I’m back with another review of Sandra Brown and I will caution you to expect more. So here we go again.

When one of Atlanta’s top attorneys, Derek Mitchell, has a sultry midflight encounter with a stunning art gallery owner, Julie Rutledge, little does he know how their lives will forever intertwine.

Back on the ground, Derek is asked to represent the family of millionaire Paul Wheeler who was recently murdered in a brutal slaying. While Paul’s brother is only looking out for the family’s interests during the investigation, Derek senses their son, Creighton, is holding something back and declines.

And when he discovers that his mystery woman was Paul’s girlfriend, he knows the attorney client relationship is compromised and he tries to put this whole affair, and the family, behind him. But something, or someone, keeps pulling him back—Julie. She knows more than she’s letting on and may just be the key to unraveling this mystery and saving Derek from a dangerous killer who has him in his sights.

This thriller is prickly. In other words, get ready to see the darkest side of human nature represented by the villain, whom I will not reveal. But that makes it reminiscent of a Dean Koontz and shows the stretch of Sandra Brown’s talents. Building on the Smash Cut title and weaving movie lingo throughout the entire storyline are clever ways to demonstrate this killer’s unwavering need to be seen as the star of his own show, turning into a deadly obsession.

Image courtesy of Simon & Schuster