FBI agent Genna Snow's successful career cannot fully erase the heartache of a shattered childhood. After breaking the silence surrounding the abusive acts of a summer camp counselor, young Genna was abandoned by her family even as justice was being served in the courtroom. Years later, Genna was forced to relive the pain of abandonment when the man she loved, special agent John Mancini, walked out of her life without explanation.
Now, having returned from his own private hell, John is determined to win Genna back. Even as she struggles to keep their relationship strictly professional, Genna is selected for a special FBI team led by John, charged with tracking down the person behind a series of seemingly random abductions of young women across the country. But as a terrifying pattern begins to emerge, Genna faces the chilling realization that someone else from her past may be on the way back into her life -- and that she stands in danger of losing more than just her heart.
Review:
When Genna Snow was nine-years-old she attends a church camp run by Brother Michael. She gets in trouble for taking flowers to her ailing sister. Michael tries to punish her by sexually abusing the child, but Genna escapes to Schoolteacher Patsy Wheeler cottage. When Patsy finds the battered girl she obtains help and all hell breaks loose and soon authorities learn that Michael has abused more children.
In spite of her parents' abandoment, and with the loving help of Patsy, Genna recovers and becomes an expert on abuse for the FBI.
The romance between Genna and John worked well in the beginning, creating a convincing tension . He left her to get his life straightened out after a brush with a serial killer, but he fails to tell her where he was going, or why. He feels he must get his life together before he has anything to offer Genna. Genna has her own issues with abandonment, and she was crushed by his leaving. At the beginning of the book, we find them struggling to be friends and co-workers again. There is no bitterness (hard to believe), just a wary feeling between John, who loves her deeply, and Genna, who is cautious about getting involved again.
In the middle of all of this, we follow the characters though a series of unrelated cases, none of them ends up having any bearing on the book later on. About two thirds of the way through the book, we pick up the main suspense plot again, and the romantic angle resolves itself about fifty pages before the end! The entire conclusion was anti-climatic. This is a very emotional story but the middle slows down and kinda drags the story out a bit. But all in all a really good read.
EXCELLENT
Jo Anderson
A.L.R. Reviews
