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Widow File, The

by S.G. Redling (Goodreads Author)

3.57 of 5 stars 3.57 · rating details · 1,570 ratings · 196 reviews

From S. G. Redling, the author of the bestselling Flowertown

Dani, a data analyst with an elite security firm, possesses the unnerving ability to read people by the trash they leave behind. Receipts, parking tickets, the detritus of daily life — if you leave it behind, she will figure you out.

Her latest case involves high-tech industrial espionage at a corporation with ties...more

Paperback, 238 pages

Published January 1st 2014 by Thomas & Mercer (first published November 5th 2013)

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Dec 31, 2013 James Thane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller

A petite young data analyst named Dani works for a very secretive, exclusive security firm on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. The firm is doing a job for a defense contractor, attempting to determine who in the firm might be leaking its industrial secrets. Then out of the blue one day, Dani's boss announces that the job is over. The client has called them off and the team is to assemble all the material it has collected so that the client can pick it up later that day.

Oops. Dani has taken some...more A petite young data analyst named Dani works for a very secretive, exclusive security firm on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. The firm is doing a job for a defense contractor, attempting to determine who in the firm might be leaking its industrial secrets. Then out of the blue one day, Dani's boss announces that the job is over. The client has called them off and the team is to assemble all the material it has collected so that the client can pick it up later that day.

Oops. Dani has taken some of the material related to the case home to her apartment so that she can work on it after hours. It's nothing critical, just routine scraps of paper and other such things that the target has thrown away. Dani's specialty is examining this sort of material and developing a profile of the subject.

She races home to gather up the material so that it can be included in the package that is being returned to the client. But she arrives back at the firm's headquarters, which is in a secluded rural area, to find a black van blocking the road that the employees use to access the back door.

In a thriller like this, it's never good news when a mysterious black van appears, and the knowledgeable reader is already yelling at Dani to turn around and get the hell out of there. Of course she doesn't, and when she enters the building, she finds that all of her co-workers have been killed. Even worse, the killers are still in the building and she is now effectively trapped.

Dani has no idea what in the hell is going on, and neither does the reader. But since this is still only the beginning of the book, she will manage a narrow escape from the building. Sadly, though, the killers have a roster of employees and they know that Dani is missing. They also believe that she is in possession of the critical item that they were supposed to be retrieving from the security firm, even though Dani has no idea what in the world it could be.

Now a skilled and savage hit man is on Dani's trail, determined to recapture the item and complete the job his team started earlier in the day and if Dani is going to survive, she's going to have to be very nimble, both of foot and mind.

S. G. Redling has created here a tense, taut thriller with a very intriguing protagonist. There's a lot of action; the plot moves swiftly and the reader may well wind up turning the pages of this story well into the night.

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Dec 16, 2013 Dinah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The plot was compelling and the characters relatable. This was a fun book to read. The reasons I did not rate it higher were 1. The ending and 2. the confusing explanations.

The ending - I am always big on an ending. I do not care if it was not the ending I wanted, I just want it to feel in synch with the rest of the book. So if we are going to follow people through every second of their lives for two days, do not stuff the an ending that span months into a coupl of pages and then leave us hangin...more

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Dec 09, 2013 Kaitlin rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Widow File
By S.G. Redling
Click book for description
Available 1/1/14

I am trying something different for a change. I’ve been loving NetGalley but decided to switch it up this time and try out a new feature offered to Amazon Prime Members (such as myself – proud member for 2+ years!) called Kindle First. Each month I am offered a few pre-release titles, where I can pick one to read (and lucky for you all – review it too!) So here goes my first one!

Finish time: 5 nights. Again I probably could h...more The Widow File
By S.G. Redling
Click book for description
Available 1/1/14

I am trying something different for a change. I’ve been loving NetGalley but decided to switch it up this time and try out a new feature offered to Amazon Prime Members (such as myself – proud member for 2+ years!) called Kindle First. Each month I am offered a few pre-release titles, where I can pick one to read (and lucky for you all – review it too!) So here goes my first one!

Finish time: 5 nights. Again I probably could have finished this in one sitting. It is the first book that I can honestly say I did not want to put down. I am tempted to use profanity to emphasize just how crazy this book is, but I don’t do that – so let’s just say it is INSANE!! Non-stop action from the first page. I was seriously holding my breath and each night this book entered my dreams as I could not stop thinking about it.

