SUMMARY:
In Huntsville, Texas, a man goes to the electric chair for the kidnap, torture and murder of six small children. In Boston, Massachusetts, a nine-year-old girl has been admitted to ER, unconscious and full of morphine. When she comes round, she remembers nothing about herself or her past. This girl – twenty years later – is the heroine of THE OTHER DAUGHTER. Melanie Stokes has been adopted and raised by Dr Harper Stokes and his wife, following the tragic murder of their four-year-old daughter, Meagan. Now someone is targeting the family, sending grotesque signals and messages, suggesting that it is they, not the executed serial killer, who may have been responsible for Meagan’s death. In an even more horrible twist, a journalist approaches Melanie and tells her that her birth father was the executed murderer. David Riggs, Special Agent, sent in under cover to investigate a medical scam in which Dr Stokes is implicated, becomes romantically involved with Melanie, and then with the whole tangled mystery of her past.

From Publishers Weekly

In her newest, Gardner (The Perfect Husband) indulges her fascination with the dark side of family life, where the ties that bind also gag, choke and strangle. Professional event planner Melanie Stokes does not suspect that the death of a serial killer in a Texas electric chair 20 years before could have any relevance to her neatly ordered existence. But as it becomes clear that the life she's known (as the adopted daughter of Boston cardiologist Harper Stokes and his trophy wife, Patricia) is based on ugly secrets and bloody lies, her world unravels. With the help of FBI Agent David Riggs, who makes up for his lack of physical agilityAthe result of ankylosing spondylitis (bad back problems)Awith finely honed reflexes, street smarts and pure sex appeal, Melanie unearths what an intricately planned 25-year-old cover-up can't hide: the gruesome truth about her parentage. Once again, Gardner serves up suspense at a furious pace. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A dark, powerful tale of nerve-shattering suspense."—Tami Hoag

"Readers get loads of angst, great procedural stuff, some hair-raising action scenes, and a villain to keep you awake at night. What more can any thriller reader want?"—_Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine_

"Gardner delivers a streamlined bang-up addition to the oeuvre of Tami Hoag, Karen Robards, Elizabeth Lowell and, these days, even Nora Roberts."—_Publishers Weekly_

"Scary, gritty, terrifying. Lock the door, leave on a light."—_Oakland Press_

"A page-turner."—_Rocky Mountain News_

“[A] suspenseful, engrossing page-turner…Totally absorbing, it’s one of those books that keeps you up late, enslaved by the ‘just one more chapter’ syndrome.” —_Mystery News_

“Sheer terror…a great read.”–_Iris Johansen_“Sheer terror…a great read.”—Iris Johansen