their comfort zones. Just when it seems like Collier and Meri might find dtente, the intrigue and destructive manipulations of Collier's family threaten her independence and Meri's way of life. There is only one way to survive the onslaught: together. But Meri's own shadows of the past threaten her ability to believe in any kind of future. I'd say this was an excellent first novel. This author has a real flair for language and description, and her ability to engage the senses, particularly sight and smell, through her prose was unanticipated and very welcome. Particularly when setting the initial scene and establishing the characters I was captivated with her skillful use of words, and imaginative set-up. I thought that the writing wasn't particularly tactile, though, and perhaps this explains why at times I felt a certain detachment from events. This could also be due to Collier/Bea's detachment from proceedings herself. There are some plot twists that are surprising, and some turns that require a bit more suspension of disbelief than I possess. Particularly given Bea's intelligence and evident political smarts, I find it hard to believe that she didn't harness the media sooner, once she landed and discovered something worth fighting for. But these hang-ups mostly happened in the middle, and once things got moving towards resolution, I was satisfied with the proceedings. I probably had the hardest time believing that no one would make a Mayberry reference, though. The supporting cast was interesting and distinct, as were the main