Fade the Heat

RITA finalist Thompson takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride full of surprising twists and turns in this exceptional novel of romantic suspense. Dr. Jack Montoya becomes the unwilling flash point for two opposing radical groups attempting to influence the Houston mayoral race after someone leaks his habit of falsifying patient records to allow the treatment of illegal immigrant children. Back into his life stumbles a childhood friend, beautiful but troubled firefighter Reagan Hurley, who seeks his help to control and hide the asthma that threatens her career. When an arsonist torches Jack's apartment and Reagan's captain dies, her association with Jack stirs her team's suspicion. The heat intensifies throughout the story, which balances extreme tension with a scorchingly honest relationship between the protagonists. Married to a firefighter in real life, Thompson (Fatal Error ) conveys the details of fire fighting and emergency medicine with authenticity and finely crafted prose. She more than holds her own in territory blazed by Tami Hoag and Tess Gerritsen. Agent, Helen Breitweiser at Cornerstone Literary Agency. (Dec.)