Liberty or Death, Vol. 6 FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Thea Kozak is a woman who has prided herself on always being the strong one in a crisis. While she's usually not the one who starts the process, she always seems to be the one to clean up the messes - and she's had practice at it. She survived her husband's death and her sister's brutal murder and not only came through with her mind and heart intact but has used that pain to help others. Thea is a tough yet tender-hearted woman who - through twists of fate, some spectacular bits of bad timing, and her refusal to walk away from someone in trouble - has had her share of dead bodies and heartache cross her path." Thea is minutes away from finally marrying her longtime love, Andre Lemieux - the state trooper who helped her discover the truth about her sister's death, and the one person Thea can rely on to be strong for her. But Thea is left standing at the altar, brought horrible news of Andre's capture by forces unknown. The last place he was seen was near a small town in Maine that is a hotbed of right-wing conspiracy theorists...and lots of people with twitchy trigger fingers.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Patrick Henry would be proud to have his famous words used in the title of such a well-crafted, sincere book, the sixth in the Thea Kozak series (Chosen for Death, etc.). Private school consultant Thea, newly pregnant, faces perhaps the biggest crisis of her career on her wedding day-when the police inform her that a militia group has kidnapped the groom, longtime beau State Trooper Andre Lemieux, and is demanding that one of its members be released from jail. Thea's first reaction is panic, but soon she calms down enough to ask what she can do to help. The cops don't want her interfering, but they know her stubborn streak won't be placated so they enlist her aid. She assumes the character of Dora McCusick, who's supposed to be on the run from an abusive husband, and goes to Merchantville, Maine, to become a police spy. Thea/Dora gets a job waitressing at Mother Theresa's Restaurant, where she's supposed to be a "fly on the wall" and simply listen for tidbits of militia information while waiting tables. But as those who have read other books in this series know, she'll cross that line and make some members of the local militia suspicious. True-to-life dialogue and realistic characterization drive this novel of heartbreak and reward. It will please old Thea fans and make plenty of new ones. (Jan. 8) Forecast: Though it's been a few years since the last in the series, Death in Paradise (1998), blurbs from Laura Lippman, William G. Tapply and S.J. Rozan, plus the author's status as the 2003 national president of Sisters in Crime, should ensure sales comparable to those for previous titles.
Library Journal
Thea Kozack (An Educated Death) is about to marry her state policeman love, Andre Lemieux, but members of a Maine terrorist group kidnap him, demanding the release of a political prisoner. Despite her pregnancy, Thea works undercover as a waitress in an ultraconservative, backwater town in the hopes of overhearing anything that might save her man. Emotionally frazzled and physically challenged, Thea regularly struggles against verbal threats, ignorance, and petty belligerence, but one particularly mean redneck seems especially intent on following her. Believable characters, solid prose, and nerve-wracking plot recommend this to most collections. [Author Flora will be the 2003 national president of Sisters in Crime, an organization of women mystery writers.-Ed.] Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A pregnant bride who's been stood up at the altar is bound to be mad, and Thea Kozak (Death in Paradise, 2000, etc.) comes charging out of her abortive nuptials ready to kill the worthies of the Katahdin Constitutional Militia who've taken her bridegroom, State Trooper Andre Lemieux hostage. He's intended as a bargaining chip for the release of imprisoned activist Jed Harding, who shot up the office of the Veterans Administration functionary when he refused to approve finds for treating the spina bifida Jed's convinced Agent Orange gave his little boy Lyle. But Thea's rage is all wrong for runaway battered wife Dora McCusick, the identity Andre's boss, Lt. Jack Leonard, has arranged for her to assume in Merchantville, reputed militia capital of Maine. In her job as a waitress at Mother Theresa's restaurant, Thea's not supposed to do anything but act mousy and scared as she reacts to all the bullies around her. Fortunately, there are more than enough bullies, from her boss, hard-nosed Theresa McGrath, to troglodyte regular Roy Belcher to the sinister Rev. Stuart Hanson, to keep her reacting. Now if only she can keep a lid on her mouth and her temper-while getting beaten, kicked, shot, locked up, and turned inside out-until she figures out why Jed Harding doesn't want to get sprung from jail. Hollywood alert: Thea's believable combination of anger, fear, and physical suffering makes her a natural role for Sylvester Stallone's kid sister, as long as you don't mind her interrupting every action sequence to assure you that she's not really that kind of girl.
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