Review of EYE OF THE STORM by Amy Eastlake

BooksForABuck.com, August 2006

Eye of the Storm by Amy Eastlake Private detective and ex-soldier Aila Jallay doesn't trust men. When her friend and self-defense student Carla asks Aila to serve divorce papers on Carla's difficult husband, Aila is happy to agree--and to come up with a clever way of getting through the man's defenses. But when Carla's body is found days later, victim of an apparent bicycle 'accident,' Aila realizes that the is partly to blame. Carla's husband, Roger Smyth-Cony, is running for US Senate. A divorce would look bad. A widower, though would get a sympathy vote. But Aila can't get the police to even consider the possibility of murder.

Detective Jerry Miller has no use for private detectives. They grandstand, get in the way of serious investigation, and pull him away from real work. When his boss sends him to lean on Aila and make her back off from her paranoid dreams, Jerry is happy enough to go along--until Aila shows him the photos she took--photos that picture Smyth-Cony in a very different perspective than the family man and all-around good-guy image he's presenting to the public.

Jerry provides a bit of help to Aila, under the table. But when his help explodes, the two of them become hunted outlaws.

Aila is comfortable enough battling the cops and killers who are after her. That's what she learned how to do growing up tough and in her years with the army in Iraq. Fighting her own weaknesses and the sensual temptations offered by a sexy cop, though, are something else. The longer they're on the run, the more Aila is conflicted about herself and how she feels about Jerry.

Set in the mean streets of urban Dallas and border-town Laredo, Texas, EYE OF THE STORM is a compelling story of damaged characters, growth, and one woman's attempt to do the right thing in the face of almost impossible obstacles.

In EYE OF THE STORM, BooksForABuck.com favorite author Amy Eastlake (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Amy Eastlake) combines rich emotional content with non-stop action. Eastlake's vivid depictions of both physical and emotional conflict draw the reader into the story and keep her turning the pages. Fans of romantic suspense or contemporary thrillers will definitely want to grab this one. Warning--don't start reading if you don't have some spare time--you won't want to put it down.

EYE OF THE STORM was a 2005 Finalist in the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart contest for best Romantic Suspense manuscript.

Four Stars

Reviewed 2/05/06

See also The Romance Studio review where reviewer Lynn Bushey says: "Author Amy Eastlake gives us a powerful mystery and a believable tale of emotional development."

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