One Way or Another

Starred review from May 18, 2015
Brilliantly executed and constantly surprising, this romantic thriller from bestseller Adler (Last to Know) opens on the coast of Turkey, where artist Marco Polo Mahoney observes a stunning red-haired woman fall off a boat after she receives a blow to the head. Marco dives into the sea to rescue the woman, but he’s unable to find her. A few days later, Marco plans to fly to Paris to visit his girlfriend, Martha, but after his flight
is canceled, he accepts an offer to ride aboard the private jet of billionaire Ahmet Ghulbian, who’s also traveling to Paris. On the jet, Ghulbian shows Marco a picture of the woman from the boat, who he claims has drowned, and requests that Marco paint her portrait. Marco accepts Ghulbian’s invitation to come to his remote home, Marshmallows, where Martha arrives to help with redecorating. Soon Marco and Martha are in trouble. Adler gradually reveals the depths of Ghulbian’s depravity in what may well be her best book yet. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit Associates.

June 1, 2015
Prolific, best-selling Adler (Last to Know, 2014) delivers another nail-biter of a beach read. The action starts on a yacht (of course), as a woman wields a champagne bottle and hits a copper-haired beauty, who winds up overboard in the azureMediterranean Sea off Turkey. Is she dead? No! Angie lives and plans to get revenge against her attacker, the witch Mehitabel, who personifies evil.The bad guy is the wealthy, villainous Ahmet, who grew up poor and became a mysterious, self-made gazillionaire, earning his fortune through such ill-gotten means as drug smuggling. Ahmet wants respect and the beautiful, classy, young Lucy, but no such luck. Unlike her peers, Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown, Adler skips the R-rated sex scenes to concentrate on settings and moods, describing, for example, a candle-lined stairway and laurel trees lending an exotic scent to a spooky old house. Adler also likes to see the good folks win. Readers can look forward to happily-ever-after endings for the sweet main characters, primarily Angie, and a suitably unhappy conclusion for the smarmy, self-centered ones, especially Ahmet.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2015

Ellen is enjoying a summer's eve on a yacht when she's discreetly stabbed and pushed into the water, as everyone on board stands around acting oblivious. Even as she fights the waves, she plots revenge. Great beach reading, as long as you stay on the beach.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.