Dani Britton is a great main character. So well described, that I could just picture the short, spunky, dark-haired, little firecracker that she was. I can only hoped if faced with a similar situation that I have half as much smarts and sense as she did. Not that I ever hope or expect to be in that kind of situation. She takes paranoia and planning to an extreme that I can’t even touch. Seriously, at the end this is just solidified (as well as many points throughout the book.)

She keeps coming back to something her mother told her about being careful v. clever. An interesting question that gets the reader thinking throughout the book. At each and every challenge Dani is presented with, she is quickly able to read the situation, assess it, and act fast. She never knows who she can trust and has to go solely on her gut instinct, which in her case is usually pretty good.

As a reader, you don’t know who you can trust too. You don’t know what is going to be thrown at her and the book keeps you guessing to the very end. And the ending is good, and maybe left open to a sequel?

Read the description, as I don’t want to give away any details, but the book is definitely an action-packed thriller, mystery, suspense, and I even see love story thrown in there in one description. It’s not like any book I have read recently, but it removed me from my comfort zone and transported me into this crazy chase of a book and I enjoyed every second of it. If you want a book that is hard to put down, challenges your thinking, and really enjoyable, read this book!

http://mydogearedpurpose.com/2013/12/...(less)

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Dec 20, 2013 Marvin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, kindle

Dani is a data analyst for a security company investigating possible leaks in a corporation. She and one other analyst becomes the survivors of an attack that killed all the other analysts and stole their files. Dani is left to figure out why they are after her, what information they seek and why they want to kill her while eluding the a clever hit man named Booker.

That is the bare bones of a ordinary and overdone plot. You would think there are only so many thriller plots that an author can do...more

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Oct 19, 2013 Kathy Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars

THE WIDOW FILE was a gritty, realistic thriller with a very complicated plot. Dani works for an exclusive and secretive investigative firm outside Washington, D.C. She is what they call a Paint. Her specialty is learning about a person by the garbage they leave behind. She is a quiet, private person whose only friends are her colleagues at work but the friendships are surface, "work" friendships.

When the boss tells them to drop their current case and pack up all materials gathered, Dani has to...more

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Apr 02, 2014 YouKneeK rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thriller, standalone

I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it was a very fast and engaging read. Whenever I picked it up, I ended up reading for longer than I had intended because I got wrapped up in the story and didn’t want to put it down. There were only three characters with any significant “page time”, but I found all three of them to be interesting and believably written.

The main reason I didn’t rate this book higher is because of how abrupt the ending was. There were a lot of things that need...more

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Aug 17, 2014 Patricia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-thrillers, x-read-2013, kindle-first

This book has to be the most riveting thriller that I have read in months. It is only 190 pages in length but it is 190 pages of heart-pounding action. Scene after scene, chapter after chapter, the race for our two protagonists to survive against a killing machine never flags.

From the very first page we know the identity of that killing machine – Booker. He is a well referenced independent contractor, is quite skilled at his craft and he loves doing it. He has a high level of intelligence and a...more This book has to be the most riveting thriller that I have read in months. It is only 190 pages in length but it is 190 pages of heart-pounding action. Scene after scene, chapter after chapter, the race for our two protagonists to survive against a killing machine never flags.

From the very first page we know the identity of that killing machine – Booker. He is a well referenced independent contractor, is quite skilled at his craft and he loves doing it. He has a high level of intelligence and a moral compass that not only dictates a high quality in his kills but also dictates that a contract once paid for must be fulfilled, regardless. And our main protagonist, Dani Britton, is the last person on his list for his current job.

As the promotional blurb for this book indicates, Dani works as a data analyst for a secretive security agency near Washington, D.C., that specializes in discreetly resolving corporate espionage cases. Her specialty is analyzing trash and records for patterns of behavior. When the current case that Dani and her team are working on is suddenly scrubbed, all members of the team are called in and are required to be present to surrender all evidence gathered to the client at the end of two hours. Dani goes home to pick up some of that trash that she had been working on but traffic makes her late getting back. When she finally gets into the building, she finds one of her team members dead and hears shooting coming from the interior of the building.

