** spoiler alert ** So glad I decided to read this right away instead of putting on the shelf and waiting a few weeks! As before stated, I am turning into a NR junkie, this being my third NR book in a row, and I think I'm just gonna keep on going since I got all the MacKade books on nook for a good deal. Anyway, if you've ever read any of NR suspense books, such as Angels Fall or Northern Lights or Blue Smoke and liked them, I think this one will be right up your alley. It's my new favorite NR suspense!

Elizabeth has such a tragic childhood, and it's heartbreaking to see a mother treat their 'offspring' that way, but without this section of the book, I think we'd lose a lot of the quirks and ways Abigail views life. Elizabeth later becomes Abigail, just FYI. Her life is not difficult, in that she doesn't worry about where her next meal will come from and doesn't experience physical abuse, but how anyone can be such a decent person after an upbringing like that just goes to show how much resilience Elizabeth/Abigail has. What she goes through after the horrifying shooting of her friend, from her mother's lack of concern for her (I mean, seriously, new definition to the words cold shoulder) and seeing her new friends, the Marshals protecting her, die for her, it's a lot for someone to take in, especially at the age of 17. I think NR does a great job of showing us Elizabeth's core and determination to survive.

When we next see Elizabeth, she's now Abigail, and it's 12 years later. If I had to survive on my wits alone, I couldn't do even half the job Abigail has done. Not only is she rich, successful, and keeping herself safe, she's done it with her sanity in tact. Living a mostly reclusive life, which was not a problem in the big cities, Abigail moves to a small town in the Arkansas Ozarks, wanting fresh air, lots of space to keep others away and garden. For the first six months she's pretty successful at keeping to herself, but Brooks Gleason, the new chief of police likes to solve puzzles, and she's a definite puzzle to him. Their interactions are so great, with Abigail trying hard to be polite but closed off, and even downright rude when he won't take no for an answer. It just intrigues him more, drawing him to her. I didn't feel he was too pushy, and being nice to look at and charming to boot don't hurt either! If anything, I was sorta surprised Abigail would be so willing to get into a relationship, something she's desperately avoided for 12 years, so easily. Just a few encounters and they have sex, Abigail figures this is what he wanted all along and would go away, but it just makes Brooks more and more curious!

Seeing the heroine of a book be the slightly nerdy one for a change is fun too. Abigail talks circles around Brooks when it comes to computers, and it doesn't bother him one bit, just adds to her charm as far as he's concerned. And even though Abigail is a typical NR heroine who can physically take care of herself, it's nice to see Abigail want to depend on someone for a change, even if she has a difficult time of it. Brooks is so patient and easy-going, good at drawing her out of herself, without her realizing he's doing it at first. They make a great pair together, and I really enjoyed seeing their relationship grow through Abigail's panic and Brooks care/concern for her. The whole 'protect and serve' vibe from him doesn't hurt either, in fact, it goes a long ways towards making him even sexier because he does it in such a charming and non evasive way.

The actual suspense part was a little fast ending for me, and we didn't get as full a description of what happens to the bad guys, but I think the focus remaining on Abigail taking them down, doing it her way, all while knowing Brooks is there for her is the main point we're suppose to get. This isn't about the Russians, it's about Abigail putting the past to rest finally and having a real life. I thought this book might end up more like The Search, with the bad guys coming after her, but I like that it was different, and she took them down, and got to go back to her 'normal' life untouched by the violence. It's good so that she can move on and not have to view that part of her life in her everyday rest of her life.

I really look forward to NR suspense books (who am I kidding, I look forward to all her books) and wish she could publish more sooner, we all know she's probably 50 books ahead, but I also appreciate the variety. Some of the wording NR uses in dialog is a little repetitive, but I don't mind it. It's obvious NR loves gardening, and for someone who has a black thumb, she does a good job of describing it for me in a way I can appreciate it, not feeling like it's a gardening book, in fact making me wish I took more of an interest in gardening, seeing all the colors in nature. And so does all that without bogging the story down. Often in other authors' attempts at suspense, it feels like an info dump or your waiting for the other shoe to drop. With NR, I never feel that way, I'm just happily absorbing all the little details along the way until I stop and realize, 'hey, I've learned a lot!' It's always like putting on my favorite pair of PJ pants and relaxing when I read a NR book.

*5/29/12 Update: Listened to the audiobook, excellent job done by narrator, reading or listening to this book would be great as both are well done and deliver the story beautifully.*