Nine Lives

Sala's latest romantic thriller is a well-written, fast-paced ride, marred only by an implausibly pat resolution. Sala's protagonist, attractive Dallas bounty hunter Cat Dupree, has borne both physical and mental scars from the age of 13, the result of a savage attack by an unknown, tattooed man who left Cat with a slashed throat and a dead father. When the only close friend in her life, private secretary Marsha Benton, disappears, Cat devotes herself to confirming her suspicions: that pregnant Marsha was killed by her powerful CEO boss, with whom she'd been having an affair. Cat finds help in a fellow bounty hunter, a charming lady's man named Wilson McKay, but her all-business, go-it-alone style means the growing romantic feelings between them aren't exactly a welcome distraction. A twisted trail of clues and danger take them over the Mexican border and through the desert before Cat can get justice for her friend, but the conclusion turns on an unbelievable and utterly predictable coincidence, a frustrating move in an otherwise rousing formula piece. (Nov.)