the country have been raped, blackmailed, and killed if they had refused to pay, and he fears Suzanne may be the next victim. Struggling to find a connection between the victims, MacIver, whose job is on the line, races against time to save Suzanne before the thugs strike again. The gratuitous violence directed at women, graphic detail and cavalier treatment of the trauma of rape is likely to offend many readers. (Aug.)