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Narrated by Cristine McMurdo-Wallis
Iris JohansenUnabridged — 10 hours, 6 minutes
Narrated by Cristine McMurdo-Wallis
Iris JohansenUnabridged — 10 hours, 6 minutes
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Eve Duncan sculpts death. A forensic sculptor, Eve painstakingly transforms the skulls of murder victims into the faces of identifiable people. A quiet, reflective woman, she lives far from the violence that brings her subjects to her attention. But one call from Baton Rouge changes all that. A high-intensity psychological thriller by the bestselling author of Final Target and The Search.
Forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is neither the cleverest fictional female detective nor the most original, but the meticulous care she devotes to her profession despite the emotional turmoil in her life makes her highly sympathetic. Here, she is tricked into leaving her adopted daughter, Jane, and cop boyfriend, Joe Quinn, to go to Baton Rouge. An influential senator and a fratricidal psychopath want her to work in a remote bayou to identify a battered skull, which may be all that remains of former senatorial candidate Harold Bentley. Duncan tries to reconstruct the skull's features, but it's hard to focus when someone has just tried to poison you and may be on his way to blow up your family. Duncan and wisecracking Sean Galen, hired by her Atlanta friends to protect her, are soon joined by potbellied reporter Bill Nathan, while in the shadows lurks Jules Hebert, a dangerous man of many disguises. First, Duncan's cook dies, then the cook's son, and then lies and dead bodies begin to pile up as Duncan struggles to finish the reconstruction and forgive Quinn for concealing the truth about her dead daughter, Bonnie. A barely credible anti-environment global conspiracy known only as the Cabal drives villains and good guys alike to violence as the story nears its explosive climax at an ex-president's funeral. Prolific bestselling author Johansen (Final Target) builds suspense by thrusting Duncan simultaneously into the unknown and back into the arms of her family in a romantic thriller whose plot may not stand much probing, but whose humanity keeps the reader rooting for its heroine every step of the way. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
A forensic sculptor who carefully reconstructs images of the dead, Eve Duncan suspects that the government is lying about her latest case. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Eve Duncan, considered one of the leading forensic sculptor artists in the United States, refuses to accept a job reconstructing a skull even though the pressing offer is made by Senator Melton. When her adopted daughter is threatened by Melton's henchman, Eve reluctantly agrees to the job. Almost as soon as she begins her work, she barely escapes an attempt on her life, and two people she has recently been associated with are killed. From this point on, Eve, her family, and her friends begin fighting for their lives against a group of powerful, evil world leaders known as the Cabal. Events take the characters from Georgia to Louisiana and into Florida. Johansen describes each location in detail, adding atmosphere and mood to the story, especially when depicting an eerie old church, and, later, a bayou. Several murders, bombings, and quick escapes flavor the story with chills and thrills and keep the action spinning along. Johansen adds a bit of romance, too, as Eve and Detective Joe Quinn try to survive while they attempt to piece their own relationship back together. Eve's daughter is outspoken, practical, and full of life's exuberance, adding another dimension and contrast. Lots of action, strong characters, and some spooky settings make this an entertaining and fast read.-Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
A forensic sculptor still searches for her murdered daughter's face in every skull she reconstructs. Like any grieving mother, Eve Duncan hopes for closure-and she's overcome when it turns out that a child's skeleton found in the woods wasn't Bonnie's after all. Her true love Joe, an Atlanta police detective, meant well when he led her to believe otherwise; and Eve had found solace in tending the little grave and headstone until after its desecration by an unknown vandal-and after a laboratory DNA report, sent anonymously. Eve is compelled to leave Joe and her 12-year-old adopted daughter Jane to mull things over-and take an unusual assignment in Louisiana: Senator Kendal Melton wants some human remains reconstructed. Could they belong to his former rival for the Senate, Harold Bently, long missing and presumed dead? Eve is escorted to an old plantation house and left alone with cook Marie Letaux. Marie seems friendly enough-but could the Cajun food she prepares be . . . poisoned? Eve begins to feel sick as she enters the spooky old church in Baton Rouge where the senator wants her to work. Say, what's in that huge coffin? Could it be the corpse of Etienne, unwary brother of the villainous Jules Herbert, who's mixed up in all this somehow? Eve blacks out, and here's where the plot sickens: various members of a mysterious group known as the Cabal may be planning to blow up a gigantic dam in China, drowning millions of innocents, all because-it seems-a renegade environmentalist may be intent on promoting his own fuel-cell development program. But why such slaughter? And is Harold Bently really dead or just pretending? Fortunately for Eve, her lost child's ghost perches on the windowsillnow and then to help answer these and other burning questions. Elementary prose studded with innumerable cliches. But the convoluted storyline of this, Johansen's sixtieth novel (Final Target, 2001, etc.), is sure to please faithful fans.
