When the Storm Breaks Book

Claire Lambert walked into a nightmare on a rainy night in Washington, D.C. Stumbling upon a killer in the midst of his latest bloody crime, she ran for her life — but not before a head injury caused her to lose her memory, along with her purse and ID. Now a monster knows who Claire is ...and where she lives.

Waking up in a hospital room the day after being attacked — her mind stripped of all memory of what happened to her — Claire can only listen with horror to the scenario Detective Sean Richter unfolds before her. A law officer fiercely dedicated to ending the wave of brutal killings that has struck the city, Sean knows that this brave and beautiful woman holds the key to stopping the murderer before he can strike again. Claire is the only victim who has seen the killer's face and lived — which is why Sean needs her help and will risk everything to protect her ...

And why a depraved, relentless animal is determined that Claire Lambert must die.

Publishers Weekly

Like mother, like daughter-or so the saying goes. Unfortunately, this debut romantic suspense novel from Lowell (daughter of author Elizabeth Lowell) is ridden with run-of-the-mill characters and overused plot devices. After a night spent joining a dating service, Claire Lambert stumbles across a murderer in the act of committing his latest crime, drops her purse and runs away, only to wake the next morning with little memory of the night before. As Washington, D.C., detective Sean Richter tries to coax her into remembering, she finds herself falling in love with him. There's only one problem: she may be the killer's next victim. In an outrageous plot twist, Sean devises a plan to send Claire on closely monitored dates with men from the dating service she joined earlier. This scenario provides the potential for some fun scenes, but the gag falls flat when each date proves to be a clich (a stuffy banker, a closeted gay man, etc.). In addition, the reader learns early on that the murderer never joined the service, which deflates any hope that tension might arise from this scenario. Most disappointing of all, however, is the distance the author places between herself and her characters. This narrative detachment results in protagonists who lack definition and sex scenes that fail to evoke emotion. (Aug.) Forecast: Lowell, HarperTorch's "Superleader," is receiving a big push for her first outing, but multimedia advertising, a blurb from Jayne Ann Krentz and the cachet of the Lowell name may not be enough to offset poor word of mouth. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.