The Switch - Hardcover

Brown, Sandra

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446527033 ISBN 13: 9780446527033

Publisher: Warner Books, 2000

Synopsis

From #1 bestselling author Sandra Brown. After her twin sister's brutal murder, a young woman teams up with a NASA astronaut who is working to clear his name—together they must track down a killer whose lethal plans are far from over.

Identical twins Melina and Gillian Lloyd haven't considered switching places since childhood. So when Melina proposes that Gillian take her place as a media escort to NASA astronaut Col. "Chief" Hart, she refuses ... at first.

The following morning Melina receives terrible news: her sister has been brutally murdered—and Chief, though innocent, is the prime suspect. He and Melina are determined to find the killer, a megalomaniac who's nearly unstoppable—and out for blood.

Now, with targets on their backs, they must work together to learn the truth behind Gillian's death—before they become the killer's next victims.

About this title

About the Author

Sandra Brown is the author of seventy-seven New York Times bestsellers, including Blood Moon, Out of Nowhere, Overkill, Blind Tiger, Thick As Thieves, Seeing Red, Outfox, Tailspin, Sting and Mean Streak. Writing professionally since 1981, Brown has published over eighty novels and has upwards of eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide. Her work has been translated into thirty-four languages. Brown holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Texas Christian University, where she instituted the Excellence in Literary Fiction, or ELF, a scholarship awarded annually to a creative writing student. She has served as president of Mystery Writers of America, and in 2008 she was named Thriller Master, the top award given by the International Thriller Writer’s Association. Other honors include the Texas Medal of Arts Award for Literature and the Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

From the Back Cover

From Sandra Brown, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Alibi, comes another riveting novel of suspense, revenge, and illusion -- where a labyrinth of twists and turns culminates in a final, stunning revelation....

It isn't the first time that identical twins Gillian and Melina Lloyd have switched identities. Yet it's the first time as adults that they've even considered the childhood prank. Melina, the more impetuous twin, proposes that her circumspect sister take her place as a media escort to NASA astronaut and national hero Colonel Christopher "Chief" Hart.

Although it's an enticing offer, Gillian declines for a very personal reason -- she's preoccupied with whether or not the artificial insemination she underwent that day will be successful. Besides, she warns Melina, such a switch could have unexpected consequences.

Media-savvy Chief turns out to be an easy assignment for Melina -- in fact the evening with him is as much pleasure as business. But the following morning police arrive at Melina's door with the worst possible news: her beloved twin has been brutally murdered in her own bed. And on the walls, scrawled in blood, are obscenities directed at Gillian, along with insults toward Native Americans that indisputably link Chief to the crime.

Dissatisfied with the official police investigation, Chief and Melina form a grudging alliance, strike out on their own ... and find themselves uncovering more questions than answers. Mistrusting even the authorities claiming to protect them, on the run with their lives in danger, the two are soon following a crooked and bloody trail that inexplicably leads to Gillian's attempt to conceive a child... and to the threshold ofan inner sanctum, where a megalomaniac hatches horrific schemes and lies in wait for Gillian's replacement, her identical twin -- Melina.

A book that reveals the powerful, almost mystical bond between twins -- a bond that extends beyond the grave and compels a woman to go to almost impossible lengths to avenge her sister -- THE SWITCH defies every prediction.

Reviews

With some 60 novels, including 40-plus bestsellers already to her credit, it seems a sure bet that this new romantic thriller will not blemish Brown's phenomenal track record. On a whim, the same day she is artificially inseminated at a Dallas fertility clinic, Gillian Lloyd switches places with her identical twin sister, Melina, a professional celebrity escort assigned to chauffeur astronaut Col. Christopher Hart (or "Chief," as he is called by his NASA cohorts because his mother was a Native American). It's lust at first sight. Swept away by Chief, Gillian is caught up in a marathon frenzy of lovemaking in his hotel room. Slipping out in the wee hours of the night, she is found brutally butchered in her own bed the next morning. From an obscene blood-smeared scrawl on the bedroom wall, her sister realizes that the killing was related to Gillian's love tryst with the astronaut. Hours later, the killer, an employee at the fertility clinic, commits suicide. The resulting investigation connects him to Brother Gabriel, the charismatic, egomaniacal leader of a powerful TV religious cult who is mysteriously linked in turn to artificial insemination clinics nationwide. Determined to avenge Gillian's murder, Melina and Chief become the targets of professional assassins masquerading as FBI agents. Potential witnesses are murdered as the trail eventually leads the pair (now fighting to keep their hands off each other) cross-country to Brother Gabriel's mountain stronghold in the remote reaches of New Mexico. Displaying her talents for fast pacing and tricky plotting, Brown delivers one of her patented twists in the denouement, setting the scene for a breathy, rose-colored climax. 700,000 first printing; major ad/promo.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Brown's novels, which include the best-selling Alibi (1999), define the term page turner, and her latest effort, with more plot twists than San Francisco's famous Lombard Street, is no exception. It's the story of two twins, Gillian and Melina, and what happens when they switch places. Gillian, unmarried but engaged to a man who is infertile, undergoes artificial insemination. Later, to get Gillian's mind off the anxiety-producing procedure, Melina suggests Gillian pose as her. Melina is a media expert, and she has an assignment to escort a famous astronaut around town that night. The next morning, after she pulls off the switch and very much enjoys the astronaut's company, Gillian is found murdered, and authorities quickly find a suspect--it's not the astronaut. The FBI becomes involved in the case, Melina and the astronaut form their own investigative unit, and evidence leads to the charismatic leader of a strange cult immersed in some frightening project they refer to as the Program. Is the Program involved in genetically engineering babies? Things are never quite what they appear to be in this compelling thriller--up to nearly the very last page. Fans of suspense fiction will be thoroughly entertained. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Warner Books
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446527033
• ISBN 13: 9780446527033
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480