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White Heat Reviewed By Monique Burkes of Bookpleasures.com
- By Monique Burkes
- Published July 28, 2010
- Crime & Mystery
Monique Burkes
Reviewer Monique Burkes. Monique is a transplant to Columbia, SC who simply loves to read. She reads with her 2 young daughters and finds time for reading "treats" for her own pleasure as well! To know more about Monique, click on her Blog.
View all articles by Monique Burkes
Author: Brenda Novak
Publisher: Mira Books
ISBN:
978-0-773-83-2795-0
Click Here To Purchase White Heat
A dangerous cult has recently taken
over the desert ghost town of Paradise, Arizona. Members worship at
the feet - and in the bed - of its charismatic leader, Ethan Wycliff,
and obey his orders blindly. They've already tried to murder one
woman and they're implicated in the disappearance of another.
Nate
Ferrentino, who works for private security contractor Department 6,
has been assigned to infiltrate this group. It's a challenge he
welcomes - until he learns that colleague Rachel Jessop will be going
undercover with him. Thanks to their shared history, he'd much rather
go alone….
The problem is, only married couples can participate
in cult rituals. So, like it or not - and they don't - Rachel and
Nate must pretend to be husband and wife.
There's no choice.
Because if Wycliff isn't exposed, if he isn't stopped, more people
will die. And Rachel might be one of them.
Brenda
Novak isn't kidding with this book. Ethan Wycliff is the dazzling
religious leader of the Church of the Covenant which has raised
suspicious all over town after the attempted stoning of one of their
women – for sleeping with her husband. Another young woman has gone
missing and her parents aren't leaving the Covenanters alone until
they find her.
In steps Department 6 – a group of retired
special forces men and women, police officers, and investigators,
where both Rachel and Nate work. Rachel has a massive crush on Nate
and they've never had to work the same case because of it. And Nate
isn't as indifferent to Rachel as he has lead her to believe. Oh, did
I mention that Nate is Rachel's boss?
They immediately travel
to Paradise, AZ, an isolated town in the middle of the desert, where
the cult is located and Rachel is brought into the cult. The danger
is that this group believes in both drugs and indiscriminate sex, and
Rachel may have to participate in both in order to fit in.
The
people in this cult are C-R-A-Z-Y. I don't know how this book could
have been written any better. The descriptions are realistic, the
twists and turns are amazing and never what you'd guess, and the way
the leaders of the cult are able to attract members just blows my
mind. Seriously – there are group out there just like this one, and
they have got to prey on some weakness in a person's life in order to
assert so much control over them.
Consider that the cult was
formed by some frat brothers, on a whim, while in the woods one day,
and it now has about 200 followers all living inside the compound and
following their rules and laws. And that they believe that this is
the way to get to heaven. And that they sleep around – because it's
sanctioned by God. This is a doozy!
BUT, the best part is the
on-again off-again relationship between Nate and Rachel. Nate isn't
ready for a relationship after the way his last one ended, and Rachel
is so over Nate that it doesn't bother her a bit that they're living
as man and wife. Or so she says.
White Heat was released July 27th, and is the first book in the trilogy. Body
Heat will be released in September. And Killer Heat will be released
in October. I can't wait to read the next two books. You can read
Chapter 1 of each book at the links provided.
Brenda Novak and
her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of
five children -- three girls and two boys. She juggles her writing
career with her children's basketball and soccer games, field trips,
carpool runs and homework sessions.
When she's not spending time
with her family or writing, Brenda is usually working on her annual
fundraiser for diabetes research -- an online auction held at her Web
site. Her youngest son, Thad, has diabetes, and Brenda is determined
to help him and others like him. She also enjoys traveling, watching
sporting events and biking -- she rides an amazing 20 miles every
day!