Copyright 2002 by Lisa Gardner, Inc. Published by Bantam Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

A serial rapist was on the loose in Providence RI, with at least three victims: Meg Pesaturo, a young college coed with a mobster uncle, Carol Rosen, a thirtyish housewife with a workaholic husband, and Jillian Hayes, an older businesswoman with a younger coed sister. Meg and Carol were both brutally raped. Jillian was brutally beaten when she arrived too late to save her raped and murdered sister, but not too late to miss the rapist altogether. Jillian organized the three into The Survivors Club, became its spokesperson and all three pushed the police to find the rapist.

And the police did find the rapist, largely through his use of latex medical bindings in all of his rapes. Good police work found the common link: all of the rape victims had donated blood. Eventually a worker at the blood donation center was identified and charged and his guild was confirmed by DNA. His name was Eddie Como, aka “The College Hill Rapist.” After months of investigation and legal wrangling, Eddie was finally going to have his day in court. The press was ready, the court was ready and The Survivors Club was ready. But Eddie never made it into the courtroom.

Eddie’s head was blown off by a professional assassin who was perched on the roof of a nearby building. Goodbye, College Hill Rapist. But who ordered and paid for the assassination? And who put the bomb in the car that killed the assassin 15 minutes later? Those were the questions facing Roan Griffin, a state police sergeant who was returning from leave following the traumatic death of his wife from cancer and the arrest of his neighbor and friend, David Price, for the rape and murder of 10 young children. Tough case for a guy coming back from that kind of trauma, but Griffin held it together.

The obvious suspects were The Survivors Club women, most notably Meg, the young woman with organized crime ties. But the others were all suspects too. As was Eddie’s widowed baby mama who sued the city for wrongful death of Eddie – $50 million was a strong financial motive. But she was adamant that Eddie was with her on the nights of some of the rapes. And, after his death, other evidence emerged that suggested that Eddie might, in fact, be innocent, despite the solid DNA evidence. What the heck was going on?

I found the plot to be fascinating, the characters to be very well defined – something Gardner is very good at. And the twists were deep and, in some cases, unexpected. A very satisfying read.

8 out of 10.

Copyright 2003 by Myn Pyn LLC. Published by St Martin’s Press, New York.

Robert Ludlum, best known for the series of books and movies featuring Jason Bourne, wrote a lot of other books before his death in 2001 And he wrote this one AFTER his death. Obviously, there was an unfinished manuscript and someone, under the direction of his estate, completed the novel. That co-author is not named. But the book must have been nearly finished as it certainly reads like an authentic Ludlum novel.

Ludlum writes adventure stories. Lots of action, lots of suspense. The kind of story that would be perfect for a series of short stories, each ending in a cliffhanger. This is not my favorite kind of book – I much prefer mysteries. But I was captivated by the story and reading the book was not a chore.

The setting is early World War II. Germany had conquered most of western Europe, including France. The book opens in occupied Paris where Daniel Eigen, a rich playboy, hobnobs with married women and German officers. He says he is from Argentina and everyone seems to buy it. But in fact he is an American spy, real name Stephen Metcalfe, with a lost love in Moscow – a prima ballerina who has become the concubine of a German officer stationed there (Germany and the Soviet Union were allies).

When Eigen’s (i.e., Metcalfe’s) cover is compromised in Paris – his colleagues are killed and he narrowly escapes the same fate – he is given a new, ultra-secret and ultra-important job: feed counterfeit Soviet military documents to the Germans via his ballerina lover who just happens to be the daughter of a Russian general.

This plot has many twists, including betrayals (hence the title) and death-defying escapes. It kept my interest. But it wasn’t a mystery.

7 out of 10