Best of Enemies

Sharp characterization and a tightly focused time frame (all of the action takes place in a little over 24 hours, counted off by the minute), give this intrigue a spell-binding tone of immediacy. In a quiet college town in Massachusetts, American literature professor Leya Nash nearly has her life in order when Holly Stroud, one of her students and daughter of an American foreign ambassador, turns up missing and becomes a suspect in a terrorist bombing. Then FBI agent Peter vanAken, Leya's father's enemy and the man who's held her heart hostage for 10 years, reappears from her past to question Leya about Holly. Technological and investigative procedural detail enhance the plot dynamics as Smith (Guilt by Silence), evokes a full array of heart-felt emotions and taps into that deep-seated fear that neither life nor love is predictable. Author tour. (June)