I loved this book, unequivocally.
So what is this book even about?
Ann Silver is a cop's cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region's most trusted investigative positions.
Paul Falcon is the FBI's top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder.
Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn't expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention.
The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former vice president. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is....
I started reading Dee Henderson's books roughly a year ago and I haven't been able to stop. They're amazing. This is just one more example of just how incredible she is.
Dee Henderson's characters are all well-rounded and very real, down to the last side-character with only one scene. She brings every person to life in a remarkable way that, as an author myself, I envy greatly. Her characters don't just jump off of the page. They live.
Her descriptions of people, places, and objects create a delightful world for these incredibly real characters to live in. It's grounded, it is realistic, it is funny and dark and beautiful and very much a picture of the real world. Obviously I love Dee Henderson and could get very fan-girly in my review, so I'm going to move on to another subject before I lose my dignity.
It is a suspense novel, and boy does Dee Henderson master the art of keeping a reader on the edge of their seat. She's done this with every book of hers that I've read so far, so I wasn't surprised when I couldn't put the book down. Her murder mysteries always tend to surprise me. I think I know where it is headed and then out of nowhere she hits me over the head with a plot twist that leaves me reeling.
Another thing I loved about this book is that I could relate to one of the characters on a very unique level, in a way that I never have before when reading books.
Ann Silver, one of the two protagonists, is an author. I have read other stories before about authors and only partially understood them, but Ann Silver...Ann Silver is me. Every description of her actions, her personality, the way she talks and thinks and lives...aside from the fact that she is a murder cop, which I am definitely not, I felt like I was reading a story about myself.
There were several passages in particular that seemed to not be describing the main character but rather be describing me. One such example is this passage from Chapter 9,
So what is this book even about?
Ann Silver is a cop's cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region's most trusted investigative positions.
Paul Falcon is the FBI's top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder.
Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn't expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention.
The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former vice president. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is....
First impressions: I enjoyed this book immensely. It was definitely a page-turner.
I started reading Dee Henderson's books roughly a year ago and I haven't been able to stop. They're amazing. This is just one more example of just how incredible she is.
Dee Henderson's characters are all well-rounded and very real, down to the last side-character with only one scene. She brings every person to life in a remarkable way that, as an author myself, I envy greatly. Her characters don't just jump off of the page. They live.
Her descriptions of people, places, and objects create a delightful world for these incredibly real characters to live in. It's grounded, it is realistic, it is funny and dark and beautiful and very much a picture of the real world. Obviously I love Dee Henderson and could get very fan-girly in my review, so I'm going to move on to another subject before I lose my dignity.
It is a suspense novel, and boy does Dee Henderson master the art of keeping a reader on the edge of their seat. She's done this with every book of hers that I've read so far, so I wasn't surprised when I couldn't put the book down. Her murder mysteries always tend to surprise me. I think I know where it is headed and then out of nowhere she hits me over the head with a plot twist that leaves me reeling.
Another thing I loved about this book is that I could relate to one of the characters on a very unique level, in a way that I never have before when reading books.
Ann Silver, one of the two protagonists, is an author. I have read other stories before about authors and only partially understood them, but Ann Silver...Ann Silver is me. Every description of her actions, her personality, the way she talks and thinks and lives...aside from the fact that she is a murder cop, which I am definitely not, I felt like I was reading a story about myself.
There were several passages in particular that seemed to not be describing the main character but rather be describing me. One such example is this passage from Chapter 9,
"'One piece of good advice about Ann. When it's silent and you make a remark and she looks startled that you interrupted her, just repeat the remark or question and don't take offense. She's busy in her mind. The quieter she is, the more likely she's listening to dialog, or watching a scene unfold, or having an internal conversation. She goes somewhere else as easily as I breathe. Bothers people who don't know her well. She's just listening to a few things the rest of us don't hear, sometimes misses the first of what you say . . . There are days there is nothing in particular on her mind, and others where she is so busy creating she can't write it down fast enough. You can tell with just a bit of noticing what kind of day it is. When she goes to get a drink and stands with her hand on the soda can for a minute or two before she remembers to open it, you can bet someone you can't see interrupted her'"
The vivid characters, the suspense of the murder mysteries, the plot twists, all that and more coupled with the fact I related to the main character more than I have with any other book I've ever read...ever...made this book a definite favorite.
I don't have any complaints about this book. The writing was great, the suspenseful plot was everything I would have wanted it to be, the characters definitely came off the page, and I related to the MC more than I ever have before. It was practically perfection.
Would I read it again? Most definitely.
Would I recommend this book to others? Yes!
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