Wounded Earth by Mary Anna Evans

Larabeth McLeod has beauty, money, several patents, a Ph.D., a successful environmental firm, and some very old secrets. When a man with the uncomfortable name of Babykiller begins stalking her, terrorizing her with stories of her darkest days in Vietnam, stories no one else knows, she feels compelled to fight back...until he exposes her most tender secret of all by threatening the daughter she has never met.She turns to private detective J.D. Hatten for help, breaking five years of separation and silence between quarreling friends. And then Babykiller shows his true capabilities. He is the head of an illicity business offering but one service--moving cargo worldwide for criminals who need their drugs or cash or smuggled goods shipped safely and anonymously--so he is capable of putting anything anywhere. He quietly explains to Larabeth, a well-known environmental executive, that he can even put defective gauges in nuclear power plants, and he will, just to get her attention. If she goes to the police for protection, people will die. Lots and lots of people will die. And one of them will be her daughter.Larabeth and J.D. are just a normal man and woman, up against a babykiller. But then, Babykiller doesn't know who he's dealing with...

I received this book from the Goodreads Giveaway Program.
What surprised me most about this book was that it is not been swept up by a major publishing company. I see nothing in this book that would deter it from becoming a popular thriller. The writing is spotless, the grammar as it should be, the plot is fast-paced and highly entertaining.
Larabeth is a wonderful character, full of the type of contradictions that make for leaving a mark on the reader. As is, of course, the villain, Babykiller, a maniacal, egocentric and yet charming man who takes over whatever pages he touches.
The chaotic environmental scenarios the book creates are all the more frightening because they could easily come true. Nuclear plants on the verge of bursting in toxic fireworks, the pollution of our water, the decimation of our crops, all of it a terrifying reality.
Yes, there are a few weak points in the story, some resolutions that come a bit too quickly, and one character, Cynthia who is a just a cardboard cut-out of a real woman, but I have read so many “official” thrillers that have all of these faults, and more, that it makes me curious as to why it was not published by one of the “big” houses.
This is a book that any fan of suspense, thrillers, or mystery books will definitely want to add to his or her bookshelf.