Sins of the Mother: An Alison Young Thriller

Good intentions can't redeem the poor writing, clunky melodrama and cursory characterization in this preachy thriller. San Francisco's Alison Young, co-founder of a successful women's magazine, has kept her past secret from her husband of eight years and her 17-year-old daughter, Destiny. But the truth threatens to emerge when rapist Country Davis, Destiny's biological father, is released from Folsom Prison and threatens to reclaim Alison and reveal his identity to his daughter. Destiny, meanwhile, has hired PI Harvey Anderson to track down the MIA Vietnam vet to whom Alison has attributed her paternity. Harvey is led to recall Alison's rape, which happened--in a tidy coincidence--when he was a rookie cop. Increasing mother-daughter tension, meanwhile, prompts Destiny to leave home and move in with her boyfriend. Having discovered that Destiny wants to be a singer, Country entices her to meet him by pretending to be a record promoter. The obligatory bloody showdown at the end is not nearly as deadly as Saban's prose (""Almost by instinct, Harvey patted his side, touching the lump that was his gun""). An epilogue gives a textbook definition of rape, the history of American rape laws and the phone number of the Rape/Sexual Abuse Hotline. Author tour; simultaneous Dove audio. (June)