Every Dark Corner

As if the character roster in Rose’s long-on-suspense contemporary romance isn’t lengthy enough, one of them goes by two names: FBI Special Agent Griffin Davenport is better known as Gene Decker. At least love interest Kate Coppola, a fellow agent, sticks with a single moniker as she sits by his hospital bed after he suffers a near-fatal gunshot. She’s only recently been assigned to the Cincinnati field office and doesn’t really know Gene, but it’s imperative that she be there when he wakes from his medically induced coma; his first words might hold the key to identifying an elusive child molester. Nothing is ever quite so easy, and as a result Kate and Gene must spend more time scanning his memory for clues. By the time there’s a break in the case, Gene and Kate are in love. Tension mounts as each chapter ticks off every moment of the FBI’s frustrating search. Rose’s brand of character-focused romantic thriller has its appeal, but readers may be turned off by her dizzying array of secondary players, and a reduction in page count would not go amiss. Agent: Robin Rue, Writers House. (Feb.)