Standoff

May 1, 2000
Workaholic Dallas TV reporter Tiel McCoy thought she would take a well-earned vacation, but while driving to a secluded condo in New Mexico, she hears a radio report that changes her plans. Teenager Sabra Dendy, only daughter of Fort Worth multimillionaire Russ Dendy, has been kidnapped. Soon Tiel learns that Sabra, who's pregnant, has run away with her boyfriend, Ronnie Davison. Smelling a story, Tiel heads for the remote town of Hera to interview Ronnie's father, thinking the couple might go there for help. But when she stops at a convenience store for directions, Tiel encounters Ronnie and Sabra bungling a hold-up attempt. As Sabra goes into labor, Ronnie takes everyone in the store hostage, and Tiel and a handsome cowboy who seems to know a lot about medicine deliver Sabra's daughter. Tiel learns that the desperate young couple are fleeing to Mexico to escape Sabra's dictatorial father, who has vowed to separate them and put their baby up for adoption. He has even threatened to kill the child, and Sabra and Ronnie have vowed to commit suicide if they are thwarted. Bestselling author Brown (The Alibi) sets up believable conflicts (Ronnie once killed a puppy, rather than return it to an abusive owner). If the dialogue and sex scenes occasionally seem stilted, this popular author's tale still hits hard and keeps moving briskly to its satisfying conclusion.

January 1, 2000
A reporter who's quick to interview the father of a kidnapped girl gets shanghaied by the kidnapper and his contented victim.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2000
Tiel McCoy is driven beyond ambition to the point where her television journalism career is her whole life, meant to compensate for loneliness and guilt about a failed marriage to a husband who died before they could get things straight. A long-postponed vacation is sidetracked when Tiel stops at a convenience store in a desolate part of Texas and gets caught up in a robbery attempt. The robbers are teenage runaways. Ronnie Davison is being sought on charges that he kidnapped his pregnant girlfriend, Sabra Dendy, daughter of a ruthless millionaire who will stop at nothing to separate the pair. Tiel sees the situation as a sure-fire ticket to the anchor position on the Dallas station's proposed prime-time news show. But Tiel finds herself gradually and genuinely engaged with the cast of characters at the store when the attempted robbery turns into a hostage drama. Tiel helps negotiate with the FBI agents who eventually converge on the scene. She gradually becomes just as focused on positioning a good story as on saving lives and keeping the young couple from honoring a desperate suicide pact. A fellow hostage is a ruggedly handsome rancher named Doc, who helps keep tempers calm and delivers Sabra's baby under tense and dangerous circumstances. Tiel recognizes Doc from a story she'd done several years earlier. As the hostage drama draws them closer, Tiel struggles with her ambitions and Doc with his visceral distrust of the media. Plot twists and cliff-hanging chapter endings will keep the best-selling Brown's fans coming back for more. ((Reviewed March 15, 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

April 15, 2000
Hardworking TV reporter Tiel McCoy is on her way to a much-needed vacation when she hears that Ronnie Davison has allegedly kidnapped Sabra Dendy, Texas millionaire Russell Dendy's teenage daughter. Tiel immediately contacts her editor and happily accepts an assignment to follow up the story, hoping it will help her get the promotion she desires. When none other than Ronnie and Sabra, who is actually his very pregnant girlfriend, hold up the convenience store where Tiel stops, she and the other customers become hostages in an unusual and emotional standoff. The two teenagers are fleeing Sabra's ruthless father, who has threatened to separate the lovers permanently and put their baby up for adoption, and they would rather die than live apart. Tiel will have the news story of her career--if she survives. At just over 200 pages, Standoff is much shorter than recent Brown novels and is also a departure for the author because most of the story takes place over several hours instead of spanning days, weeks, or months. A gripping tale featuring the characterizations, suspense, and sexual tension that Brown's readers expect, it is destined for best seller status. Highly recommended for public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/00.]--Samantha J. Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.