Undertow

Those of use who enjoy Susanna Kearsley's deft touch at romantic suspense will perhaps be a bit fanatical about wanting to find the two books, "Gemini Game" and "Undertow" which she wrote for Avalon Books, a puplisher that brings "Americans the finest in family reading." Like "Gemini Game", "Undertow" is an innocuous little story with the fairly stereotypical characters one would expect to find in romantic suspense geared towards young adult readers. Laura, our heroine, writes mysteries; she is cute, pert, intelligent and a bit impetuous. Her dry spell sends her to her sister's beach house where atmosphere and town history quickly spur the creative juices. Michael, the love interest, reeks of masculinity as proclaimed from an attitude originating from the chisled face starng down from a well-muscled 6 foot 2 inch frame. The suspects oscillate from innocence to guilt as Laura overhears key snatches of conversation involving the inhabitants of an inn in a small Nova Scotian seafaring town where the tendency to smuggle contraband has been passed on from generation to generation. "Undertow" certainly does not have the structural complexity of "Splendor Falls" or "Name of the Dragon", but the Kearsley magic can still be uncovered: her dialogue flows easily despite the cutsy adjectives and adverbs describing the underlying magnetism between the two leads. Her knack for developing sexual attraction is in full force. For those devourers of romantic suspense, "Undertow" may seem juvenile; its outcome easily predicted. For those Susanna Kearsley fans, "Undertow" is a must-have in collection that may one day rival Mary Stewart. Rated 4 stars, not for its value as a story but for its significance in the development of a great romantic suspense writer.