Iris Johansen keeps the reader intrigued with complex characters and plenty of plot twists. The story moves so fast, you’ll be reading the epilogue before you notice.” —People
“Johansen pushes the gender boundary in popular fiction, offering up that rarity: a woman’s novel for men.”—Publishers Weekly
As forensic sculptor Eve Duncan settles into domestic bliss, her tragic past returns to haunt her. Seeking escape from these unhappy incidents, she unwittingly places herself and her loved ones in grave danger by accepting a mysterious reconstruction project. Reader Cherry Jones vocalizes the Baton Rouge setting with realistic, yet understandable, Cajun accents. She characterizes Eve and her fellow Georgians with authentic, flat tones. However, she has a challenge with Eve's bodyguard, who is introduced as having a slight British accent, which she meets by giving him an English lilt on select words. J.J.B. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine
| BN ID: | 2940170838431 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Recorded Books, LLC |
| Publication date: | 11/22/2013 |
| Series: | Eve Duncan Series , #4 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Sarah Bayou, Louisiana
1:05 a.m. October 4
The flatboat glided slowly through the bayou.
Too slowly, Jules Hebert thought tensely. He had deliberately chosen a flatboat rather than a motorboat because it would be less obtrusive at this time of night, but he had not counted on this case of nerves.
Keep calm. The church was just up ahead.
“It will be fine, Jules,” Etienne called softly as he wielded the oars. “You worry too much.”
And his brother, Etienne, didn’t worry enough, Jules thought in despair. Ever since childhood it had been Jules who was the serious one, the one who had to accept the responsibility while Etienne ambled along through life with endearing blitheness. “You arranged for the men to be waiting at the church?”
“Of course.”
“And you told them nothing?”
“Only that they would be paid well for the work. And I parked the motorboat to bring them where you told me to.”
“Good.”
“It will all go very easily.” Etienne smiled. “I promise you, Jules. Would I let you down?”
Not intentionally. The affection between them was too strong. They had been through too much together. “No offense. Just asking, little brother.” Jules stiffened as he saw the dark looming silhouette of the ancient stone church in the faint moonlight as they rounded the corner. It had been deserted for over ten years and exuded dampness and decay. His gaze flew to the sparsely scattered plantation houses on either side of the bayou.
No one. No sign of anyone stirring.
“I toldyou,” Etienne said. “Luck is with us. How could it be otherwise? Fortune is always on the side of the right.”
That had not been Jules’s experience, but he wouldn’t argue with Etienne. Not tonight.
Jules jumped out of the boat as they reached the landing, and the four men Etienne had hired streamed onto the boat.
“Be careful with it,” Jules said. “For God’s sake, don’t drop it.”
“I’ll help them.” Etienne leaped forward. “Christ, it’s heavy.” He put his massive shoulder beneath one corner. “On the count of three.”
With great care they lifted the huge black coffin onto the landing.
Lake Cottage Atlanta, Georgia
Coffin.
Eve Duncan woke with a start, her heart pounding.
“What is it?” Joe Quinn asked drowsily. “Something wrong?”
“No.” Eve swung her feet to the floor. “I just had a bad dream. I think I’ll get a glass of water.” She moved to the bathroom. “Go back to sleep.”
Good heavens, she was actually shaking. How stupid could she get? She splashed water on her face and took a few sips of water before going back into the bedroom.
The lamp on the nightstand was on and Joe was sitting up in bed. “I told you to go back to sleep.”
“I don’t want to go to sleep. Come here.”
She went into his arms and cuddled close. Safety. Love. Joe. “Want to make love?”
“The thought occurred to me. Maybe later. Right now, I want to know about your nightmare.”
