While attempting an arrest, a sheriff is slain by an enigmatic young woman who promptly vanishes into the northern Florida landscape. As the story comes over the wire, reporter Britt Montero is intrigued. Few copkillers escape so easily.

The murders continue. Men are lured into sex by the same woman, their lifeless bodies dumped half-naked in ditches, woodlands and along the road, their cars, cash, and valuables gone. The murderer, who leaves lipstick traces on the bullets she uses-slugs that blossom into flower-shaped blades designed to maim-is swiftly dubbed the Kiss Me Killer.

Tracking the killer's path, Britt senses it will lead to Miami, sweltering through the hottest summer on record. When a top politician tastes the killer's kiss of death, leading to a media frenzy, the story belongs to Britt and quick reader reaction comes-from the killer. They open a chilling dialogue, and the body count mounts as the bad and beautiful serial murderer decimates the hard partying South Beach scene. The mutual fascination between killer and reporter builds into an explosive face-to-face meeting that turns deadly as Britt begins a terrifying odyssey through the Sunshine State's dark heart, in the company of the murderer. On the road, on the run, a young father is brutally slain, his small child is kidnapped, and the truth behind this bloody spree is exposed in a shocking revelation. The question is: will Britt survive to write it?While attempting an arrest, a sheriff is slain by an enigmatic young woman who promptly vanishes into the northern Florida landscape. As the story comes over the wire, reporter Britt Montero is intrigued. Few copkillers escape so easily.

The murders continue. Men are lured into sex by the same woman, their lifeless bodies dumped half-naked in ditches, woodlands and along the road, their cars, cash, and valuables gone. The murderer, who leaves lipstick traces on the bullets she uses-slugs that blossom into flower-shaped blades designed to maim-is swiftly dubbed the Kiss Me Killer.

Tracking the killer's path, Britt senses it will lead to Miami, sweltering through the hottest summer on record. When a top politician tastes the killer's kiss of death, leading to a media frenzy, the story belongs to Britt and quick reader reaction comes-from the killer. They open a chilling dialogue, and the body count mounts as the bad and beautiful serial murderer decimates the hard partying South Beach scene. The mutual fascination between killer and reporter builds into an explosive face-to-face meeting that turns deadly as Britt begins a terrifying odyssey through the Sunshine State's dark heart, in the company of the murderer. On the road, on the run, a young father is brutally slain, his small child is kidnapped, and the truth behind this bloody spree is exposed in a shocking revelation. The question is: will Britt survive to write it?

Edna Buchanan