Alternate Currents

Alternate Currents by Arleen Alleman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Universal themes that strike a chord.

Arleen Alleman once again demonstrates her writing talent in a gripping novel filled with suspense and pathos. When spiteful and malicious motives spur a kidnapping, events rapidly spiral out of control. Darcy learns that her friend, Charlie, is kidnapped. Her natural instinct is to go help Charlie's domestic partner, Don, and their adopted 7-year old daughter, Penelope.

The idea doesn't sit well with Darcy's fiancé, Mick. Based on past experience, he knows Darcy's habit of "helping" often places her in mortal danger. He's worried and rightly so. To complicate matters, Darcy and Nick are supposed to be planning a wedding of their own, but the stress of this situation could derail the nuptials.

Don Freeburg, a freelance cartoonist, and Charlie Scott, a commercial realtor, live in an upscale Seattle neighborhood. Unfortunately their domestic partnership recently came under the scrutiny of a religious zealot with fanatical followers, a group of people who are eager to remove Penelope from their home. To complicate matters, Penelope's birth mother threatens to legally reverse the adoption. She claims she has a legal right to take custody of her daughter. Although Penelope never met her birth mother, could a judge rip the family apart due to a legal technicality?

Ignoring her own personal problems, Darcy travels to Seattle to help and support her friends. As the police investigation into the kidnapping flounders, bodies start turning up. Darcy can't keep her promise to Mick and starts investigating on her own. It becomes clear that Penelope might have been the original target of the kidnapping, and Darcy fears for the girl's safety.

Darcy gallantly risks her own life to protect her friends and solve the crime. There are so many twists and turns in the complicated plot that readers are taken on a wild ride. Greed, desire, guilt, and fanaticism embolden several treacherous villains, who lurk in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Each culprit has a motive to kill but which one has gone on a killing spree? Can Darcy survive against the menacing culprits who stalk her friends? Will her own relationship with Mick crumble under the strain of a tempestuous separation? Will the wedding that Mick and Darcy planned ever take place? As Darcy learns more about her own character, she considers a new occupation, one that might place her in constant jeopardy. Will Mick support Darcy’s new career choice?

Fans of the Darcy Farthing novels are sure to enjoy this new chapter in her saga. Darcy has become a friend that we enjoy welcoming into our home. We worry about her almost as much as Mick, but we eagerly wait for each new story to be revealed.




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