“People do have bad dreams, Joe. It’s not that uncommon.”
“But you haven’t had one in a long time. I thought you were over them.” His arms tightened around her. “I want them to be over.”
She knew he did, and she knew he tried desperately to give her the security and contentment that he thought would rid her of them. But Joe should know better than anyone that the nightmare would never entirely go away. “Just shut up and go back to sleep.”
“Was it about Bonnie?”
“No.” Eve felt a ripple of guilt. Someday she had to tell him why the dreams of Bonnie were no longer painful. But not yet. Even after this last year with him, she still wasn’t ready. Someday.
“The new skull? You’ve been working hard on it. Maybe too hard?”
“I’m almost done. It’s Carmelita Sanchez, Joe. I should be able to notify her parents in a couple days.” Then there would be closure and, perhaps, peace for them. “And you know my work never brings me anything but satisfaction. No bad dreams there.” Just sadness and pity and a driving passion to bring the lost ones home. “Stop probing. Bad dreams don’t have to have deep psychological implications. This was just a crazy, disjointed . . . It was probably something I ate. Jane’s pizza was a little too rich for…”
“What was it about?”
Joe wasn’t going to give up. He would pick at the subject until everything was out in the open. “A coffin. Okay? I was walking toward this coffin, and it scared me.”
“Who was in the coffin?” He paused. “Me? Jane?”
“Stop trying to read something into it. It was a closed coffin.”
“Then why were you scared?”
“It was a dream. For heaven’s sake, I deal with dead people every day of my life. It’s perfectly natural I should have an occasional macabre…”
“Why were you scared?”
“Drop it. It’s over.” She pulled his head down and kissed him. “Stop being a protective ass. The only therapy I want from you right now is strictly physical.”
He went still, resisting. Then he relaxed and moved over her. “Well, if you insist. I suppose I’ll have to be a gentleman and let you seduce me.”
Eve was surprised. She knew how stubborn Joe could be. She smiled and gently tugged at his hair. “Damn right, you will.”
“We’ll talk about the coffin later. . . .”
Sarah Bayou
The coffin was in place in the altar of the church.
Jules bent to check the pedestal beneath it to make sure it was sturdy enough to bear the weight of the specially reinforced airtight coffin. He’d had it built to his own specifications and had been assured there would be no problem, but it was his responsibility and he was determined not to fail. Nothing must damage the coffin’s precious contents.
“I’ve paid them off. They’re on their way back,” Etienne said from the doorway. He came toward Jules, his gaze fixed on the coffin. “It looks so strange there. . . . We did it, didn’t we?”
Jules nodded. “Yes, we did it.”
Etienne was silent a moment. “I know you were angry with me, but now you understand, don’t you?”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good. Well, here it is. We did it together.” Etienne put his arm affectionately around Jules’s shoulders. “It gives me a good feeling. You, too?”
“No.” Jules closed his eyes as the pain surged through him. “Not a good feeling.”
“Because you worry too much. But it’s over now.”
“Not quite.” Jules opened eyes that were full of tears. “Have I ever told you how much I love you, what a good brother you’ve been to me?”
Etienne laughed. “If you had, I would have been the one who was worried. You’re not a man who...” His eyes widened in shock as he saw the gun in his brother’s hand. “What are you...?”
Jules shot him in the heart.
Disbelief was frozen on Etienne’s face as he fell to the floor.
Jules couldn’t believe it, either. Dear God, let him take that moment back.
No, for he would only have to do it again.
Jules fell to his knees beside Etienne and gathered him in his arms. Tears ran down his face as he rocked him back and forth. Little brother. Little brother . . .
Control. He had one other task to perform before he could allow himself to grieve. The motorboat taking the men away from the church should be out of the bayou and on the widest part of the river by now.
He fumbled in his pocket for the switch and pressed the red button. He could not hear the explosion, but he knew it had happened. He had set the charge himself and he never allowed himself to make a mistake. There would be no survivors and no evidence.
It was done.
Jules turned back to Etienne and tenderly brushed the hair from his forehead. Sleep, little brother. He prayed Etienne was at peace. He was glad it was too dim in the church to see the shock and pain frozen on Etienne’s face.
From the Hardcover edition.
