When I think of romantic suspense, I think of Catherine Coulter’s FBI series and Iris Johansen’s Eve Duncan books as "must have" authors. There are a few other authors fast approaching the "must have" point: Cheyenne McCray and Lora Leigh to name a couple (I originally fell in love with both Cheyenne’s and Lora’s other work but their suspense stuff is really good). And now there is Michelle Perry. Paint It Black is the second book of hers I have read.

Necie Bramhall thought she knew all about revenge. Indeed, that was the whole focus of her career with the DEA. She’s devoted her life to bringing down those who make a profit off of other peoples suffering, their addictions. Now she is about to get the chance she has been waiting for, the chance to bring down one of the biggest drug lords out there: her own father.

But things start to go wrong. Both the agent on the inside and the evidence he has been collecting are compromised. The raid to take down Frank Barnes finds an empty house with Angel tied to a tree, shot in the head. Necie knows that if her team finds out about her connection to Barnes, they will assume she’s the unknown mole. She must be the one to bring Barnes in. And to top it all off, her home life is falling apart. She and Grady have been drifting apart for years. Grady has never understood her passion for her job. But now with his drinking, things are going from bad to worse and it‘s starting to affect their daughter.

Can Necie and her partner Cougar bring Barnes in? Can they flush out the mole on their team? Can she deal with the feelings that Cougar stirs in her? Most of all, can she save her own daughter from the half-sister she has never known?

Paint It Black is an intense read. I was so wrapped up in it that I barely noticed the time passing. And when I was forced to put it down I was not a happy camper. As I said: intense. The characters are driven, full of frailties. The plot so simple on the surface and yet so twisted that I couldn’t wait for the next chapter, indeed the next page.

Paint It Black is one of those books that you race to finish and then are mad when it’s done. If you love Coulter and Johansen, go out and find this book. You will not be disappointed. I, for one, will be looking for more Michelle Perry books my next trip to the bookstore.

Reviewed by Theresa
© March 2008