Riptide (FBI Series #5) by Catherine Coulter

From Barnes & Noble

Becca Matlock thought she had it made when she landed a job as political speechwriter for the campaign to re-elect a popular New York governor. Then the nasty phone calls began, the threats reached a fever pitch, and an innocent person was killed. Now, as a stalker draws nearer, Becca flees for the safety of coastal Maine and the sanctuary of Riptide. But the only thing waiting for her at the seaside estate is a killer fueled by a generation of hate -- and a watery grave.

From the Publisher

Political speechwriter Becca Matlock is at the top of her professional game, working for the re-election campaign of New York's popular governor, when she receives the first phone call: "Stop sleeping with the governor or I'll kill him." Although Becca isn't sleeping with the governor, the menacing ultimatums persist. The police suddenly stop believing her, even after the stalker murders an innocent person to prove his point.

When the governor is shot in the neck, Becca flees for the safety of coastal Maine, choosing to hide not only from the stalker but also from the authorities. For sanctuary, she goes to Riptide, the home of a college friend - where she soon finds herself at even greater risk. . .

Romantic Times - Jill M. Smith

Riptide taks old cold war enmities and refines them with new twists. Shadowy individuals with undefined motives and jurisdictional clashes make this book highly intriguing and a great romantic read.

Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction

Revenge and murder entwine in this suspense novel by best-selling author Coulter. When political speechwriter Jessie Matlock, working for the reelection campaign of New York's popular governor, begins receiving threatening phone calls, the police refuse to believe her claims. But the stakes are raised when the stalker murders an innocent person and the governor is shot. Jessie flees for the safety of Riptide, Maine, choosing to hide not only from the stalker but also from the authorities, but finds herself at even greater risk.

Publishers Weekly

Trouble, in the form of psychopathic madmen, seems to follow political speechwriter Becca Matlock around like a personal storm cloud in bestselling historical romance (False Pretenses) and thriller (The Edge) author Coulter's newest suspense novel. When a stalker who calls himself Becca's "boyfriend" accuses her of sleeping with the governor and threatens to kill his perceived rival if she doesn't stop, Becca turns to New York's finest, but the cops repeatedly dismiss her. Worse, when the governor is shot, they assume she's responsible. With nowhere to turn, Becca retreats to coastal Riptide, Maine, a sleepy community that is also home to her college friend Tyler. But all is not peaceful there either. Tyler's wife apparently disappeared a while back, the locals think he killed her, and a skeleton falls out of the basement wall of Becca's rented house. Things get really out of hand when it looks as though Becca's problems can be traced to an axe-grinding former KGB agent. Although the book's setting shifts from New York City streets to rural New England, there is little atmospheric detail. The unsettling tone moves from NYPD Blue to Murder, She Wrote with creepy Cold War inflections. But convolution doesn't camouflage the fact that the heroine has more guts than brains, and the villains are ultimately silly rather than menacing. When Dillon and Sherlock Savich, FBI computer specialists from Coulter's The Maze, enter the plot, one gets the feeling that the gang's all here, but the hijinks remain untethered. Only diehard Coulter fans will want to tread water with this one. Doubleday Book Club main selection; 20-city author tour. (July) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

When Becca answers the phone, she knows that it is the stranger calling himself her boyfriend, and she knows that his threats are real. He proves it by casually blowing up the bag lady in the park across the street. The police do not believe her explanation, however, believing that she was involved in that death and those that followed. She flees to Riptide, a small town on the coast of Maine. After having been completely alone, Becca is suddenly surrounded by friends, including Lacy Sherlock Savich and Dillon Savich, last seen in Coulter s The Edge. Who sent them, and, most importantly, who is the stalker? The suspense builds and with it a romance between Becca and Adam, her main protector. Coulter has penned another fun read. The characters are well drawn and act plausibly. With fewer outrageous outside elements thrown in, this book is somewhat more believable than The Edge. For popular fiction collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/00.] Andrea Lee Shuey, Shuey Consulting, Dallas Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Trouble, in the form of psychopathic madmen, seems to follow political speechwriter Becca Matlock around like a personal storm cloud in bestselling historical romance (False Pretenses) and thriller (The Edge) author Coulter's newest suspense novel. When a stalker who calls himself Becca's "boyfriend" accuses her of sleeping with the governor and threatens to kill his perceived rival if she doesn't stop, Becca turns to New York's finest, but the cops repeatedly dismiss her. Worse, when the governor is shot, they assume she's responsible. With nowhere to turn, Becca retreats to coastal Riptide, Maine, a sleepy community that is also home to her college friend Tyler. But all is not peaceful there either. Tyler's wife apparently disappeared a while back, the locals think he killed her, and a skeleton falls out of the basement wall of Becca's rented house. Things get really out of hand when it looks as though Becca's problems can be traced to an axe-grinding former KGB agent. Although the book's setting shifts from New York City streets to rural New England, there is little atmospheric detail. The unsettling tone moves from NYPD Blue to Murder, She Wrote with creepy Cold War inflections. But convolution doesn't camouflage the fact that the heroine has more guts than brains, and the villains are ultimately silly rather than menacing. When Dillon and Sherlock Savich, FBI computer specialists from Coulter's The Maze, enter the plot, one gets the feeling that the gang's all here, but the hijinks remain untethered. Only diehard Coulter fans will want to tread water with this one. Doubleday Book Club main selection; 20-city author tour. (July) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Beth Amos

