UNLAWFUL CONTACT

Author: Pamela Clare ISBN: 9780425217627 4/2008 SUSPENSE Publisher: BERKLEY SENSATION

Journalist Sophie Alton is investigating the disappearance of a young mother named Megan, recently paroled and now running from the law with her baby daughter. Sophie's search leads her to Megan's brother, Marc, a convicted killer—and the man she shared an unforgettable night with twelve years ago. Condemned to life in prison, Marc uses Sophie to escape so he can find his sister and protect her from the monster who's pursuing her. Sophie knows she should fear Marc. But the heat and hunger of his touch still lingers in her mind—and her body—after all this time. Together they will follow a dangerous trail, as people on both sides of the law do everything they can to keep Sophie and Marc from finding Megan—and a shocking truth about the past.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Pamela Clare writes a thrilling, captivating suspense novel in her latest I-Team series novel, UNLAWFUL CONTACT.

Sophie Alton writes for The Denver Independent and is part of their investigative team. She's been working on a series about pregnant women in jail and has grown close to her source, Megan. But as Sophie goes to meet Megan and her seven-month-old baby, Emily, she finds that both are on the run and Megan has fallen back into her old drug-using habits.

From the penitentiary, Marc Hunter finds out about his sister and knows he has to find Megan before it's too late. So he requests an interview with Sophie in order to break out of jail. Sophie doesn't recognize that Marc Hunter is Hunt, the boy she lost her virginity to years before, and is angered by him using her to get out of jail. But that does nothing to dampen the attraction that both feel for each other. Now, they have to work together to find Megan and Emily before a killer from Megan's past finds her first, all the while fighting strong feelings along the way.

I loved this novel! Pamela Clare writes the world of investigative journalism so well, probably because it was her world for so many years (and may still be, though I am not sure). Sophie is a smart, clever, career woman who, through her work, tries to help a young woman, Megan, but instead is drawn in by Marc Hunter and his own desperate search for his sister. I loved that as Sophie and Marc uncovered the clues to the mystery, so did I. The look into the lives of those in jail and how they are often times mistreated and abused is both gritty and heart-wrenching, especially the story of Megan and all that she endured while jailed as a juvenile. It was great seeing at the end how everything was interconnected, even when it seemed that it wasn't.

The love story between Sophie and Marc was especially great. Throughout the book, Sophie struggled with her feelings for Marc in knowing who he is on paper and experiencing who he is in person, then putting that against who Marc had been all those years before when she had a crush on him and he became her first. And Marc, having accepted his lot in life, knows that he will only hurt Sophie, but cannot keep away from her as she has stayed in his memory for years after their first intimate encounter as teenagers. A love story between a free woman and a convicted murderer who is to spend the rest of his life in jail is great because going from one extreme, jail, to the other, freedom, is a long journey but one that seems short in this very fast-paced novel.

Lucky for us readers, Clare says she will write these stories as long as readers want them! I can't wait for her next release in this brilliant series. Readers who enjoy romantic suspense novels will love UNLAWFUL CONTACT by Pamela Clare, as it has great characters, a wonderful storyline with different connecting plots, and a happy ending for a couple that has many obstacles that they must surmount together.

Maame Kanbi