TIGER EYE

At the start of Liu's first-rate debut, psychically sensitive tourist Dela Reese browses for treasures at Beijing's Dirt Market, where an old woman sells her a riddle box for only one yuan. Surprisingly, when Dela opens the box back in her hotel room, a gorgeous seven-foot-tall warrior appears, bearing 2,000-year-old weapons. The warrior, Hari, has been cursed for two millennia to serve as a slave—bereft of his power to shape-shift into a tiger—to anyone who opens the box. Assassins follow Delilah and Hari from Beijing back home to the U.S., where Dela and Hari soon find themselves in the midst of a war between Chinese crime syndicates. The reappearance of Hari's age-old nemesis, the Magi, who has been searching for Hari since he was imprisoned in the box, jacks up the suspense. The romance between Delilah and Hari tantalizingly builds until it culminates in a sensual love scene. Repetitive references to Hari's great stature fortunately don't detract from the appeal of this striking paranormal romance. Agent, Lucienne Diver. (Mar.)