cover image Vision Impossible: A Psychic Eye Mystery

Vision Impossible: A Psychic Eye Mystery

Victoria Laurie. NAL/Obsidian, $23.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-451-23406-3

In Laurie's lightweight eighth Psychic Eye mystery (after 2010's A Glimpse of Evil), the CIA taps psychic investigator Abby Cooper to help recover a stolen drone carrying powerful neurotoxins and technology that can target individuals from a distance by their auras. In Toronto, Abby poses as the new assistant to her fianc%C3%A9, FBI assistant special agent Dutch Rivers, who's masquerading as weapons dealer Rick Des Vries. Abby finds the soft side of tough dangerous men by a mixture of competence, sex appeal, and pulling secrets about their families out of the ether. The central romance between Dutch and Abby, unfortunately, amounts to a lot of her fussing over his welfare, their wedding date, and whether it's unfaithful to flirt with the handsome bad guys. And it's hard to love a female-narrated story where the main way for women to succeed is to get things done while acting as sidekicks and eye candy. (July)