Genre: Thriller/Suspense
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.”
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.
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.
Added for
Reprise Review: Dark
Witness by Rebecca Forster was a winner in the Thriller category for
B&P 2015 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran October 20, 2014
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
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 95-100,000 words
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