Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words
Availability
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Author:
USA Today
best selling author Rebecca Forster’s twenty-something books mostly fit within
the broad mystery genre, some in the legal thriller subgenre and others harder
to classify. Forster is a two-time winner in the Books and Pals Readers’ Choice
Awards, with Before Her Eyes topping
the mystery category in 2013 and Eyewitness
(book 5 of the Witness Series) getting the nod from our readers in 2014.
For more,
visit Forster’s website.
Description:
“As the
edge of winter slices through Washington D.C., Josie Bates testifies before
Congress about the Albanian blood feud that sent Hannah Sheraton and Billy Zuni
fleeing for their lives while Archer reluctantly abandons a trail that has gone
cold in his search for the teenagers.
Determined to stay one step ahead of the
authorities who want Billy back and a blood feud that will only be satisfied
when he is dead, Hannah and Billy head north. There they will hunker down in
the darkest corner of earth they can
find and wait for the danger to pass. Though the journey is treacherous, they
finally find themselves isolated, safe, and as far from Hermosa Beach as they
can get. But their relief is short lived. When the perpetual winter dark turns
to inky black, they realize they have taken refuge in hell. Now the fight in
front of Hannah and Billy is not only for their lives, but their very souls.”
Appraisal:
Those who
have read the previous books in the Witness Series knew when they finished Forgotten Witness (book 6 in the series)
that there would have to be at least one more book. Forster had left two
important characters, Hannah Sheridan (a character almost as important to the
series as Josie Bates), and recurring character Billy Zuni in limbo, with what little
changed through the course of book six making their situation more tenuous.
(For those who haven’t read the prior books or may have forgotten, they were
running from a man intent on killing Billy.) This installment picks up Hannah
and Billy’s story where their situation gets even worse.
I’m
reluctant to say anything specific about what happens because everything feels
like it would be a spoiler. While the last book focused on Josie Bates, this is
Hannah and Billy’s book with Josie and Archer taking secondary roles. Although
the initial book in the series was clearly a legal thriller, as the series has
progressed it has slid out of the legal subgenre and into the broader thriller
or suspense category. If this book has a single scene in a courtroom, it is so
minor that I’ve forgotten it. If you’ve read the series thus far, you’ll
definitely want to pick up this one as Hannah and Billy flee from one dangerous
situation, only to fall into another. What that is and how it resolves is quite
a ride.
FYI:
This is the
seventh of a series. Although I believe it could be read as a stand alone and
the story still make sense, to get the full impact an understanding of what has
come previously for these characters would be much better.
Format/Typo Issues:
The version
I read was an advance reader copy. I’m unable to judge the final product in
this area.
Rating: ***** Five Stars
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