Fatal Error [Mass Market Paperback]

Colleen Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2004

West Texas gossip paints every story a more interesting shade, especially when a married man goes missing with a small-town banker’s wife and a stolen fortune. Susan Maddox is tired of feeling like an abandoned woman, and even angrier when neighbors insist she’s the one getting away with murder. Maybe her handsome-as-sin, bad-boy brother-in-law isn’t the smartest choice of an ally, especially since she’s never been able to forget a star-studded night in his convertible back in high school. But who else can she trust to recover damning information from her husband’s crashed hard drive? Who else can pick up the pieces when intruders set fire to her home, a truck runs her off the road, and a trail of dead men stops her cold? Who else will help her uncover a fatal error?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

High-school science teacher Susan Maddox is at the mercy of her small hometown of Clementine, Texas, after her popular husband runs away with the banker's wife and embezzled money from his car dealership and the bank. The school board, headed by her vindictive mother-in-law, wants to fire Susan, and the only person willing to help her is her renegade brother-in-law, Luke. He has a successful computer business, but in the eyes of the town and his mother he will never be more than the reckless wild youth he was in high school when Susan shared one night of passion with him. She now needs him to help her retrieve data from her husband's crashed hard drive because she doesn't trust the police and has nowhere else to turn as it becomes clear that she may lose more than her job. Luke desperately wants to help her and prove that he has changed. Thompson has written a first-class work of romantic suspense. Patty Engelmann
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

". . .brilliantly told story of murder and love that will set your heart to pounding and your toes to tingling." -- Romance at Heart

"A chilling story. . . suspense second to none. I loved it!" -- Sharon Sala, NYT Bestselling Author

"A perfect 10...a suspenseful tale that kept this reader enthralled from the first to the last." -- Romance Reviews Today

"Fast-paced, chilling, and sexy, this gripping tale nicely launches Leisure's new romantic suspense line." -- The Library Journal

"Hang on to your seats and get ready for a wild ride with this excellent romantic suspense..." -- The Best Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Leisure Books (November 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843954213
• ISBN-13: 978-0843954210
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #918,280 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Whether you're a loyal reader or a brand new browser, thank you for visiting my page at Amazon.com. If you're into suspense that keeps you up past bedtime, a mystery that keeps you guessing, and a romance to keep things sizzling, I hope you'll enjoy some time spent with my characters and stories.

To read excerpts, keep up with my latest news, and look for neat new contests and features, please visit me on the web at www.colleen-thompson.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romantic Suspense at its best, November 15, 2004

By 

Jo Anne Banker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Error (Mass Market Paperback)

Susan Maddox is madder than hell. A normal reaction considering her husband of six years, Brian, has run off with the local banker's wife, a fortune in false loans, and stolen enough from the family business to ruin it. On top of that, the gossip surrounding the sordid mess in her small West Texas hometown has her high school teaching job on the line. Eight months after her soon-to-be ex's betrayal, the job's the only thing keeping her and her ailing mother from destitution. The career loss would also mean the end of the ecology club she's organized, her pet project, which has proved to make a difference in the lives of several hard line kids. The mortgage on her home is already being called. How much more does she have to lose?

Even knowing it's foolish, the only person she can look to for help is her brother-in-law, Luke Maddox.

Luke is madder than hell, too. He's lived in the shadow of his football hero brother for a lifetime, never quite measuring up in his socially prideful mother's eyes. After years of playing second fiddle in the family, while his brother side-stepped responsibility for his actions with good `ole boy charm, Luke has to come home to clean up Brian's biggest mess. Even now, with the avalanche of proof, his mother will not accept that Brian has screwed up big time.

Neither Luke nor Susan will admit to the feelings each has buried from that one fateful night, back in high school, when passion reigned and a bond was forged that connects them as much more than in-laws.

Although Luke thinks Susan's been put in an unfair situation, he's got his hands full closing down the family car dealership his deceased father worked all his life to build. But when danger threatens, Luke can't let Susan face it alone.

While the Texas desert, hot and barren as hell by day and colder than sin at night, teems with hidden life, it, too, can bury a multitude of secrets. Can Susan and Luke find the answers they need to solve the mystery surrounding Brian's disappearance and free their frozen hearts?

With plot twists aplenty, FATAL ERROR is an unrivaled whodunit. And the greatest threat to our heroine? You'll need to read the book to figure it out. An interesting little plot twist keeps the reader turning pages until the satisfying end of this novel.

Choose your villain and hang on for the ride. It's a great one.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!, December 11, 2004

By 

Holly Fuhrmann (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Error (Mass Market Paperback)

Fatal error has it all, and then some!

Susan Maddox's husband has disappeared with another woman and a whole lot of money. She's losing her house, about to lose her job...but she'd have sworn she wasn't losing her mind until she found herself taking up with her husband's brother, Luke Maddox. Once upon a time, she and Luke had been a thing, but that was long ago. Now, she only wanted his computer expertise...at least that's what she tells herself. Unfortunately, her heart's not listening.

Colleen Thompson's Fatal Error is a page-turning story full of twists and turns...and a whole lot of love.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful contemporary debut, November 11, 2004

By 

Patricia Kay "author and avid reader" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatal Error (Mass Market Paperback)

Colleen Thompson is one of the most talented writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading. FATAL ERROR is fast-paced, intelligently plotted, filled with characters you can love and hate, loaded with suspense and romantic tension, rich in imagery and detail, and beautifully written. I predict Ms. Thompson will be a star in this genre. And just wait until you read her next romantic suspense, FADE THE HEAT. If anything, it's even better than FATAL ERROR (which was pretty doggone hard to do). VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.