Quick Looks: First You Run

First You Run
By Roxanne St. Claire

The Premise: Adrien Fletcher, one of the elite group of bodyguards employed by the very selective, very expensive agency known as the Bullet Catchers, is using some of his well earned time off to help an old friend and fellow investigator track down a baby girl given up for adoption thirty years ago. The problem is that it was a black market adoption, and the only clue to her identity is a tiny tattoo somewhere on her body. Since Fletch, as his friends call him, is truly gifted at getting women to take off their clothes, he’s the perfect man for the job. The twist? The mother who gave up her child all those years ago is dying of leukemia – in prison – and needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. Since Fletch’s buddy Jack is convinced that the woman was framed for a murder she didn’t commit, he takes on the case for free. But time is running out, and there may be a killer on the loose who wants the past to stay buried. Enter Dr. Miranda Lang, gifted anthropologist and newly published author, who is as lovely as she is brilliant and who has no idea she was actually adopted. But she’s on Fletch and Jack’s short list of potential women who could be the missing baby, so Fletch has the unhappy task of trying to find the tattoo and potentially throwing Miranda’s whole world out of whack. But wait – there’s another complicating factor: Miranda’s book debunks a popular end-of-the-world myth, and it looks like a bunch of fanatics are trying to kill her. Or is it really all a part of the same plot that put her birth mother in jail? Fletch has to think fast and both he and Miranda have to make some tough decisions, not the least of which is whether or not to give in to their growing attraction for each other.

What I liked: I liked both Fletch and Miranda quite a bit. Their relationship developed nicely and they had good chemistry. Also, the Maya history and mythology was interesting and well integrated into the story; the quasi-religious fanaticism of the Armageddon Movement and their motivation was believable. The pace was good and the secondary characters were very vivid, even those that only appeared briefly.

What I didn’t like: I felt that Fletch agonized a bit too much and Miranda was a little too stubborn about facing the reality of what was going on, but this didn’t slow the pace of the story. Since I’ve never been known for my patience this could just be me.

Overall: A fun, sexy romantic suspense story. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys Cherry Adair’s T-FLAC agents or Jayne Anne Krentz and the Arcane Society. In fact, I came to work this morning and immediately ordered the rest of the Bullet Catcher series for the romance collection!