Dark Star Publications (Ebook), ISBN 1-929034-63-6
Action-packed, with a carefully woven, intricate plot and a love story of sorts, Charlotte Boyett-Compo's dark and dangerous book balances good and evil, life and death and hate. But it lets the reader judge the validity of all these concepts.  

In the Teeth of the Wind is not the book for those seeking a sweet romance and happy-ever-after ending. This book plumbs the depths of human depravity and follows the dark paths of revenge and power, drugs and sex. Not a pleasant book, it doesn't prettify the world. Nevertheless, I couldn't stop reading it until I reached the end. 

Conor Nolan and Rhianna Marek are cops. A womanizer with a past, close to being an alcoholic, Conor sleeps around, lusts after women and finally falls prey to his lusts. But he loves Rhianna, seeing her as the one woman who justifies his faith in goodness and truth. Rhianna returns his love -- but she refuses to be just another conquest in his stud book.  

When Conor disappears after being seduced and drugged by a mystery woman, Rhianna receives a letter, written prior to his disappearance, in which he declares his love for her. Rhianna knows she must find him, but she doesn't know that she will endanger her life and the lives of others in the hunt -- or that the final outcome will prove more horrible than she can imagine. 

Subordinate characters range from mere walk-ons to well-rounded and believable people, but every one serves a purpose. The setting could have used more attention to detail, but the lack didn't lessen the book's impact. In the Teeth of the Wind marks Charlotte Boyett-Compo as an accomplished author who will go far in the literary world.

Patricia White 

Patricia White is the Sapphire Award-winning author of A Wizard Scorned. Her current book, the contemporary PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.

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