OUT OF THE DARK

Readers who have come to appreciate Sala's predilection for controversial topics and her ability to skillfully convey their emotional impact will relish this but moving romantic suspense novel. Kidnapped by her upper-middle-class mother, who'd inexplicably "turned into some mushroom-smoking hippie named Ivy," six-year-old Jade Cochrane was prostituted to pedophiles following her mom's death and knew little of childhood besides life in a cult called The People of Joy. Now a gorgeous, albeit troubled, street painter in her late 20s, Jade unwittingly sets in motion a reunion with her long-lost father when she sells a painting to one of his vacationing friends. After Jade's tumultuous, highly publicized return to her loving father's arms, former cult members get wind of her whereabouts and threaten the seeming safety and happiness she's finally found with her father and kind-hearted security expert Luke Kelly. The use of flashbacks lends credibility to Jade's past and helps flesh out her character. Although Sala (Dark Water, etc.) has the tendency to overstate her points, which is evidenced by the book's de trop epilogue, she handles the sensitive issue of Jade's past with skill, never allowing her story to descend into melodrama. In short, this is the perfect entertainment for those looking for a suspense novel with emotional intensity. (Oct.)