Hot-Julia Harper

Hot
Julia Harper
Grand Central, Jan 2008, $6.99
ISBN 9780446619172

When the First Wisconsin Bank of Winosha, Wisconsin is robbed by Yoda and SpongeBob SquarePants, part-time teller and librarian Turner Hastings sees the chaos as a chance to steal the items the bank president Calvin Hyman has locked away in his safety deposit box. She expects to find proof that odious ambitious Hyman is embezzling money from the bank. Under oath Hyman accused Turn’s Uncle Rusty of committing the crimes that he was arrested and convicted for.

After capturing the two idiots in the masks, FBI Special Agent John MacKinnon pursues Turner who he assumes is a chip off her uncle’s block. As she flees on the back roads of Wisconsin accompanied by Hyman’s Great Dane that he says she kidnapped while she insists she saved, the cop follows her. As they talk by cell phone, an attraction begins to form. John, who never let anyone get away, soon finds himself protecting his beloved enemy from a professional hired by Hyman who wants her dead before she use what she found.

For most of this delightful crime caper, the story line is fast-paced and jocular as John begins to change his mind about the felon he pursues. Impish tantalizing Turner and stalwart jocular John have always adhered by the rules, but in their cat and mouse frolic across rural Wisconsin, all the regulations are broken. Filled with terrific twists, fans will appreciate Julia Harper’s HOT thriller.

Harriet Klausner