One Wrong Move

Bestseller McKenna tantalizes the reader with the ninth McCloud Brothers romantic suspense novel (after Blood and Fire). Nina Christie, a McCloud family friend, is attacked on a New York Street by an older Ukrainian acquaintance, who injects her with a mind-altering drug and records a distorted message on Nina’s cellphone. Another McCloud friend, former Army ranger Alex Aaro, lands in New York City, hoping to visit his dying aunt without alerting his estranged Russian mob family. He has no time to translate the message for the McClouds and only goes to help Nina when four thugs sent by the mind-controlling villain track her down. The drug allows Nina to hear thoughts of those around her, but the translated message says she must find the antidote in three days or she will die. Well-developed main characters and a complicated, fast-paced plot help the book, but repetitive elements of mind-control, goon squads, and predictable sex scenes do little to distinguish this installment from others in the series. (Oct.)