At this point the promotional blurb leaves off and the terror begins, not just for Dani but also for the reader. The author describes everything in detail – what Dani thinks, what Dani feels, what Dani does. But this detail is neither a data dump nor is it fluff for the sake of a word count. This detail is a form of descriptive prose that puts you in Dani’s body, going through what she goes through, suffering through her fear, her exhaustion and her mistakes right along with her. The dialogue is gritty, believable and appropriate to the situations. The feelings of panic, desperation and anger just pour out of the words.

Dani is no superhero, and the author does not provide her with miracles. What the author does provide her with is intelligence and the power to think on her feet. And the author also provides her with Choo-Choo, a highly skilled male teammate who had escaped the massacre without Booker knowing.

The author alternates the scenarios between Dani and Booker, from the minute Booker intercepts her 911 call to the final confrontation. We know what each is doing in the same time frame, even if they are not in the same place at the time. And we are placed into Booker’s mind just as surely as we are in Dani’s and he is not the typical literary psychopath.

It doesn’t take too long in the plot arc for Dani, Choo-Choo and Booker to figure out that they’ve all been played and that there is a second killing machine out there. The problem is that they have no idea who that enemy is – the client who cancelled the surveillance job, their own employers, a government agency or all of the above. Time is not on anyone’s side. Booker is coming for Dani and the group behind the espionage is coming for all three of them.

In summary, Redling provides us with a realistic set-up that is propelled through believable scenarios to an Oh-My-God conclusion. This is truly a book that will have you forgoing sleep to get to that conclusion.
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Jun 20, 2014 Kevin Schick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I vested with Dani…

Her mother told her it was better to be careful than clever, Dani Britton thought it might be better still to be both. SG Redling vested me with Dani, with her will to live, her quirks, her determination, and this - her story. The Widow File is a constant barrage of pace, twists, lies, truths, and a young woman's battle against all odds to live, and she wasn't even five feet tall if she was an inch. This thriller is a guide to Washington DC, a chilling profile of an assassin,...more

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Sep 04, 2014 Cheryl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A game of cat and mouse

I like author Redling's writing style. This is the second book I've read by her, after FLOWERTOWN and I have the second book in the Dani Britton series REDEMPTION KEY sitting here waiting for me to open the cover after I finish this review.

Intuitive analyst (which means she reads other people's trash) Dani Britton works for Rasmund, a private security firm based in Virginia. She's short, doesn't dress well and doesn't have many close relationships. When the job she's assig...more

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Sep 10, 2013 Jaylia3 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Terrifying thriller stars short, nerdy heroine

This book starts in a leisurely fashion then quickly takes off, setting the fastest pace of any book I’ve read recently. Almost all of the action takes place in one breath-taking harrowing day, but though the book gripped and terrified me so much I could hardly put it down, a short summary of The Widow File--a thriller set in an elite security firm--would not necessarily have made me want to read it. Luckily I’ve learned to trust S. G. Redling’s skil...more Terrifying thriller stars short, nerdy heroine

This book starts in a leisurely fashion then quickly takes off, setting the fastest pace of any book I’ve read recently. Almost all of the action takes place in one breath-taking harrowing day, but though the book gripped and terrified me so much I could hardly put it down, a short summary of The Widow File--a thriller set in an elite security firm--would not necessarily have made me want to read it. Luckily I’ve learned to trust S. G. Redling’s skill as a storyteller, and if you look a little closer at the description there are clues this thriller is going to be special, the most important being that the main character Dani isn’t glamorous, she’s short and nerdy and reads people by examining their trash.

Rasmund, the security firm Dani works for, uses her idiosyncratic talents to thwart industrial espionage for high paying corporate clients. Though she’s quite fond of her co-workers she’s something of a loner, and gets so caught up in her work she’s disappointed when their most recent job is cancelled. Since she takes her work home she has to go back to her apartment to retrieve materials--in her case it’s mostly trash--that must be returned to the client, but when she gets back to Rasmund she finds all her colleagues dead, shot by the very thorough team of assassins she’s now trapped in the building with.

To stay alive she must escape and stay one step ahead of the determined hit man who is sure she has something he wants, though Dani has no idea what it is. Her only weapons are a quirky intelligence that notices patterns other people don’t, and the canny habits she learned from her truck driving father on their cross country trips together.

