Synopsis
from Goodreads: Dr.
Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on
a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband, Jeff,
miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has
grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous
wilderness and paralyze the search for her.
While
police suspect Jeff of "instant divorce," Emory, suffering
from an unexplained head injury, regains consciousness and finds
herself held captive by a man whose violent past is so dark that he
won't even tell her his name. She's determined to escape from him and
willing to take any risks necessary to survive.
Unexpectedly,
however, the two have a dangerous encounter with people who adhere to
a code of justice all their own. At the center of the dispute is a
desperate young woman whom Emory can't turn her back on, even if it
means breaking the law. Wrong becomes right at the hands of the man
who strikes fear but also sparks passion.
As
her husband's deception is revealed, and the FBI closes in on her
captor, Emory begins to wonder if the man with no name is, in fact,
her rescuer from those who wish her dead – and from heartbreak.
Stats
for my copy:
Hardback, published by Grand Central Publishing, 2014. .
How
acquired:
Bought.
First
line:
Emory hurt all over.
My
thoughts: Emory
drives from her home in Atlanta to a small town in North Carolina and
spends the night in a motel, so she can run the next day on the
trails in a national park. Early in the morning she's an hour into a
long run over mountain terrain. And then suddenly stars explode in
her head and she's out cold. When she wakes up, with a killer
headache from a nasty head wound, she's in a small cabin with a
formidable looking man who says he found her unconscious. He answers
her questions tersely or not at all, and won't tell her anything
about himself, including his name. He does tell her the fog outside
is too heavy for him to risk driving her anywhere on the icy mountain
roads, and he has no phone or close neighbors. He disables her cell
phone and won't give her the password for his laptop, so she can't
even contact her husband or her partners in her medical practice to
let them know she's okay.
Meanwhile
her husband, Jeff, is canoodling with his girlfriend, and when the
girlfriend begins to express worry over the fact that Emory hasn't
called him and hasn't been home yet, he says Emory is probably still
mad at him after the argument they had the night before she left.
Eventually he does also start to worry, calling around to see if
anyone's heard from her, and then driving to North Carolina himself
to report her missing and hassle the local police for not doing
enough to look for her. And of course, being the spouse, he's a
suspect. We also meet the deputies investigating Emory's
disappearance, an FBI agent, and an assortment of other characters,
both good and bad.
So
how did Emory get her concussion? I was pretty sure throughout most
of the book that I knew who conked her on the head, or who was behind
her being conked on the head. Pretty sure, but never one hundred
percent.
Lots
of books in the romance and/or mystery/suspense genres feature a hero
who is a “bad boy”. A dark horse. Mysterious. You know who the
hero is as soon as he's introduced, and you know the hero is a good
guy. You know that, whatever crimes he's been accused of or actions
have been attributed to him, there will be a reasonable explanation,
or extenuating circumstances, or a clearing up of a misunderstanding.
So I went into this book expecting that. But this guy. I wanted to
like him. Did like him. Wanted to fall for him, the way I fall for
every Sandra Brown hero. But I was conflicted. Plagued by doubts.
Trying to reconcile his good traits with his bad traits. It was an
emotional see saw. And that's a testament to Sandra Brown's writing
ability. To her characterization.
The
plot was so layered I never knew where it was going. And when I
thought I did, Ms. Brown threw me a curve ball. The characters are
all distinctive, and her descriptions of the landscape or the
surroundings always left a clear picture in my head.
I
love this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment