FLIRTING WITH DANGER

In Suzanne Enoch's first foray into contemporary fiction, she delivers a light hearted, romantic suspense novel that proves to be light on suspense and big on romance.

Samantha Jellicoe, world renown cat burglar, is hired to steal a rare, ancient tablet from billionaire businessman Richard Addison. Despite her best laid plans, things do not go according to plan as she is discovered first by a security guard and then by Addison. The evening further deteriorates for her as a bomb is detonated in the art gallery. Samantha knocks Richard out of the way and manages to drag him to safety before disappearing into the night.

Despite her failure to acquire the ancient tablet and her heroic actions in saving Richard Addison, Samantha quickly becomes the prime, and only, suspect in the crime. Knowing that she cannot clear her name alone, she drops in on Richard Addison one evening to solicit his help in finding the real perpetrator of the crime. Relectantly he agrees and an unlikely partnership is formed.

The chemistry between Richard and Samantha is instantaneous, the trust between then takes a bit longer. As possible suspects continue to wind up dead and all signs of guilt continue to point towards Samantha, it takes all of Samantha's cunning and power to ferret out the truth.

Losely based on the Hitchcock classic, "To Catch a Thief" Enoch's character straddle a fine line between being victims and criminals. The boundary between law abiding citizen and lawless citizen is blurred in the quest for the truth. Richard is torn between judgment of Samantha's chosen career path and knowledge that his dealings are not always on the right side of the law. The characters do not want sympathy though, they are both secure in their choices, both the good and the bad ones.

Of course in the end, the mystery is solved and the hero and heroine are left to enjoy their momentary happily ever after.

Readers looking for a well developed, suspensful story may be disappointed in the novel's clear focus on the characters rather than the mystery. Readers looking for a brief escape in a light hearted romantic tale with a touch of suspense will probably be satisfied, in which case they will be please to discover that Richard and Samantha crime catching partnership continues on in three additional books.