Acts of Honor

A lengthy stint as an Air Force wife has provided Hinze (Shades of Gray; Duplicity) with plenty of fuel for her edgy military-themed romances. Her latest romantic thriller centers around a civilian psychologist, Dr. Sara West, who has been coerced into military duty. Acting undercover as an Air Force major, Sara enters a maximum security facility in Mississippi to direct a short-term research project on five patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. All the patients are men, and all have been reduced to a catatonic state, each one repeatedly uttering the phrase ""I wept."" It's Sara's job to find out what has happened to them. She's drawn to one patient she calls Joe, a man who worked as a Shadow Watcher (a spy who spies on spies). As Sara helps Joe heal, she finds herself falling in love; through him she learns that ""I wept"" is an acronym for a place more horrible than the human mind can endure. Gripping and adrenaline-charged, Hinze's plot will appeal to fans who like their suspense razor sharp. (Dec.)