Secrets and Lies

November 6, 2006
Montgomery readers will be pleased to find shadowy supporting character Sebastian Caine, last seen in Hidden Sins
, starring in her latest sexy thriller. A self-described "recovery specialist" (read: thief), Sebastian thinks breaking into the South American home of wealthy antiquities collector Felix Estrada is a simple assignment. But things get complicated quickly when he finds Estrada at home, lying in a pool of blood. Estrada's last breath is a plea for Caine to take care of his "cat"—but a search of the home reveals neither the manuscript Sebastian was hired to recover nor Estrada's wayward feline. Caine soon discovers that "cat" is really sexy ethnobotanist Dr. Katelyn Lyda, the old man's niece. Deducing she has the sought-after manuscript, and suspecting that she killed her uncle to get it, Caine tracks down the feisty, frightened Kat in the foothills of the Andes. Despite mutual mistrust, the two become allies after thugs threaten both their lives. As they endeavor to solve Estrada's murder and learn the secrets (and cash value) of a 500-year-old text, the sparks—both romantic and ballistic—don't disappoint. Montgomery has a winning pair in morally flexible Sebastian and principled Kat, and the tropical gauntlet she runs them through is twisty and satisfying.