What you don't know can kill you.

Twenty years ago, Melanie Stokes was abandoned in a Boston hospital, then adopted by a wealthy young couple.  Gifted with loving parents, a doting brother and indulgent uncle, Melanie has always considered herself lucky.  Until tonight.

Tonight, a has-been reporter turns up investigating her past.  Tonight, the first note arrives saying, "You Get What You Deserve."  And tonight, Melanie has her first, horrifying vision of the past.

Melanie has no memory of her life before the adoption.  Now, someone wants to give it back, even if it includes the darkest nightmare the Stokes family ever faced:  the murder of their first daughter in Texas.  As Melanie pursues every lead, chases every shadow in search of her real identity, two seemingly unrelated events from twenty years ago will come together in a dangerous explosion of truth.

In her newest, Gardner (The Perfect Husband) indulges her fascination with the dark side of family life, where the ties that bind also gag, choke and strangle. Professional event planner Melanie Stokes does not suspect that the death of a serial killer in a Texas electric chair 20 years before could have any relevance to her neatly ordered existence. But as it becomes clear that the life she's known (as the adopted daughter of Boston cardiologist Harper Stokes and his trophy wife, Patricia) is based on ugly secrets and bloody lies, her world unravels. With the help of FBI Agent David Riggs, who makes up for his lack of physical agility--the result of ankylosing spondylitis (bad back problems)--with finely honed reflexes, street smarts and pure sex appeal, Melanie unearths what an intricately planned 25-year-old cover-up can't hide: the gruesome truth about her parentage. Once again, Gardner serves up suspense at a furious pace. (July) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.