Those who have been following Iris Johansen's long running Eve Duncan series have watched Eve's adopted daughter, Jane MacGuire, grow up into an amazing young woman.  I do think that before you pick up COUNTDOWN, you need to read Blind Alley; the two books kind of go hand in hand.

Jane is called to help her friend at a local bar; he's had far too much to drink.  As they head for his car, he is shot and killed.  Jane blames herself, especially when it becomes clear that she was the intended target.  She approaches the person who she feels set up her friend at the bar, and he is subsequently murdered as well.  Jane knows she is in trouble, but Mark Trevor enters the picture and whisks her away.

In Blind Alley, readers watched a serial killer fascinated with Cira, a Roman woman who lived 2000 years ago, murder anyone resembling Cira--and Jane is a carbon copy.  COUNTDOWN builds on that premise.  Only this time, someone wants the gold that is all part of that legend and that madman is convinced that Jane is the key.  Mark will do whatever it takes to keep Jane safe and solve this mystery once and for all.  In order to win, the pair must triumph over a lunatic.

Iris Johansen is doing a wonderful job continuing her vastly popular Eve Duncan series.  Eve and her husband, Joe Quinn, remain important players in this book, but the focus is on Jane and Mark.  There is romance brewing, and that romance makes for an exciting romantic suspense.