Echo of Violence

Dane's latest romantic thriller is light on romance and characterization but heavy on thrills. Darkly mysterious Jackson Kincaid robs drug mules and gun-running thugs on the high seas, donating most of the proceeds to a Catholic school in Haiti. His Robin Hood efforts anger a gang of terrorists who kidnap Sister Mary Katherine, the school's startlingly flirtatious principal, along with a dozen or so children and adults in a raid on a party honoring Kincaid's generosity. Outnumbered and wounded, he calls for backup and gets a crackerjack rescue unit headed by Alexa Marlowe, whose longtime lust for Kincaid is undiminished. Dane (The Wrong Side of Dead) piles on suspense, adrenaline, and a cacophony of contrived emotions as the action moves to the remote mountains of Cuba, where tension builds at the expense of character development. (Sept.)