Midnight Rider

Shannon's ( The Hawk's Lady ) garrulousness cripples the pace of this romance set in pre-annexation California of the 1830s, copious explanations of every thought, word and deed interrupting the forward movement of even the most dramatic encounters here. Magdalena, a ranchero's granddaughter wrongly accused of murder, and Clint, an American reluctantly persuaded to spy on the Californios on behalf of the pro-annexation movement, fall in love, generating a chemistry that is Shannon's most incendiary to date. Magdalena is especially captivating, more than a match for the assorted desperadoes she captains in her eventual disguise as the bandit leader El Halcon during a quest to regain her inherited lands and clear her name. Clint, with his fiery masculinity and deep respect for Magdalena's daring and her unconventional talents as a warrior, suits the heroine exquisitely. A final confrontation, between Magdalena and her evil cousin, is histrionic but satisfying. (Oct.)