Panic Snap

Blurring the line between pleasure and pain, Reese (Topping from Below) wraps a wickedly raunchy tale of sexual obsession and sadomasochism inside a taut, suspenseful thriller. Transfigured by extensive plastic surgery and hampered by full amnesia, Carly Tyler, 32, has been pursuing her past ever since she was beaten and left for dead on a California roadside 15 years ago. When a magazine photo of one James McGuane provides Carly with a spark of recognition, she decides to get a job at Byblos, the Napa Valley vineyard run by James's family, in an attempt to find clues about her previous life. There, she meets a man so charged with carnal energy that she is immediately and perilously drawn to him. Carly and James's dominant/submissive sexual relationship involves whips and bondage, psychological torture and devotion, all presented by the author at a pace guaranteed to steam up the windows. The nefarious James is quick to figure out who Carly is (or was). He promises to explain a connection between her and his dead wife if she continues to appease him, and he strings Carly along for months while his jealous twin sister, Gina, does nearly everything possible to get rid of her. As memories trickle back, the three characters veer toward a deadly climax that leaves one of them on trial for murder. Reese's workaday prose is burdened by repetitive character descriptions, but her prowess in mixing erotica and mystery creates frissons of excitement. Agent, Barbara Lowenstein. (Apr.)