It's a business trip that takes attorney Maddie Fitzgerald down to New Orleans, but it's hardly business as usual when a man breaks into her hotel room and tries to kill her. Barely escaping with her life, the sexy, stylish thirty-two-year-old brunette calls the police and finds herself face-to-face with FBI agent Sam McCabe. Unnerved by his questions-and his good looks-Maddie is told she's been targeted by a hired killer, one who has eluded McCabe for years. Apparently, she's been mistaken for another woman, an FBI informant of the same name who was also staying at the hotel that night. McCabe grills her, and then disappears. Shaken, she finishes her business and returns home to St. Louis. But days later, Maddie is attacked a second time, and again McCabe returns to question her. He convinces her that the only way she'll ever be safe again is if the killer is caught, and the quickest way to nab him is to use her as bait. Maddie reluctantly agrees, and sparks fly and then ignite as McCabe shadows her. But their unexpected romance throws McCabe off his stride-and puts Maddie in the hands of a killer. A bewitching combination of pulse-pounding twists and blazing romance, Bait is the remarkable Karen Robards at her best. FBI agent Sam McCabe is on the hunt for a killer who taunts him by calling him on his cell phone to give him clues that lead Sam and his team to the crime scene mere moments too late. A break in the case finally happens in New Orleans, when the killer strikes twice at the same hotel. He attacks two women with the name Maddie Fitzgerald but only kills one. The surviving Maddie wants only to be left alone. After a mysterious event in her life seven years ago, Maddie reinvented herself and doesn't want anyone delving into her past, especially the FBI. She now owns a struggling advertising agency, and she is after a dog-food account that will save her business. Sam knows that although she is unable to identify the assassin, he will come back to finish the job, so he tails Maddie back to St. Louis. There the killer tries again, and Sam must contend with the interference born of a mutual attraction between him and Maddie, and with Zelda, a psycho, junk-food-loving dog. A top-notch thriller filled with humorous characters and diverting subplots that leave the reader engrossed until the very end, this is yet another coup for Robards, and a fun summer read. Patty Engelmann Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Maddie and Sam are two extremely likable and compelling characters, which makes this a love affair worth rooting for. -- Romantic Times , July 2004 Karen Robards is the author of more than twenty novels, including the recent New York Times bestsellers Beachcomber and Whispers at Midnight .