Countdown (Eve Duncan Series #6) »

While Iris Johansen's style has evolved over the years, the same skill that made her "one of the leading authors of romance fiction" (Barbara Kemp) has helped establish her reputation in a broader field. As Catherine Coulter noted, "Iris Johansen is a bestselling author for the best reason -- she's a wonderful storyteller."

When it reaches zero, you die.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen sets her readers pulses racing once again in this relentless psychological thriller of a young woman caught in a maze of secrets and stalked by a merciless killer. The countdown begins the moment you open this riveting novel that only grows more electrifying as the pages turn, more exciting as time runs out

"Don t kill her. She s no good to us dead." These words haunt Jane MacGuire after a shocking attack shatters her world in an instant. Was it a random kidnapping attempt or the countdown to something far more sinister?

Who is after her and what do they want so badly they ll kill anyone in their way? That s what Jane is determined to find out, without the help of the police, the FBI, or her adoptive parents, forensic sculptor Eve Duncan and her husband, Joe Quinn, of the Atlanta PD because whoever is after her won t hesitate to hurt those she loves the most....

Publishers Weekly

Prolific bestseller Johansen subjects gutsy Jane Maguire to more troubles in her latest thrill ride. Jane, the adopted daughter of forensic sculptor Eve Duncan, was threatened by one serial killer in 1999's The Killing Game and another in 2004's Blind Alley, so it's no surprise that she's in danger again. The once troubled adolescent is now a brilliant Harvard student and talented artist who spends her summers at far-off archeological digs in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but she's still haunted by her resemblance to Cira, a woman who lived 2,000 years ago in the latter city. Suddenly she's being ambushed in alleys. Does the attempted kidnapping have something to do with Blind Alley's climax, in which Eve; her husband, Joe Quinn of the Atlanta PD; soldier of fortune Mark Trevor; and Jane, the bait, triumphed over the psychopath who was killing women who looked like Cira? You bet it does, as Trevor turns up in Cambridge, enigmatic but still definitely magnetic, determined to protect Jane from danger due to new developments regarding Cira, "the femme fatale of the ancient world." Seems all kinds of notorious criminals are after Cira's lost gold, but some people have mass murder on their minds. Action, romance, castles, bomb plots and a booby-trapped hideaway in snowbound Idaho-what more could Johansen fans want? Agent, Andrea Cirillo at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.