Adam Roach

The price of a past you can’t outrun.

Successful lawyer, Cynthia Burrows, sees her life unravel when her 18-year-old daughter, Tori, disappears. Alerted when the school sends an excused absence text, Cynthia becomes alarmed and tries to find out why Tori is skipping school. Thinking it has to do with a boy she’s dating, Cynthia goes to where the boy works only to find that he hasn’t shown up for his job. Now on high alert, Cynthia checks the coffee shop’s camera feed and sees Tori show more leaving with an older man linked to a name from Cynthia’s past. The name is Alexander Beaufort, a serial killer, who forced Cynthia into witness protection decades ago.

Cynthia races to find Tori, aided by (how convenient) her best friend, FBI Agent Gabby, the only person who knows about Cynthia’s past. This is where the book starts to require an immense measure of suspension of disbelief. As Cynthia races from place to place trying to find Tori, the story flips back and forth in time to her childhood when she was Samantha. To save her daughter, she has to confront and reveal all of her buried trauma and the secrets she hid from everyone.

The authors deliver a fast paced thriller, but the reader has to accept a lot of extraordinary coincidences and unbelievable allowances given to Cynthia who somehow is provided access to every crime scene and all of the investigation details. Journal entries written by an unknown person confessing homicidal urges are interspersed and, come on, I’d be amazed if someone did not figure out immediately who the author was. I had the twists and shocking revelations sussed out almost from the beginning. Also, I didn’t care much for the main characters and there were some questions unanswered at the end.

It was a quick read over the course of an evening, and I have liked a lot of this author’s books in the past, but this one wasn’t as good.

I was able to listen to the audio book while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Morgan Halley, did a good job of voicing the characters who were mostly female so she changed her tone and accents enough to make them distinct. I always find that a good audio production enhances my enjoyment of a book, and this was no exception. show less

Cynthia's daughter is missing and it's got something to do with his past.

This is an excellent example of a psychological thriller done well. Dual timelines and mysterious events in both timelines. Slowly the truth reveals itself, but it definitely won't be what you think it is. The story is entertaining, mysterious and twisty. The final twist was shocking and not althogether to my liking, but I also had an inkling that the story would take that turn. All in all this was an absolutely show more enjoyable reading experience. This is for sure the best collaboration so far for J.D. Barker.

Thank you NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for a copy of this book. show less

Hier of Eriad is a unique story that would be an excellent read for older teens. It does have some mature content. The characters are very realistic, and I immediately connected with Mouse. This series is notably different from others in this genre as it does not rush into the new world. Instead, it teases the reader with glimpses into an alternate dimension, while remaining rooted to Earth. This book left me wondering what would happen next.

The age range for this book is 10-18. I would actually move it up a bit to 13 maybe 14. This is because of a few factors...the opening scene involving The Taker and his creatures, which they make appearances a few more times in the story and due to the age of Ander. He is fourteen, so the way he talks and acts would be more relatable to readers closer to his age.

Being outside of the targeted age range, I liked this book. My feelings with it really had a little to do with the age of the show more characters but more around the layout of the story. The first third of the story I was really jiving with it. Yet, when Ander made the jump to visiting Luceria; I wanted him to spend more time there getting to know the people and Luceria. what a dreamer was all about, and what happened to his father. Don't get me wrong as all of these things are revealed along the way in the story. I just would have liked to have spent a bit more time acclimating myself to this other world and the other characters then to just have a quick moment like blink and you missed it. The rest of the story was kind of like that. It would flash back and forth really fast.

The chapters are short so you really did not have much time to some times comprehend which had just happened before something else was happening. Yet, this is a good book. It is one that I do think the younger reading audience would like if they are a fan of fantasy books. show less