A THIN DISGUISE – Catherine Bybee
Richter , Book 2
Montlake
ISBN: 978-1542009959
July 2021

Romantic Suspense

Various Locations in the United States & Europe – Present Day

Olivia Naught is a gun for hire. If the job calls for it, she will kill her target. How she got to where she is today fades away after she is shot in Las Vegas. She wakes up in the hospital not knowing who she is. By her bedside is FBI agent Leo Grant, who was standing next to Olivia when she got shot. Someone aimed their way, and she was shot. The local authorities figure Leo was the target because he was recently involved in a high-profile case. However, Olivia's past is murky, so she might have been the target. To add to the intrigue, there is a close-knit group surrounding her at the hospital that appear to know the truth. The group consists of high-powered operatives who were trained at a German school called Richter and they operate barely above the law. The group, along with Leo and the FBI, recently took down a bigtime sex trafficking ring, with the head of it just convicted. No one is saying if Olivia was involved in the takedown, but they are forming plans to remove her to a safe location.

The plan is to take Olivia to a remote area in Colorado where she can recover from her injuries and hopefully, get her memory back. The head of the group, Neil, knows that Olivia will try to escape once she gets her memory back. She is like a caged animal who will want to escape, even if her captors are friendly. Leo volunteers to go along since he was there to witness the shooting and a deep connection has formed between Leo and Olivia. They are attracted to each other. Despite the people around them at the remote property, they still manage to find time to explore their attraction. But inevitably, Olivia gets her memory back, though she doesn't tell anyone. As expected, she makes her escape. The group is now racing across Europe trying to track her down—before she gets to the person who tried to kill her.

A THIN DISGUISE is a suspenseful drama that has as many twists and turns as a winding road. Leo and Olivia didn't know each other before their fateful encounter in Vegas, but there is a connection neither expected. Leo was following a relative of the kingpin of the sex trafficking ring and had just gotten kicked out of the restaurant where the man was eating. As he's leaving, he bumps into Olivia and their eyes meet. Then, in a split second, a shot rings out and she is laying in a pool of blood. The super-secret operatives are not unknown to either of them. Leo had infiltrated the school in California where the sex trafficking was suspected to be happening, but he didn't know that Neil's operatives were doing the same thing. They ended up collaborating and the bad guys get caught, but there are still lingering aftereffects of it. But where does Olivia fit in all of this? She is not part of the group, yet they know her well.

Olivia's memory is a blank, but she does remember bits and pieces. Leo is sweet and attentive toward her. Yet, she feels sassy at times around him. She wants her memory—and her freedom back—but will the memories be painful? It's clear from the clues in A THIN DISGUISE that Olivia is a well-trained operative. The reader will have to learn if she is part of the good guys or the bad guys. How will her attraction to Leo play into things once she gets her memory back? Will she get the revenge that she seeks?

There are a lot of questions that come up while reading A THIN DISGUISE, and by the end, the answers should all be taken care of. The characters are intriguing and the plots tense and convoluted. If you love a suspenseful read with a romance on the side, then be sure to grab a copy of A THIN DISGUISE.

Patti Fischer