Drawn in Blood

June 29, 2009
Bestseller Kane's disappointing sequel to Twisted
(2008) pays more attention to the romantic growing pains between FBI agent Sloane Burbank and her hunky former FBI colleague, Derek Parker, than the crime at hand. Dragon Head, boss of a Chinese triad, is targeting Sloane's father, Matthew, and his circle of friends in a years-old revenge plot that hinges on a stolen painting. Derek and his task force are already on the Dragon Head's scent for stateside crimes when Sloane's parents' Manhattan apartment is burglarized. Matthew privately hires Sloane to protect him while keeping the past hidden from the Feds and Derek. Despite a few incidents early on, the heart-racing action is relegated to Sloane and Derek's bedroom—and when the two aren't amorously engaged, they're arguing about who's hiding what from whom. They're not hiding anything from the reader, though: Kane tells us too much up front, and little is left for the big reveal.