Widow File is the third book I’ve read by S. G. Redling, and I highly recommend them all. Though their settings and circumstances are impressively varied, so far each of her novels features an off-beat female character whose personal drama is part of a monumental event. Widow File has Dani caught up in what looks like some kind of industrial terrorism, Flowertown has a deadbeat junkie trapped in a massive chemical containment disaster that poisons and permanently quarantines a town full of people, and in Damocles the main character is a lone linguist in the midst of engineers, all thrown together on a long-term space mission in search of human-like life forms that results in first contact. (less)

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Oct 11, 2013 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

ARC/Thriller: I picked this book on the Amazon Vine List because I had read Flowertown (a sci-fi book) by Redling and I had really liked it. In reality, this book is better!
I saw this book doesn't come out until January 2014 so no spoilers here. I will say that I have been in the mood for spy and spycatcher books and this book could be about espionage...or something even bigger. If you look at the description, it has a Days of Condor feel to it.
I really liked the main characters of Dani, Booke...more

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Dec 05, 2013 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Widow File is very fast-paced and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. There are a couple of incongruities that struck me as I was reading though.

**Spoiler alert**
One of the incongruities: Dani had money hidden in various places, even going so far as to mail it to herself. Why would a normal person who felt that she had a regular job and a middle-class upbringing do something like this? I didn't get the feeling that she considered her job dangerous in any way.

It was only about 200 pages and was wo...more

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Jul 16, 2014 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recentlyread

First of all, let me tell you about Kindle First. If you have Amazon Prime, Kindle First lets you get a free book for your Kindle every month – prior to its release date! Did you see that? FREE BOOKS! (As if I needed more free books.) It’s a very cool way to get new books as soon as they are released. The Widow File by S.J. Redling is the first book I’ve picked up under the program and I can’t wait to see what the options are for next month.

Dani is a Paint. (Didn’t mean anything to me, either.)...more First of all, let me tell you about Kindle First. If you have Amazon Prime, Kindle First lets you get a free book for your Kindle every month – prior to its release date! Did you see that? FREE BOOKS! (As if I needed more free books.) It’s a very cool way to get new books as soon as they are released. The Widow File by S.J. Redling is the first book I’ve picked up under the program and I can’t wait to see what the options are for next month.

Dani is a Paint. (Didn’t mean anything to me, either.) She works for a top-secret security firm, analyzing evidence and details in their investigations.

“Internally, their team went by the designation Paint, so called for their ability to cover every inch of a scene without being noticed.”

The firm also employs Faces, who go out and meet with the clients, do the actual face-to-face investigating, and Stringers, who do the dirty work. She works with Fay, a vivacious young analyst and Choo-Choo, a handsome young man that Fay describes as “an obsessive compulsive nerd underwear model.” (Why don’t I work with guys like that?) An investigation has ended abruptly and Dani returns to work to find men with guns, her coworkers dead and the office under attack. Suddenly, this mild-mannered analyst is on the run from shadowy hit squads and Booker, an assassin hired to make sure that none of her coworkers survived the attack.

Booker is an interesting character. I liked the way Redling gives you an insight into his mind — how a hired killer might think about his targets, what kind of life he might lead. He finds Dani interesting and challenging in a way that most of his targets are not. But Booker is about to find out that even he doesn’t know exactly what’s going on. He himself might be a target in all this, and his only way out — and Dani’s — is to think fast and stay ahead of his opponents.

“He wanted her. He wanted to find Dani. He had to find Dani. That’s what he was getting paid for, but Booker knew firsthand the mind and the body found ways to encourage each other that had nothing to do with outside compensation. Sublimation — he knew it by name. Because of the demands of his job and the isolation it required, he sublimated his sexual urges into his professional prowess until picking a lock took on the same allure as unhooking a bra. “

There are some great plot twists and turns in this one, but it wasn’t too complicated to follow. The whole thing is a little implausible, but that doesn’t bother me much in a good spy novel. (This reminded me more of a spy novel than a thriller.) There are a few twists that you can’t see coming, but the ending was very satisfying. Definitely a fun read all the way around.(less)

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May 07, 2014 Larry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A high-level security firm is tasked to identify a leak within a scientific firm. Apparently it succeeds too well, for the security firm's headquarters becomes the target of a search-and-destroy mission by a group of mercenaries. The mercenaries kill a dozen members of the firm, take away the head of the firm, and are themselves killed when the building is destroyed in a pre-set explosion. What did the firm stumble upon? Who employed the hit team? And what will happen to the two surviving member...more

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Apr 15, 2014 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The beginning of this story reminds me of a film starring Robert Redford: THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR. And it kept me just as enthralled.

