SNOW ANGEL

For Julia Larsen, a star television reporter, this holiday season was supposed to heal all the wounds between her and her family. But instead she finds her parents, the former governor of California and his wife, have been senselessly murdered, and all at once her life is thrown into turmoil.
Standing by Julia's side is the devilishly handsome Matt Hinson, a longtime family friend and the man to whom she has always been attracted. At first Julia resists any temptation Matt presents, still hoping she can work out the differences between herself and her estranged husband, Tom.
But soon Julia cannot resist Matt's charms, and she falls completely under his spell. Then the worst happens. Matt is arrested for the murders, and Julia throws herself into defending the one man she can be sure is innocent. Amid a media circus, the trial of the century begins.
Against a spectacular background, as prosecution and defense pull out all the stops and as TV and newspapers spread truth and rumor, Julia is caught in a war between searing passion and chilling doubt. Is Matt the psychopath the police believe he is, or has this mountain of evidence been somehow fabricated?

Love, vengeance and psychopathy lead to the bloody double murder that opens this fast-moving if far-fetched debut thriller from a veteran writer for daytime soaps (General Hospital, etc.). After fatally stabbing and shooting his neighbors, a former California governor and his wife, in their remote Mariposa home days before Christmas, an exhilarated Matt Hinson slips away through the hills in snowshoes. He is on hand at the funeral to deliver a moving eulogy and to comfort the victims' daughter, Julia, his longtime obsession. Matt cleverly worms his way into Julia's heart by writing her poems about angels, enticing her with fabricated stories of her dead mother, befriending her young daughter, Molly, and, the coup de grace, by having passionate sex with her?something her husband has been unwilling to do since her mastectomy. When Matt is arrested for the murders, Julia, a writer and former TV reporter, becomes his most ardent and outspoken defender. But she will eventually learn the disturbing truth?and the mortal danger she has brought on herself. Racina spins a highly cinematic tale set against dramatic backdrops, from the snowy hills of Mariposa to a San Francisco skyscraper to the falls at Yosemite. The plot strains belief, and some of its twists are predictable. But the immoral, somewhat quixotic Matt is a memorable villain who generates considerable suspense by making readers wonder what, exactly, he will dare to do next.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A second novel from Racina (The Great L.A. Blizzard, 1977) offers a busily plotted tale of obsessive love run nastily amok. We first meet gorgeous Matt Hinson in a snowstorm, gearing up to murder a beloved elderly couple as a ploy to win the love of their daughter Julia, inconveniently married to someone else. He accomplishes the deed with relish, disappearing on snowshoes only minutes before Julia arrives to discover the carnage. At the funeral, Matt delivers a sugary eulogy--and turns his calculating green eyes on the object of his desire. Luckily for him, Julia's marriage is in trouble: A recent mastectomy has ruined the couple's sex life, and husband Tom has withdrawn into his work. While Julia and seven-year-old daughter Molly hang around her dead parents' home and cavort in the snow with Matt (Tom's gone back to his San Francisco office), investigators are racking up evidence. Julia and Matt spend a passionate night together; the next day, he's charged with the double murder. Throughout the trial, Julia is his most ardent defender. She gets a volume of his sensitive poetry published, lobbies tirelessly for his release, and separates from her husband. Tom has three weeks of therapy, recognizes his faults and overcomes them, and tries to get his wife back. He reads some computer disks he's swiped from her desk, and learns that Matt unwittingly revealed to Julia his involvement in the murders. Matt, just released from prison, goes to Julia's penthouse to celebrate; she attempts revenge by shoving him off a balcony. But he survives to take her hostage, and heads for Yosemite to kill her, though fortunately the new, improved Tom is in pursuit. Meantime, shallow and unpleasant main characters and clumsy technical effects (Matt's whole trial, for instance, is reported via newspaper clips and TV transcripts) bog things down; the graphic sex is more unpleasant than titillating. Lurid, unbelievable, and thoroughly tedious. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

On a cold, snowy night before Christmas, Matthew Hinson seeks revenge for past insults as he stabs to death former California governor Harry Radcliffe and his wife, Martha, in their posh mountain retreat. Julia Larsen, their daughter and the love of Matt's life, is only minutes from finding her parents' bodies as she and daughter Molly arrive for the holidays. After delivering a heartfelt eulogy at their funeral, Matt (who was the murdered man's business partner) comforts Julia with manipulative skill. Recovering from a mastectomy that left emotional scars and struggling with a troubled marriage, Julia responds to his gestures. They make snow angels and passionate love before he is arrested. Throughout the media circus surrounding his trial, Julia alone attests to Matt's innocence. She even gets books of his poetry published. When Julia finally realizes the bloody truth, she devises a secret, vindictive plan that results in a chilling cliff-hanger chase from San Francisco to Yosemite. Jennifer Henderson