Any book that starts off with the main character lost on a backwoods road on a dark and stormy night has got to be good, right? Well, if it keeps you interested and is a good mystery, then yes. And this book qualifies. We start by reading about Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Moira Harrison in just that predicament. A woman, her face full of fear, appears out of nowhere. Moira loses control of her car, hitting the woman and then a tree. A stranger comes to her aid, but then Moira passes out. When she wakes up she calls 911, but the police try to convince her that she hit a deer.
Moira is unable to get the terrified woman out of her mind. When the police do not find anything to corroborate her story of this woman, she turns to a private investigator. Cal Burke, an ex-homicide detective, is part of a three-man firm named Phoenix, Inc. Together, he and his two co-workers, one a former ATF agent and the other a former Secret Service Agent, agree that though Moira’s story is very strange, the more they look into it, the more they know she is telling the truth – the mysterious woman does exist, but who is she, and what happened to her? If Moira hit her, why is there no evidence of it, and where did this woman go?
As Moria and the Phoenix group work together to solve this mystery, the ingredient of romance is added to the suspenseful story. Moira and Cal are attracted to each other, but both have their reasons for denying their feelings. As the investigation progresses, Moira hears a voice on the television – the voice of a man that sends chills through her. Is this the voice of the stranger that checked on Moira when her car was in the accident? Did he have something to do with it? How could that be, since he is a well-known physician who had just won a humanitarian award?
The book is full of twists and turns, and the reader is kept in suspense until the end, when the mysteries are solved, the questions answered. This is a book that will appeal to a wide range of readers; a romantic suspense novel, a great mystery novel with well-written and developed characters. I can certainly see why Amazon named it one of the best books of the month and a top 10 romance release for January, 2013.
– Reviewed by Karen Mitchell
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Vanished was written by Irene Hannon and was released on January 1, 2013.
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