A MAN TO SLAY DRAGONS

by Meagan McKinney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1996

Historical-romancer McKinney (Fair is the Rose, 1993) sets her first contemporary story--flimsy and fast-paced--in the crime-obsessed present. A magazine ad reading ""WANTED: A man to slay dragons. Write ZOE"" attracts the immediate attention of the FBI, who see it as a clear request for a hired gun by what they suspect is an illicit operation. Hot-shot agent and hate crime specialist Liam Jameson (who's also a terminal bachelor) is put on the case and sent to Manhattan, where he tracks down beautiful attorney Claire Green--whose twin sister Zoe was the victim of a brutal rape/murder five years before. The plot thickens when Liam links Claire to Phyllis Zuckermann, the assumed leader of ZOE, a group of women working way outside the boundaries of the law, seeking permanent vengeance on the men who've attacked them or killed their loved ones. What Liam doesn't know is that Ciaire's as anti-ZOE as the FBI (though the organization was named after the mild-mannered support group that she launched). When Phyllis, her supposed best friend, alerts Claire that she's ""won the lottery,"" meaning Zoe's killer is next on ZOE's hit-list, Claire decides to find her sister's killer herself before ZOE takes matters into its own unpredictable hands. Liam, desperate to unmask ZOE (and attracted to Claire), follows her to Louisiana on his own crime-solving mission; once in Claire's hometown New Orleans, all paths lead to J. Everard Laborde's creepy mansion on Exposition Boulevard, headquarters of the all-male 555 Association--an exclusive lunch club cum whorehouse--whose back rooms hold the clues to more than Zoe's murder. Rest assured that the mystery's solved--and Everard's days numbered--once Claire and Liam join forces. A mish-mash of settings, characters you've met before, a motivationless killer--and a quick, fun, silly pleasure to read.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1996

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Kensington

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1995

Categories: FICTION