Out of Nowhere - Hardcover

Mortman, Doris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1575663015 ISBN 13: 9781575663012

Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp, 1998

Synopsis

Amanda Maxwell, a forensic photographer for the New York City police department, launches her own investigation into the death of her father, the head of a powerful investment firm, and finds her life depends two very different men.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

A skillful manipulator of the heartstrings, bestseller Mortman (The Lucky Ones) adds a thriller dimension and some convincing details to her latest romantic novel. Amanda Maxwell, a slim beauty who coolly photographs corpses for the NYPD, came by her sangfroid the hard way. Born Erica Baird, she was forced to disappear into the Witness Security Program (WITSEC) at age nine, when her mother, Cynthia, testified at two trials to avenge the death of Erica's Uncle Ken, a drug enforcement agent. Not even Erica's father, Lionel Baird, whom Cynthia had divorced, could know that Erica and Cynthia survived the firebombing of their Miami house, staged by the U.S. Marshall as cover. After two decades of shadowy self-invention, described in harrowing detail by Mortman, Amanda leaves her mother and cuts the WITSEC umbilicus for a new life in ManhattanAnot coincidentally the home of her father. Super-rich, in the throes of his third divorce, Lionel is a tough-minded mover and shaker, but he still grieves for his supposedly lost child. Mortman captures the nuances of father-daughter relationships. Amanda (dubbed Max by her cop colleagues) and Lionel are mistaken for lovers as they rediscover each other over expensive dinners. The confusion suits Max. She has left WITSEC but not its mindset, and she's still aware that there are drug lords and mobsters who would close in for the kill if they knew her identity. Meanwhile, she struggles with her erotic feelings for slick financier Tyler Grayson and earthy PI Jake Fowler, men of mystery themselves, unnervingly linked to her past. Trusting the wrong one could cost more than a broken heart. Amanda is a sympathetic heroine whose travails will intrigue readers of this capably plotted tale. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Best-selling Mortman (The Lucky Ones, 1997, etc. ) opens with a strong hook as divorced bank executive Cynthia Stanton and her four-year-old daughter Erica are forced to go into lifelong hiding because Cynthias given evidence about a Colombian drug cartel laundering cash in her Miami bank, a fact that has caused the death of her brother Ken, a DEA agent. Rather than be murdered by the vengeful cartel, Cynthia and Erica enter a witness protection program. Their house is blown up, supposedly with them in it, so that the Mafia will think the cartel did it (and the cartel the Mafia). Later, theyre moved anew when Erica slips, giving away dangerous facts. She and Erica are again nearly killed when Cynthia attends her own mother's funeral. By her middle 20s, Erica has become a Manhattan police photographer and wants to reveal herself to her father. More mayhem ensues, and the question arises: Is the father, now supremely wealthy, himself laundering money for the cartel? The climax suggests that Erica/Amanda has brought her father's murderer(s) to justice. But is the cartel really ready to give up on her? Possibly Mortmans best plot in yearsand set for a big promo. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1575663015
• ISBN 13: 9781575663012
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 455