Title: Killing Time
Author: Madeline Hunter
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Price: $25.95
Length: 330 pages

Linda Howard takes another foray into paranormal romance with this story of time travel, suspense, mystery and passion. Chief county investigator Knox Davis has a rather difficult case on his hands. It begins with the bizarre theft of a time capsule buried twenty years before. A security tape shows that in a split second with a flash of light, the capsule was gone. The situation gets worse in the sleepy town of Pekesville, Kentucky, when one of the people who contributed items to the capsule turns up murdered with a spear. And once again, the crime took place without a trace of evidence. Then, if all that wasn’t enough, FBI Agent Nakita Stover arrives on the scene. While Knox finds her irresistibly attractive, she has a lot of secrets, ones that plunge him into a case with a lot more at stake than he anticipated.

Howard’s story is a beautiful blend of sexual tension and sci-fi intrigue. The romance is woven neatly into the mystery and danger that surround the protagonists, adding exponentially to the passion the reader feels.

The story does have its slow parts, where sections of dialogue are used to explain the story’s scientific background. As a result, this dialogue appears a bit contrived and tends to smother the romance. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen often.