Texas Ranger Crawford Hunt is not only having a bad day,
but a bad life. After the death of his wife four years
previously, he let his late wife's parents take his young
daughter, as he was not in any condition to take care of a
young child. Now, however, he wants his daughter back, but
his ex in-laws are taking him to court over custody. His
whole future lies in the hands of Judge Holly Spencer.
While in court, and just before Judge Spencer hands down
her verdict, however, a gunman bursts into the courtroom.
After killing a deputy, he aims for the judge. Crawford
saves her, then goes after the gunman, who is killed by
police on the rooftop during a shoot-out.
Holly Spencer has moved to Prentiss, Texas, after the
governor appointed her to a Judgeship vacancy. She is up
for re-election, and her adversary for the position is a
lawyer who doesn't mind playing dirty. She certainly
doesn't need any drama in what looks to be a fairly routine
custody hearing. After the attack in her courtroom, she
learns that the man who was killed in the shoot-out may not
be the actual gunman from the courtroom. When she realizes
she may still have someone out there trying to hurt her,
she turns to Crawford for assistance. Together they do
what the police are not willing to do, which is investigate
the case fully and dig for the real culprit.
There is certainly no shortage of action and suspense in
FRICTION. Sandra Brown has kept up the roll she's been on
the last few years of giving readers quality suspenseful
thrillers. Crawford Hunt is a decent guy in a bad
situation, and Holly Spencer needs to keep her nose clean
to win her re-election. All that goes out the window when
they have to deal with a hard headed, incompetent and
unethical police detective, a vengeful ex father-in-law, a
backstabbing lawyer, and a bad guy looking to make both of
their lives miserable. FRICTION is an exciting story with
nice action and suspense, and with a couple of decent
twists at the end. Where the book threatened to lose me,
however, was the characterization of the secondary
players. Virtually every one of them were cliché and
stereotypical; unprofessional and buffoonish caricatures. The
sheer power of the entertaining story overcame these nits,
and FRICTION was a roller coaster of exciting reading all
the way to the end.
FRICTION is a very good read, and Sandra Brown continues to
deliver intriguing and thrilling reads. Crawford and Holly
take on a harrowing investigation; leaving the reader
rooting for them to get to the bottom of the mystery. The
couple discover each other along the way, and the romance
that brews between them is steamy and fast. FICTION is a
recommended read, both for longtime fans of Sandra Brown.
For those who have never read her before, it's a good place
to start.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra
Brown comes a gripping story of family ties and forbidden
attraction.
Crawford Hunt wants his daughter back. Following the
death of his wife four years ago, Crawford, a Texas Ranger,
fell into a downward spiral that left him relegated to desk
work and with his five-year-old daughter Georgia in the
custody of her grandparents. But Crawford has cleaned up his
act, met all the court imposed requirements, and now the
fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer.
Holly, ambitious and confident, temporarily occupies the
bench of her recently deceased mentor. With an election
upcoming, she must prove herself worthy of making her
judgeship permanent. Every decision is high-stakes.
Despite Crawford's obvious love for his child and his
commitment to being an ideal parent, Holly is wary of his
checkered past. Her opinion of him is radically changed when
a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the custody
hearing. Crawford reacts instinctively, saving Holly from a
bullet.
But his heroism soon takes on the taint of recklessness.
The cloud over him grows even darker after he uncovers a
horrifying truth about the courtroom gunman and realizes
that the unknown person behind the shooting remains at large
. . .and a threat.
Catching the real culprit becomes a personal fight for
Crawford. But pursuing the killer in his customary diehard
fashion will jeopardize his chances of gaining custody of
his daughter, and further compromise Judge Holly Spencer,
who needs protection not only from an assassin, but from
Crawford himself and the forbidden attraction between them.
FRICTION will keep you on the edge of your seat with
breathtaking plot twists and the unforgettable characters
that make Sandra Brown one of the world's best-loved
authors. It is an extraordinary novel about the powerful
ties that bind us to the ones we love and the secrets we
keep to protect them.