Rendezvous in Veracruz by Carolyn Hart

Rendezvous in Veracruz by Carolyn Hart

When feisty American college student Maura intercepts a mysterious message, she soon finds herself caught up in the middle of an international crime spree. With no idea how many of her acquaintances are involved, she doesn't dare to trust anyone! Her only option is to go on the run in order to elude the ruthless criminals who will stop at nothing to protect their secret.

Paperback, 5.5 x 8.5, 170 pages
ISBN: 978-0983004042
$10.95

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Several months ago I reviewed Carolyn Hart's Escape from Paris. I enjoyed it very much. Both Escape and Rendezvous are early books in her career but they show how familiar she was even then with the standard tropes. In each she ingeniously took those tropes and made them very much her own.

Carolyn knows how to keep a tight grip on suspense while having some fun with the characters and the scenery. She makes the milieu a real part of the story.

This one isn't as dark as Escape but it's every bit the thriller. Carolyn has a good time contrasting the the sensible Lin with her friend the risk-taker Maura. Most of us have played both roles over the course of our lifetimes and Carolyn nails the contrasts.

I liked Maura a lot. This was published at a time when the paperback gothic meme was still on the air (yes there were gothics I liked)--you know, the helpless vaguely dumb heroine. Maura is the oppposite, in her own way a kick-ass heroine you'll enjoy.

Enjoy!