Best of Enemies

The Best of Enemies takes place in a small Massachusets town just outside of Boston. When A building gets blown up, all of the authoritative figures (Police, FBI, Secret Service...)point their fingers at a young Palestinian who had arrived at the building for a job interview and then leaves with his girl friend. Because she peels out of the parking lot like the hounds of hell on her wheels, she and the Palestinian are the immediate and most likely suspects. People find out that what they want to believe and what really happened are two completely different things. The story then turns to the girl's teacher who is grieving for Peter VanAken, the man she met and fell in love with ten years ago in Beruit. One night, he shows up out of the blue, actually working on the case, and the relationship does, as expected, continue. Leya, the teacher, however knows of one person who will not be glad to know that her former lover is back and that is her father, Carter Nash. When he finds out, that the 'evil man' who seduced his little girl is back in town, he is, to say the least, teed off. As the plot of the book unfolds, we find out that the hatred between Leya's father and her lover is mutual. Both men worked for the CIA and Carter sent Peter on an assiginment to check out some 'Suspicious activity', only to later find out that the entire thing was a setup by Carter Nash. However, they find a way to put their differences behind them in a keep you on the edge of your seat climax, where they find out that not all Palestinians are the terrorists.

This is one of those books that USA or Lifetime would snarf up for a mini-series, and it has all the ingredients: a mysterious bombing that shocks by killing off a pregnant receptionist and a crusty old guard; international intrigue and espionage during the Beirut crisis; a thirty year old lovely English professor who once had five wonderful days with a mysterious stranger in Beirut; her crusty old father with all of his secrets; a college student who is the suspect along with her Palestinian boyfriend in the aforementioned bombing; ambitious and inadequate FBI men; a dedicated and tough but kindly FBI leader; a handsome young man scorned by the aforementioned girl; his lovely Mom who owns a restaurant and seems to be having a thing with the crusty old father also aforementioned. These people whirl though several close-calls, calamities, second guesses, second chances, and some rather suspenseful scenes. All in all, it's a good read for when you don't really want to be overburdened with complexity and intricacies. Smith is to be credited, however, for a good read, a little long in the tooth, but with a good, satisfying climax.RECOMMENDED.

Leya Nash enjoys living the sedate life of a New England professor at Mount Abbey College after being raised by her CIA agent father. However, that tranquil life suddenly changes when one of her students, eighteen year old Holly Stroud, daughter of an ambassador, is the chief suspect of the FBI in a bombing case. Adding to her seeming guilt, Holly has disappeared. ..... Leya thinks the teen is innocent and decides to prove that is the case. She reluctantly teams up with FBI agent Peter van Aken, a man she knew when her father was stationed in Beirut. Peter, who thinks everyone is guilty, struggles with the media and his own brass who want a fast arrest. He also skirmishes with his own growing feelings towards his partner. However, Leya has to decide can she trust a man whom her father had some doubts about with her heart and a teenager's life? ........ With her third Mira book, Taylor Smith proves, once again, that she is at the top of contemporary suspense. THE BEST OF ENEMIES is a tense thriller that showcases a strong female protagonist forced out of her mundane but contented existence to combat terrifying forces that threaten her heart and her life. Only someone with a talent as great as Ms. Smith could turn a two day investigation into one of the year's top thrillers. .........Harriet Klausner