Vanished: Private Justice Series #1
Back Cover description:
Reporter Moira Harrison is lost. In the dark. In a thunderstorm. On a country road. When a lone figure appears in the beam of her headlights, she slams on her brakes--but it's too late. She feels a solid thump against the side of her car before crashing into a tree on the far side of the road. Moments later, a man opens her door, tells her he saw everything, and promises to call 911. Then her world fades to black.
When she comes to, she is alone. No man. No emergency vehicles. No injured person. But she can't forget the look of terror she saw on that face in the instant before her headlights swung away. After failing to convince the police her story is true, she hires a PI to help her dig for answers.
Police detective turned private investigator Cal Burke isn't too sure about Moira's story, but as clues begin to surface it becomes clear that someone doesn't want this mystery solved—and will stop at nothing to protect a shocking secret.
Preview: Slow-burning suspense combined with a clean, well-written romance makes for a great first Private Justice novel
What I liked (Spoilers):
Irene Hannon had already written more than 30 books by this point, and she has a knack for well-written, slow-burning suspense combined with clean romance for a Christian audience. She crafts an intriguing scenario where the police can’t get involved (no evidence of Moira Harrison’s claims), so she has to turn to a private investigator, Cal Burke, for help. Cal and his crack team at Phoenix Inc., a private detective firm, are willing to work with Moira and give her story a chance and investigate.
Moria and Cal are both engaging, likable leads, and their interactions are enjoyable - the chemistry is done well and the book makes it clear they are attracted to each other from the beginning. The romance is woven throughout the story expertly, and I was rooting for them to get together. They also make a great team, solving clues together to get to the bottom of who the terrified woman was that Moira accidentally hit, and the mysterious man minutes later.
Rounding out the cast are the quirky PIs and the tough receptionist at Phoenix Inc. Jim Delvin and Connor have a good-natured teasing, and Nikki, the receptionist, is a strong supporting female character.
I don’t want to say who the villain is, but I will say he is an intriguing character who firmly believes he is doing the right thing, as most villains do. But the reasons for how and why he is doing what he does are very chilling and show that even the most white looking sheep can have some skeletons in the closet.
The ending appropriately raises the tension and danger, and I felt it was a satisfying conclusion to the story that was set up.
What I Disliked (Spoilers):
About 100 pages in, we start to get, Colombo-style, sections of the book in the villain’s head. With Colombo, it worked well because we see his or her point of view from the beginning, but in this story, it was somewhat jarring. I’m not going to deny it was suspenseful at points, though.
This is going to sound weird, but as a Christian thriller, there actually weren’t as many references to Christian themes as I thought there would be. It does come up in conversation a few times (and I do admire Hannon not trying to beat someone over the head with any religious dialogue), but I felt it could have been a stronger theme throughout the book.
Overall Review: For fans of the genre, I think this is an excellent example of a Christian suspense thriller with a clean romance. And I recommend this book to anyone! Check it out, you may find a new favorite author!
Content Rating: PG-13 for discussions of violence and depictions of violence.
