From Publishers Weekly Misogyny motivates the characters in Epperson's melodramatic and psychologically pat first novel. A cop and a killer, both abused as children by their respective mothers, meet on a Wichita, Kans., street and instinctively recognize each other as bearers of the same dirty secret: a festering desire to harm women. The bad guy, nicknamed Brother Lowdown, whose mother bit off half of his penis, uses his charm and etheral good looks to disarm women who have the same blonde hair and made-up faces as Mommy before he coolly slits their throats. Terra Donlevy inspires in Lowdown more honorable feelings because she doesn't wear makeup or practice any other form of feminine deception. Simon Brith, a responsible police officer wth a few rough edges, wrestles with his attraction and aversion to Terra. A surprise attacker and defender of righteousness in the final showdown don't quite rescue this sometimes sensational but unconvincing story.