Clair Holt, a Taos art gallery owner, awakens one morning with vague memories of the night from Hell. It seems that her archrival has been murdered, and she's the chief suspect. Her wallet and panties were found in the room next door to the murder. Evidence also points to the fact that Claire's been drugged with Rohypnol, the 'date-rape' drug, and has had a one-nighter with a man she couldn't recognize if her life depended on it. It just might; so far, he's her alibi.

She's also made the town's main piece of scum very mad at her, so much so that he's aching for revenge. She's arranged for someone to steal the scum's bear, a pitiful, toothless, declawed animal used in bear baiting contests. This cruel, inhuman, ruthless, bottom feeding piece of scum is going to go the full distance to get his bear back. Can you tell that I developed strong feelings...of revulsion... for this character? I rarely root for a bear, but it's easy here.

Zach Coulter, the local law, has long ties to Claire. Years before, Claire's mother was involved in an adulterous affair with Zach's dad. Leaving town together, both were killed in a car crash. Claire's father is still so bitter about his unfaithful wife that he's blaming the sins of the father on the son. It seems that her father's hatred of Zach is out of proportion, overly vehement and vindictive. Claire's dad has always hated Zach and even tried to block Zach's appointment as sheriff.

Zach's gut instinct is telling him that Claire is innocent of the murder, but the evidence certainly isn't on her side. Zach has always been aware of Claire but felt that she looked down on the boy with the alcoholic mother and cheating father. As a man, he still remembers those raw emotions that Claire evoked in him as a teenager. He cares, but does not believe that Claire can ever care for him. These feelings of inferiority cause both of them grief, time and time again. It causes me immense frustration.

Zach is often portrayed as being misunderstood when he was a youth, his early toughness being a facade for loneliness and wanting acceptance. Claire isn't given the same latitude. She isn't written with the same depth of humanity as Zach. Her motivations are more flimsy and sketchy.

The Hideaway is a dark story. It's populated with rich, bored thrill seekers whose pleasures are frequently above the law. Drugs and perverted sex abound. Even between Claire and Zach, there is no soft, gentle sex, no moonlight relationships. Instead there's the get-down-on-the-floor-and-tear-off- your-clothes sex. The meat market approach to women is used. One woman is described as silicone dependent. I find this remark to be offensive rather than funny. I have never found it humorous when men downgrade women. The prevalent attitude is one that is demeaning to women. These people will never have their photographs in a magazine, showing off their milk mustaches. Wholesome, they're not.

As far as the mystery goes, there's never any sense of foreboding or even much curiosity as to whodunit. There are no concrete suspects, just lots of circumstantial evidence. We never really know the victim; my interest in him was no more than reading an obituary in the paper. I was more interested in the scum who kept looking for his bear.

I'll admit that perhaps I could be wrong about this book. Maybe I expect too much from a romance. Maybe I expect the characters to respect each other. Maybe I expect the characters to have a certain depth of maturity. Maybe I don't want the relationship to be harsh. While I don't always expect to empathize with the characters, it would be nice. They were both too shallow to evoke any sympathy or empathy. Maybe I want too much. Maybe not. Either way, I didn't get what I wanted out of The Hideaway.

Maybe you'll have better luck. Maybe not.

--Linda Mowery