At The Edge
 David Dun
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2002 Pinnacle Books
  ISBN: 0786013990
Amazon's Value Price is: $6.99

Two opposing lawyers meet in a tavern in Oregon, to arrange a clandestine deal over half-a-million dollars in cash & the fate of a redwood forest.

Someone, outside the bar in which Dan Young & Maria Fischer are sparring, is waiting to relieve them of that fortune in political clout.

That someone, while skilled in certain types of domestic terror, hasn't had to deal with anyone as tenacious & unpredictable as Dan Young. When the attache case is torn from Maria Fischer's hand, Dan grabs her, they tumble into his auto & give chase.

Mile upon mile they follow the fleeing auto until, on a dangerous forest road, Dan takes one too many curves too fast & they end up off the road, bitterly eyeing the dustcloud of their quarry as it speeds away. Undeterred & arguing over every step, these two lawyers set out to track down their stolen case, borrowing a local's truck to continue their pursuit.

When they end up deep in timber country, miles from anywhere, facing a stockade over which they cannot see, they decide to climb trees to look over. What lies before them is a puzzle, It is only when they correlate the felled timber all about them with the unusual apparatus before them, they realize they are looking at some very unsavory & definitely illegal activity.

Dan Young, a native Oregonian, widower & father, with a “cowboy” streak a mile wide, has little to lose. Since the death of both his wife & his father, he's been going through the motions. The only spark that ignites his heart is his son.

Maria Fischer, the epitome of big-city lawyer & social-climber, also has a past about which she is reluctant to speak. While her legal mind totally distrusts her accomplice in pursuit, a new & surprising emotion begins stirring in her heart. She is actually beginning to like Dan Young.

Enter the fortune snatcher, one warped & lethal political terrorist, with a penchant for stray men, whom she kills as easily as a Black Widow spider consumes her erstwhile mate. Her handler is a stranger with an uncanny knack of knowing just what makes her tick.

Unlike the people in David Dun's first thriller Necessary Evil, Dan Young & Maria Fischer are predictable & emotionally flat, whereas his environmental terrorist is wholley horrible.

All in all, At The Edge will keep you guessing through bizarre murders, deadly surveillance, bombings & chases until at last, you find out what really is at stake.

Do catch my Review of David Dun's Necessary Evil, & my Interview with him.
(06/09/02)

Rebecca