title: Heat Signature: A Novel
author:  Lisa Teasley 
description: Teasley (<i>Dive</i>) transcends the mystery and thriller genres with her moody second novel populated by unusual but recognizable people living on the left coast of Americaeach wounded in his or her own way. The son of an African-American woman and a Native American man, 31-year-old Sam Brown is haunted by memories of his mother, July, who was raped and murdered when he was a teenager. Sam lives with his gruff, eccentric but loving stepfather, pipe fitter Joe Braxton, in the California desert community of Twentynine Palms, where Sam works as a nurse at the vast military base that dominates the area. Learning that July's killer is about to be released from prison in San Diego, Sam sets off on a road trip up the Pacific coast, seeking solace and pleasure from a series of short-lived affairs with women, including a former patient in Los Angeles, a near-saint in Santa Barbara and a tree expert in Oregon. Teasley interrupts Sam's odyssey with flashbacks to the sad details of July's death, giving her novel a dark, effective frame. <i>(Aug.)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  ![Penguin Books](../images/00001.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Kate Riordan
  
  
  * * *
  
  
  ### THE HEATWAVE
  
  
  ![Penguin Books](../images/00002.jpeg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ## Contents
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Cover](kindle:embed:0003?mime=image/jpg)
  
  
  * [Title Page](part0001.html#sec-titlepage001)
  
  
  * [About the Author](part0003.html#2RHM0-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [By the Same Author](part0004.html#3Q280-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [Dedication](part0005.html#4OIQ0-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [Epigraph](part0006.html#5N3C0-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [PART ONE](part0007_split_000.html#6LJU0-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  
  
  
  * [July 1993](part0008.html#7K4G0-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [1968](part0009.html#8IL20-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [1993](part0010.html#9H5K0-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [1969](part0011.html#AFM60-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  
  * [1993](part0012.html#BE6O0-a4bef289d24f468a91fb1344bf7b41df)
  
  