Product Description

The President’s daughter...
The women determined to save her...
The man with the power to betray a nation...

Melissa Riley arrives at her sister’s isolated Virginia country home to find herself plunged into a deadly drama. There the renowned Dr. Jessica Riley is attempting to draw the daughter of the President of the United States out of a severe catatonic trauma. The last thing young Cassie Andreas saw was an organized team ruthlessly murder her nanny and the Secret Service agents sworn to protect her. But to free Cassie, Melissa and Jessica must trust a mysterious, charismatic man.

Michael Travis made his fortune in the international underworld. He risked everything to save Cassie during that terrible night of bloodshed. And he has entered into a secret bargain with the President. But is his show of concern all a treacherous charade? Melissa and Jessica have no choice but to accept Travis as their ally—and to follow a dangerous plan that will lead them into the world of a killer who’ll destroy anyone standing between him and the...Final Target.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57076 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02
• Released on: 2002-02-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553582130
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Jessica Riley is a psychiatrist whose experience with catatonic trauma is personal as well as professional: she brought her beloved sister Melissa back from total mental withdrawal with her patience and skill. When the daughter of the president retreats into blankness after seeing her nanny and her Secret Service protector murdered, Jessica is summoned to treat the little girl. Although Jessica can't reach into her young patient's frightened mind, Melissa can--and only Melissa understands why Cassie's so afraid. When Michael Travis, the mysterious and not totally benign stranger who rescued Cassie from the kidnap-assassination that traumatized her, arrives at Jessica's Virginia estate, he's able to stop the child's nightmares long enough for Melissa to join Cassie in her self-imposed darkness and pull her back into the light. But the price he asks for his continued presence is one that Jessica, Melissa, and the president may not be able to meet. Is he an ally or an enemy? Even Melissa isn't sure--and her complicated feelings for Travis and Cassie are especially tortured because her unusual gifts allow her to see a bloody future for both of them, one she may not be able to prevent.

Iris Johansen (The Killing Game, The Search) ratchets up the suspense in this fast-moving thriller, which ranges across international borders from Washington to Amsterdam to Paris with the help of Air Force One and Two. While the president isn't very satisfactorily developed except as a frightened father who'll do almost anything to save his daughter, Travis and Melissa are fascinating characters who linger in the mind after the last explosive page; hopefully, Johansen will revisit them in a future adventure. Meanwhile, this is her best and most engaging read in years. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
At the center of Johansen's latest suspense thriller (after The Search) is the Wind Dancer, a priceless gold statue of the winged horse Pegasus. The statue has been in the Andreas family since the fall of Troy and now, centuries later, U.S. President Jonathan Andreas is in Paris to lend the family heirloom to a museum. On the night of the ceremony, his daughter, seven-year-old Cassie, is awakened at the family's farmhouse in the south of France by masked men who murder her nanny and her nurse, intent on kidnapping Cassie and ransoming her in exchange for the Wind Dancer. Cassie is saved in the nick of time by the arrival of Michael Travis, international underworld information dealer, but eight months later, the child is being treated in the Virginia home of psychiatrist Dr. Jessica Riley and Jessica's psychically extrasensitive sister, Melissa, for severe catatonic trauma. She hasn't spoken a word since the raid and has retreated into an imaginary tunnel where the Wind Dancer rescues her from pursuing monsters. Michael Travis then reappears and lures Cassie and the Riley sisters into a web of intrigue, taking them to Amsterdam, Paris and eventually back to the scene of the crime. There's a lot going on here, what with the telepathic dream sequences, a demented art fanatic determined to steal the statue, a subplot involving the Russian diamond cartel and the romantic tension between Melissa and Travis. Johansen's fans will enjoy the swirling plot lines, staccato dialogue and abrupt scene shifts that mark her style. National advertising. (May 29)Forecast: Fans may recognize the Wind Dancer, the subject (and title) of one of Johansen's mass market romances. The author's dependable mix of suspense and romance will make for good beach reading, but some may prefer to wait for the paperback.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
From GQ's fiction editor: the story of a man obsessed with accumulating one million frequent flier miles and the hell that breaks loose as he approaches his goal.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A Hero with Real Feet of Clay, A Heroine You�ll Never Forget
Though my good friend Vesta Irene had some problems with this book, I think she's over reacting. Yes the plot was a little over the top, but I willingly went along for the ride, enjoying it most of the way.

I was hooked right from the get go, concerned for Cassie as sees her traitorous nanny and her Secret Service protection killed and worried about her when she goes into the catatonic coma. I found myself hoping psychiatrist Jessica Riley and her sister Melissa could get through to her and I didn't find the mysterious Michael and his mysterious connection to Cassie so far fetched at all.

Maybe the sweeping saga is too much for this book, I don't know, but I liked it. I especially liked the fact that both the Secret Service and the horribly evil Deschamps are after our heroes at the same time. And I also liked the connection between this book and Johansen's Wind Dancer romantic trilogy.

Maybe I'd only have given this one four stars, but I feel that I've got to make up for Vesta's harsh rating, besides, I was teetering toward five anyway, so five stars it is.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

Explosive!!
I just completed one of the best suspense novels ever! Iris Johansen in her fourth Wind Dancer series has struck gold once again. Can this author tell a story or what?

The story begins with a kidnapping attempt on the President's daughter which was aborted by Michael Travis who seems to be a pretty shady underworld character. When 7 year old Cassie Andreas witnesses the murder of her bodyguards and nurse she withdraws from the world, leaving her in a catatonic state and the only emotions she emits are through her dreams. President Andreas enlists the aid of Dr. Jessica Riley, who has dealt with patients who have been traumatized and places Cassie in her care at her residence with around the clock agents. One of Jessica's patients was her younger sister Melissa who witnessed their parents' death and who also went through almost the same condition as Cassie. Somehow Melissa and Cassie's nightmares are linked so much so that Melissa leaves college to come home to her sister and now the stuff really hits the fan. There is just so much nonstop action going on here and this novel will keep wondering just who are the good guys. Don't miss out on this powerful novel as it will hold your attention til the very end.

Im glad I read this book
When I bought this book I didn't bother reading the excerpt on the back of the book because Iris Johansen has never let me down and this book was no exception.
Although reading some of the reviews I must say I am surprised at how many low ratings there are!

Cassie (a seven year old girl) has witnessed a horrid robbery gone wrong! monsters, death, hide! Is all she will allow her mind to register?

Dr. Jessica Reily has helped her sister and other traumatized cationic children return to reality, so when the President of The United States asks her to help Cassie back how could she say no!

Jessica's sister, Melissa, returns home from college for what Jessica thinks is a well needed break, but what we learn very quickly is everyone has there own agenda!

Travis, the man who rescued Cassie, is brought in to find the man responsible for Cassie's trauma, yet he's not to be trusted because his past is beyond shady.

There's some physic and telepathic parts, which may seem unreal, but I don't find these parts to lessen the story but make them more interesting. Its not any different then believing in knights in Shinning armor coming and sweeping us off our feet -Real?
to some... intriguing for others and plain stupid for the non-believer.

I couldn't put this book down! If you like Iris Johansen give this book a try... although most reviews are against this particular book, don't let that stop you. Judge for your self!