Review for
The Enemy Stalks
by Betty Sullivan La Pierre

I really enjoyed reading this nifty spy vs. romantic spy fable set in the Pacific Northwest. It affirms once again, that love is blind. The Enemy Stalks focuses on Jennifer, a single woman living by herself in a sparsely settled lakeside community who becomes attracted to her neighbor, a bearded man with an eye-patch. The locals call him Hawkman because of his hobby with predatory birds. Jennifer and Hawkman live directly across a lake from each other along a narrow stretch of water. The distance between them is close enough for each of them to easily observe the other. Things can get a bit dull in the woods even with a satellite dish. She likes dogs and he keeps falcons for hunting. They both like pets. She feels a kinship.

Early on, the eccentric loner admits to her that he is obsessed with getting revenge for the killing of his late wife and that he has sworn to murder the perpetrator. He also warns her that she herself is in mortal danger just by being close to him. In the first chapter she finds him in his home lying in a pool of blood, the wounded target of a gunman. The assassin lies dead of gunshot wounds in the yard. This is not discouraging to the determined Jennifer.

As the plot thickens, "The Agency" becomes involved. Unmarked helicopters circle overhead and Jennifer receives phone calls warning her of rape and mutilation if she continues to associate with Hawkman. She can't tear herself away from him. She becomes Hawkman's willing partner in his plans for revenge. Although she had never liked having guns around the house, Hawkman gives her a gun and the courage to use it. He teaches her marksmanship just in time to help him kill two Iranian hit men.

The story has a nasty sneering villain who hisses and snickers when he speaks. Dogs bite him. He's so mean that even birds peck him.

This novel on cassette is a real mouse clicker and the strongest reason yet for investing in a palm pilot.

~Gene Herd
Executive Director
Hollywood Radio and Television Society

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