cover image If Looks Could Kill

If Looks Could Kill

Heather Graham Pozzessere. Harlequin Books, $5.99 (48pp) ISBN 978-1-55166-285-5

At age 13, Madison Adair had a psychic vision that reenacted the terror of her mother's brutal murder but did not reveal the killer. A deranged man finally confessed and was locked up, but many years later, when he's released, gruesome killings begin. Kyle Montgomery, Madison's one time stepbrother and now an FBI agent specializing in killers' psychological profiles, returns to Miami . Clues suggest that Madison is at risk, and hidden passions impel Kyle to protect her. Perhaps in an attempt to obscure the murderer's identity, Pozzessere (Slow Burn) surrounds Madison with an extensive patchwork family (father, stepfather, siblings, half siblings and step-siblings). The plot, too, is rather variable, with interludes and revelations that seem out of context. The climax unifies and fulfills reader expectations, but he rationale for the serial killer's pathology remains thin. (Aug.)