The Agent

Meg Afferton's life changes when her biochemist husband disappears. The marriage has not been a success and Meg plans to confront her husband over dinner and tell him about her newly discovered pregnancy, but he never comes home following a lecture.Mark Fielder, claiming to be a security officer of the pharmaceutical company funding Meg's husband's company, arrives and moves in with Meg to keep her from harm. Mark cannot reveal the real reason he's there, and Meg chooses not to reveal her dissatisfaction with her marriage or her pregnancy. She resents her lack of privacy, yet she begins to fantasize about the man who shares her home and struggles to ease her burden. When she discovers the truth about her husband she must make decisions for herself and the child she carries. Mark keeps his emotions carefully hidden, but his efforts to help Meg make him a hero to like. Can this unlikely couple succeed? You'll have to read to the end to find out. Highly recommended.The writing team of Lynn Erickson scores a hit in THE AGENT, a superb espionage story that plays big on emotion, setting, and suspense. I was hooked from page one until the end. More like this, please.

When Meg Afferton's husband fails to return after delivering his seminar at the Given Institute, she immediately suspects the worst. As their gourmet dinner lies in the saucepan uneaten, her news of her pregnancy untold, Meg phones friends and coworkers desperate for news. Howie is not the kind of man to be late without calling and Meg knows that something has happened. So does agent Mark Fielder of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a covert branch of the Defense Department. Indeed, the missing bioscientist's activities have already drawn his attention several times with an appearance of living beyond a biotechnologist researcher's means.As the strain wears on Meg, Mark arrives claiming to represent the company that funds Howie's research. He deftly conceals his government affiliations, moving in with Meg to offer support and protection until her husband can be located. Soon Meg finds herself fearing both the known and the unknown. She does not reveal to anyone her dissatisfaction with her marriage, or her interrupted plan to reveal her pregnancy to her husband. But as long days and weeks drag by, and fear of kidnapping gives way to suspicions of crimes much worse, Meg will have to make decisions for herself and the child she carries. While her fantasies weave dreams of the man sharing her home, reality does not appear nearly so promising. Once again writing duo Lynn Erickson vivaciously captures the flavor and scenery of Aspen, Colorado in THE AGENT. Deception, disillusionment, and new beginnings abound for Meg Afferton and agent Mark Fielder as they unravel the truth behind Meg's husband's disappearance, and walk the path that can lead to betrayal or love. Meg's pregnancy makes her sympathetic character as she struggles to take control of her life. Mark is a difficult hero to love, as he keeps emotion at a careful distance, yet his cheerful determination to succeed in the kitchen or with Meg's recalcitrant brother also makes him surprisingly endearing. With a story that could be torn from contemporary headlines, THE AGENT results in a gripping read that comes highly recommended.