Well, the premise of the book seemed refreshing enough in the Harlequin Intrigue world of stalkers, assassins, jewel thieves, and spies… Becky Sherman’s father’s trout farm is mysteriously hit by some kind of pollutant that kills a bunch of the fish. With the proper governmental channels uncooperative, Becky must rely on herself and her newfound ally, part-time student, part-time government employee, and full-time environmentalist, Kevin McClain to find the source of the pollution.

Really, it’s not the plot that causes this novel to rate only 2 stars. The biggest problem here is the amateurish quality of the dialog. And there’s a lot of it. So maybe the reason I found the characters annoying is just because I was tired of hearing them talk and call each other by name on every page even when they were the only two people in the conversation.

Then there’s my personal pet peeve: when the couple finally takes their relationship to the next level, they shut the door in my face and don’t come out until the next morning. So I’m a voyeur; sue me.

There’s no real mystery as to who the polluter is or that justice will prevail, and the other elements of the novel just don’t make up for this lack of suspense. ( )