Renegade

As recently widowed Texan Susannah Fallon nurses her brother, a Union soldier, in a Confederate prison in Richmond, Va., she falls in love with the Welshman in the bed next to his, a ne'er-do-well named Rhys Redding. Although in a murky prologue Redding swears to himself that he will act selfishly since a woman he once loved has wronged him, he accompanies the siblings on their trek home through war-ravaged country, and despite his weakened physical condition is capable of protecting them from marauders. Once they reach their destination his hanging around is even more mysterious--since he keeps insisting that he wants to go--but he soon proves himself useful by donning a black mask and recouping stolen money from a local family in the guise of ``the Nighthawk.'' Potter ( Lightning ) fails to provide satisfying motivations for her characters. It comes as a further letdown to learn that the big secret Redding is keeping from Susannah is that his mother was a prostitute and he was a London street thief--information that the reader already knows. Susannah, who spent only one lackluster night with her husband before he died in battle, finds sexual happiness with Redding, but their sense of propriety forcing them to delay this gratification seems out of character considering that when they do make love they choose public places like an open field and a barn. (May)