Synopsis:
Evan Delaney is a heroine of our times: a woman with a big heart, a quick tongue and a hot temper that gets her into trouble. She is shocked to discover that Tabitha, her ex-sister-in-law, has joined The Remnant - the Reverend Pete Wyoming's fanatical band of disciples. And that Tabitha is trying to regain custody of her six-year-old son, Luke, currently in Evan's care while his father is posted to the Naval Air Warfare Center. Then one of the Remnant is killed, and Evan's brother is the prime suspect. With her boyfriend, lawyer Jesse Blackburn, Evan tries to clear her brother's name and rescue her nephew. In doing so, she finds herself caught up in a wild plan to steal weapons, and a blazing inferno on a Santa Barbara hillside.
Review:
Sure-footed, action-packed (Bookseller)
Meg Gardiner's . . . certainly arrived with a bang. She swiftly and smoothly lures you into the plot, and, by the time you've realised it, you're already locked in its vice-like grip . . . rocked by what you've read, yet enthralled at the same time. (Alex Gordon, Peterborough Evening Telegraph)
compelling tale, a powerful mix of murder, terrorism and a wealth of dark secrets. (Publishing News)
What sets China Lake apart . . . is the quality of Gardiner's writing. She has a way of capturing a character or place with a single line of epigrammatic prose. . . Readers everywhere will welcome Gardiner into the halls of praise frequented by fellow authors Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs with this ebullient debut of a hot-tempered, kind-hearted and clever heroine. (Waterstone's Books Quarterly)
With energetic, punchy prose and a breathless, action-thriller plot, China Lake is an assured debut. Evan Delaney is a great character and Gardiner a writer to watch. (Tangled Web)
With a colourful cast of richly delineated characters, a protagonist with whom the readers will easily identify - all big-hearted, quick-tongued and hair-trigger-tempered - this novel provides a fast-paced ride through some of the more dubious nooks and crannies of the American dream and is an impressive opening salvo by a Surrey-based expatriate who hits the bookshelves running. (Maxim Jakubowski, Guardian)
China Lake makes a strong impression. The story grips and Ms Gardiner is a welcome addition to the ranks of American thriller writers. (Sunday Telegraph)
A colourful cast of richly delineated characters, a protagonist with whom the reader will easily identify, all big-hearted, quick-tongued and trigger-hair tempered, this is a fast paced ride through some of the more dubious nooks and crannies of the American dream . . . an impressive opening salvo (Crime Time)
With energetic, punchy prose and a breathless, action-thriller plot, China Lake is an assured debut. Evan Delaney is a great character, and Gardiner is a writer to watch. (Manchester Evening News)
Religious fundamentalism, anti-Aids crusaders, nutty relatives, and a Waco-style shootout: they're all here in the exciting mix that Gardiner expertly stirs up. Great stuff. (Independent on Sunday)
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