cover image Duplicity

Duplicity

Vicki Hinze. St. Martin's Press, $5.99 (352pp) ISBN 978-0-312-96894-6

In this page-turner that fuses thriller and romance, Air Force attorney Captain Tracy Keener has been assigned the toughest case of her career--the defense of Captain Adam Burke, an Intel operative accused of killing and abandoning his men while on a covert mission. Opinion around the base is unanimous about Burke's guilt, and the attorney becomes the target of numerous death threats and attempts on her life. Keener's idealistic nature prevails over fear, pushing her to search for the truth, even after Burke is supposedly killed in a prison fire and she is ordered by superiors to close the case. Burke's mysterious return and collaboration with Keener allow the pair to uncover a widespread governmental conspiracy, dubbed ""Project Duplicity,"" that involves dangerous new chemical technology. Although the ending will seem too neat for some readers, Hinze (Shades of Gray; Festival, under the pen name Victoria Barrett) has a knack, as illustrated in Burke and Keener's complex relationship, for combining compellingly realistic characterizations with suspense and a romantic plot line. (Apr.)