cover image Tall, Dark, and Deadly

Tall, Dark, and Deadly

Heather Graham. Onyx Books, $6.99 (388pp) ISBN 978-0-451-40847-1

A deranged man is on the loose in Miami, killing women and dumping their bodies into gator-infested swamps. Now the madman has kidnapped beautiful, bitchy, lascivious lawyer Marnie Newscastle, and her friend Samantha Miller must convince authorities that Marnie's absence is no wild weekend fling. To make matters worse, Samantha discovers her new neighbor is Rowan Dillon, a man she once loved but who betrayed her years before. With a setup like this, Graham's (Glory; Drop Dead Gorgeous) latest should pack a wallop, but, surprisingly, it doesn't--even with strippers and a long list of suspects added to the mix. While the burgeoning romance between Samantha and Rowan is handled well, Graham's portrayal of a murderer--that someone so ""handsome and virile"" simply couldn't be crazy--na ve. The lost-and-found love story works; the suspense simply doesn't. (July)