August 2000

Coulter's Riptide

Catherine Coulter proved her talent for romance and intrigue by penning more than 40 highly successful historical romances. Recently, Coulter has applied her talent to a series of contemporary novels that combine the same elements of romance and suspense, but in a modern-day setting. The first four (The Cove, The Maze, The Target, and The Edge) all made the New York Times bestseller list with their intriguing plot twists, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and compelling characters. Coulter's cadre of dedicated fans have eagerly accepted the switch from historical to contemporary, and a growing element of new fans have now entered the fold. All will be delighted to know that the fifth novel, Riptide, is finally here.

As a highly successful speech writer for the governor of New York, Becca Matlock isn't surprised when she receives her first threatening phone call. High-profile politicians and their crews are often the target of such attacks. But the calls continue and grow in both degree of threat and frequency. Even more puzzling is the caller's primary demand -- that Becca stop sleeping with the governor or else the caller will kill them both. The problem is, Becca isn't sleeping with the governor at all.

The calls escalate just as Becca's mother reaches the final stages of a terminal disease, bringing Becca's stress level to nearly unbearable heights. Right after her mother's death, Becca's mystery caller provides her with a little demonstration: He kills an innocent woman right before her eyes, then threatens to target the governor next. When Becca goes to the police, they decide she's just another nut case with an infatuation for the governor. But when the governor is actually shot and nearly killed, Becca suddenly becomes a highly sought fugitive, both from her stalker and the authorities.

On the run, Becca heads for the tiny seaside town of Riptide, Maine, a place she knows of from Tyler, an old college buddy. There she buys a house and settles in with hopes of remaining hidden. But when a skeleton is found in Becca's closet -- both literally and figuratively -- her notoriety soars. Adding to the muddle is a strange but attractive man, Adam Caruthers, who seems to be watching over Becca. This mystery man turns out to have connections to Becca's father, a man she had long assumed dead. Instead, Becca learns her father is alive and well, though he holds a terrible secret that may be behind most of Becca's problems. Soon Becca's stalker tracks her to her newest hideout, and things escalate at a breathtaking pace to a startling and tense conclusion.

Coulter is at the pinnacle of her career, and it shows. Readers will be enthralled by the convoluted plot twists and passionate characters that walk the pages of this latest romantic thriller. While the style and passion in each of Coulter's books is a reliable and satisfying trademark, her plots and characters are always fresh and newly exciting, a trait that will undoubtedly increase her loyal following.

--Beth Amos

Beth Amos is the author of several novels, including Second Sight, Eyes Of Night, and Cold White Fury.

Kirkus Reviews

Regency novelist Coulter moved to suspense a few years back and now offers her fifth thriller (after The Edge, 1999, etc.). And what is a thriller these days without a serial killer? Becca Matlock, a speechwriter for the governor of New York, keeps getting threatening phone calls that accuse her of sleeping with the governor. She goes to the police in Albany, who think she's a liar, then to the police in New York City, who insult her when their investigation turns up no leads. Meanwhile, Becca's mother is dying, and Becca doesn't want leave her. But when the caller blows up a bag lady under her Manhattan apartment's balcony, then follows up (we assume) by shooting the governor through the neck just after he's addressed a medical convention, Becca flees the city and hides out in Riptide, Maine, where she rents an old Victorian house. Gosh, and who is there to greet her but her old geek friend from college, Tyler McBride, who has refashioned himself into a buff stud. Will the phone caller follow? Will night follow day? Well paced but undistinguished. (Doubleday Book Club main selection) Doubleday main selection

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New York City

June 15

Present

Becca was watching an afternoon soap opera she'd seen off and on since she was a kid. She found herself wondering if she would ever have a child who needed a heart transplant one month and a new kidney the next, or a husband who wouldn't be faithful to her for longer than it took a new woman to look in his direction.

Six Days Later

Riptide, Maine

She pulled into the Texaco gas station, waved to the guy inside the small glass booth, then pumped some regular into her gas tank. She was on the outskirts of Riptide, a quaint town that sprawled north to south, hugging a small harbor filled with sailboats, motorboats, and many fishing boats. Lobster, she thought, and breathed in deeply, air redolent of brine, seaweed, and fish, plus a faint hint of wildflowers, their sweetness riding lightly on the breeze from the sea.

Riptide, Maine.

—Reprinted from Riptide by Catherine Coulter by permission of G. P. Putnam's Sons, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Copyright (c) 2000 by Catherine Coulter. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

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