No Truer Love

Parental kidnapping is the core of this loosely woven tale of one woman's search for her missing child. During the three years since her infant son's disappearance, divorcee Lauren McKenna has managed to build a formidable wall around herself. Her self-imposed isolation on a lonely stretch of Northern California beach is shattered with the arrival of ex-football star Adam Rafferty, who has purchased the home adjacent to hers. Adam, is turns out, is also the newly appointed vice-president of the company she works for. After Adam comes to Lauren's defense when she is attacked on the beach, Lauren's emotional barricade begins to crumble and she begins the process of learning to love and trust again. Though Gray resolves the kidnapping in a sensitive and sensible way, parts of the story-most notably the ex-husband's characterization-have gaps that leave the reader feeling cheated. (Nov.)