A Parasol in a Hurricane — James Greer

What would you risk to keep a promise to someone you hardly knew? Your job, your marriage.... Your life? Parasol in a Hurricane poses that question to a young policewoman and dares her to choose.

Karen O'Neil is a California girl with a domineering husband, ripped from a sun-drenched, stimulating life as a San Diego cop and spirited away to the isolation of rural Wisconsin. Talented, attractive and intense, she is cut off from everything she knows except how to be a police officer. She works for a progressive sheriff who offers her a badge, a uniform and refuge from an unfulfilling home life.

On a routine call she encounters a young woman with no reason to lie - yet she does. Puzzled, Karen enlists the help of an old friend, who reminds her of all that had once been rewarding in her world. Together they use modern computer databases to uncover a dark, closely guarded secret. When Karen confronts the woman, she begs for the impossible.

Unfortunately, technology is a cold, unfeeling mistress. The woman's past surfaces in the worst possible way. Karen refuses to cooperate with her superiors, even with the threat of termination hanging over her. Only the respect of her sheriff stands between her and the end of her career.

Principle alone won't save the young woman when the final confrontation occurs. Only an officer with a warrior soul can keep the promise to risk her own life, to be the one who faces the gun. She steps out into the line of fire and raises her rifle.