Colleagues, friends, and lovers know Dodge Hanley as a private investigator who doesn't let rules get in his way - in his private life as well as his professional one. If he breaks a heart, or bends the law in order to catch a criminal, he does so without hesitation or apology.
That's why he's the first person Caroline King - who after a 30-year separation continues to haunt his dreams - asks for help when a deranged stalker attempts to murder their daughter...the daughter Dodge has never met. He has a whole bagful of grudging excuses for wishing to ignore Caroline's call, and one compelling reason to drop everything and fly down to Texas: guilt.
Dodge's mind may be a haze of disturbing memories and bad decisions, but he arrives in Houston knowing with perfect clarity that his daughter, Berry, is in danger. She has become the object of desire of a co-worker, a madman and genius with a penchant for puzzles and games who has spent the past year making Berry's life hell, and who now has vowed to kill her.
Dodge joins forces with local deputy sheriff Ski Nyland, but the alarming situation goes from bad to worse when the stalker begins to claim other victims and leaves an ominous trail of clues as he lethally works his way toward Berry. Sensing the killer drawing nearer, Dodge, who's survived vicious criminals and his own self-destructive impulses, realizes that this time he's in for the fight of his life.
From acclaimed best-selling author Sandra Brown, Tough Customer is a heart-pounding tale about obsession and murder, the fragile nature of relationships, and, possibly, second chances.
Read more FROM BOOKLIST
Brown's latest thriller reintroduces a character from her previous outing, Smash Cut (2009) : Dodge Hanley, a grizzled investigator who used to be a cop. Dodge is awakened one morning by a call from Caroline King, a woman he hasn't seen in 30 years - since the day their daughter, Berry, was born. Now Berry is the target of a frightening stalker who has just broken into Caroline's house and shot Berry's coworker, Ben Lofland. Dodge reluctantly agrees to travel from Atlanta to Texas to help the police hunt down Berry's tormentor, the vengeful Oren Starks. The police deputy on the case, Ski Nyland, is suspicious of Berry and convinced she is hiding something. As Dodge works with Ski to track Oren, his feelings for Caroline resurface, and he recalls how they first met - and the reason their torrid relationship came to an end. Though a late-in-the-game twist seems somewhat farfetched, the draw here is the appealing Dodge, a character Brown fans will have no problem rooting for. --Kristine Huntley REVIEW
"[This] romantic-suspense novel...doesn't disappoint."
-- "Dallas Morning News"
"Narrator Victor Slezak does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. He approaches one of the key characters, tough-talking, tough-living Atlanta investigator Dodge Handley, with particular relish. Slezak successfully portrays the female characters as well, using a more gentle reading style. Given the substantial portion of romance in the story, Slezak's ability to switch seamlessly between the pursuit of an unstable killer and the romantic plotlines helps to ensure a credible listen."
--"AudioFile"
"Brown's ear for Texas dialect and her earnest characterizations of cynical lawmen with stout hearts make for an enjoyable...read."
--"Kirkus Reviews"
"[An] entertaining...thriller."
--"Publishers Weekly" ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sandra Brown is the author of seventy-three New York Times bestsellers. She has published over eighty novels and has upwards of eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide. Her work has been translated into thirty-five languages. Four books have been adapted for film. She lives in Texas. EXCERPT. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Tough Customer
Read more
