A Date You Can't Refuse

By Harley Jane Kozak

Wollie Shelley is talked into going undercover by the FBI at a media training center. The FBI suspects the place is more than a media training center and they want Wollie, even though she is not a trained investigator, to scope out the place and its people, especially the head man, Yuri Milos, an European with a shady background. But when her on-again, off-again boy friend, who is an FBI agent finds out, he hits the roof. He can't understand why his boss would expose Wollie to a potentially dangerous situation and he can't understand why Wollie would agree to do it. Of course, the $50,000 that Milos is willing to pay her for a mere three months work might have something to do with it. And the fact that her mentally-ill brother may not be kicked out of the group home he is living in if the FBI uses its influence if she cooperates might also be a contributing factor. But when the bullets start flying the first day on the job, and a dead body is found a few days later, not to mention the suspicious demise of the young woman who had the job before her, Wollie should probably be in the group home with her brother, having her head examined for staying on the job. But she sticks it out, even though she may lose her boyfriend and ultimately even her life.

This was an OK book. Given the reasons for staying on the job were not as compelling as the reason for leaving, i.e., death, I found it hard to swallow the premise that Wollie would stay, especially after she see the huge cache of weapons and the firing range and finding the dead man. I mean, I know she loves her brother, but I'm also sure her brother would not be happy if she died trying to earn the money to keep him in the group home. Other than that, the plot was OK, despite the weak foundation, but I didn't enjoy the rather violent ending. Too bloody for my taste.