Final Target - Hardcover

Johansen, Iris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0333906799 ISBN 13: 9780333906798

Publisher: Bantam Books, 2001

Synopsis

Five CDs, 6 hrs.
Performance by Carolyn McCormick
No sooner does Melissa Delgado arrive at her sister's isolated Virginia country home than she finds herself drawn into a drama she never expected. Years earlier her sister, the renowned Dr. Jessie Delgado, pulled Melissa out of the darkness of severe catatonic trauma. Now Jessie is attempting to do the same for the daughter of the president of the United States.

The last thing young Cassie Andrews saw was an organized team of thieves ruthlessly murder her nanny and the Secret Service officers assigned to protect her—in an attempt to steal the priceless statue of the Wind Dancer, whose possession is fabled to determine the fate of nations.

It's Melissa who turns out to be the key in bringing Cassie back from the depths of her terrifying nightmares. But to do so, she must risk her own safety and place her trust in a mysterious, charismatic man.

Michael Gage made his fortune in the international underworld. He risked his own life to save Cassie during that night of terrible bloodshed. And he has secretly agreed to help the U.S. President get his revenge. But why? Doe he really want to help or does he have an ulterior motive? Is his show of concern a dangerous charade?

Melissa has no choice but to accept Michael Gage as an ally—even when he proposes a dangerous plan that will put all their lives on the line. For far away from the safety of Virginia, an international game of deadly intrigue is underway. It is a game of powerful and dangerous underworld figures who specialty is getting what they want—and whose means to do it is murder. And it is the game of one killer who is obsessed with the very thing at the heart of Cassie's nightmares: the enigmatic, invaluable statue called the Wind Dancer.

About this title

Review:

Jessica Riley is a psychiatrist whose experience with catatonic trauma is personal as well as professional: she brought her beloved sister Melissa back from total mental withdrawal with her patience and skill. When the daughter of the president retreats into blankness after seeing her nanny and her Secret Service protector murdered, Jessica is summoned to treat the little girl. Although Jessica can't reach into her young patient's frightened mind, Melissa can--and only Melissa understands why Cassie's so afraid. When Michael Travis, the mysterious and not totally benign stranger who rescued Cassie from the kidnap-assassination that traumatized her, arrives at Jessica's Virginia estate, he's able to stop the child's nightmares long enough for Melissa to join Cassie in her self-imposed darkness and pull her back into the light. But the price he asks for his continued presence is one that Jessica, Melissa, and the president may not be able to meet. Is he an ally or an enemy? Even Melissa isn't sure--and her complicated feelings for Travis and Cassie are especially tortured because her unusual gifts allow her to see a bloody future for both of them, one she may not be able to prevent.

Iris Johansen (The Killing Game, The Search) ratchets up the suspense in this fast-moving thriller, which ranges across international borders from Washington to Amsterdam to Paris with the help of Air Force One and Two. While the president isn't very satisfactorily developed except as a frightened father who'll do almost anything to save his daughter, Travis and Melissa are fascinating characters who linger in the mind after the last explosive page; hopefully, Johansen will revisit them in a future adventure. Meanwhile, this is her best and most engaging read in years. --Jane Adams

From the Back Cover:

"Johansen's fans will enjoy the swirling plot lines, staccato dialogue and abrupt scene shifts that mark her style."
-- Publishers Weekly

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0333906799
• ISBN 13: 9780333906798
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1