Our heroine, a short, nondescript nerd, leaves the security firm that employs her, to collect evidence from the case that she's taken home to work on. This is a no-no, and she's about to be caught out because their client has just cancelled the project; she has to turn the evidence in immediately.

So she rushes home, picks up her evidence bag, and comes back to wor...more

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Jul 28, 2014 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2014, e-book

Fast-paced decently-written thriller with a nice little twist at the end.

Data analyst Dani Britton works for a suburban DC firm specializing in corporate investigations. She's in the middle of a project when she gets word that the job has been pulled: the client no longer wants their services. She's left some of her work product for this job at home, so she leaves the office to fetch it back per the client's request. Traffic delays Dani's return to the office, which turns out to be a fortunate...more

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Sep 13, 2014 James Sorensen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Dani Britton is a data analyst for the elite security firm Rasmund. Dani is one of a group within the company called paints. A paint's job is to analyze all information that is obtained via audio, video and physical collection. Dani's subspecialty is to analyze all trash that is collected from the suspect i.e. receipts, food wrappers, post-it notes, photos etc.

Rasmund has been investigating a case of employee theft inside a company called Swan Technologies but without notice the investigation i...more Dani Britton is a data analyst for the elite security firm Rasmund. Dani is one of a group within the company called paints. A paint's job is to analyze all information that is obtained via audio, video and physical collection. Dani's subspecialty is to analyze all trash that is collected from the suspect i.e. receipts, food wrappers, post-it notes, photos etc.

Rasmund has been investigating a case of employee theft inside a company called Swan Technologies but without notice the investigation is terminated. All the case members have been called back to Rasmund's secret headquarters to wrap up the investigation, after it is learned that the primary target at Swan has died in a car accident. As all are waiting for the final word Dani is confronted by her boss, Mrs. O'Donnell, to make sure all her research has been turned in. Dani must then rush home in order to comply, as she has a bad habit of taking the materials she is analyzing home with her.

Upon return to headquarters she is confronted by another of the team members who now has two bullet holes in his chest. Upon hearing the pop-pop-pop of gun shots Dani runs upstairs to hide. When it becomes apparent that the team is being ambushed Dani tries to find a way to escape. Dani soon learns that she is the target of a hired assassin that has been sent to kill the entire team. Dani along with a co-survivor nick-named Choo-Choo must find the killer before the killer finds Dani.

This is a fun and quirky novel, although it has a very serious tone. Dani and Choo-Choo not only must find the killer but when they learn that Dani has some damaging evidence, they must find out what it is and how it may be used to save Dani. From the time the team is hit to the resolution at the end the book is full of lively action and many twists and turns.

One of the stranger twists is that the hired assassin seems to become enamored of Dani and has become remorseful that he must kill Dani. Even though the people that have hired the killer, an assassin named Booker, have turned against him, He fills it his duty to honor his contract.

This is a fun romp through the streets of Washington D.C. It has plenty of surprising plot twists that hold the readers on the edge of their seats. It is a fun read that quickly pulled me along nd it is nice to know that the Author S.G. Redling has published a second Dani Britton novel: Redemption Key. "The Widow File" is book I highly enjoyed and recommend to all who would enjoy a "quirky" thriller. A rollicking good time.

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Sep 25, 2014 Holly Booms Walsh rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fiction, thriller, crime

Exciting fast-paced thriller with a smart but damaged young female protagonist. Dani is a "data analyst" with a talent for reading body language, tells, and information gleaned form receipts, behavior patterns, and the detritus left in people's pockets. Dani is likeable and clever. When she finds out that the company she works for is not what she thought and that they are out to kill her makes the stakes very high and she has to be very smart and resourceful to survive. The writing is mostly goo...more

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Feb 18, 2014 The Crime Scene Scene rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Widow File is a standalone novel by author SG Redling. Rasmund Security have their current job investigating a company called Swan closed down and while out retrieving information, investigator Dani returns to headquarters to find that an unknown group of assailants have stormed the building and killed her colleagues. As she investigates she uncovers a deeper plot that will involve shadowy government agents and a darker secret about the company she works for.

I found this book to quite confu...more

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Jan 28, 2014 Jenny Busby rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2014, kindle-book, sci-fi

I'm torn about this book. I love the author and this is the third book I've read of hers (supporting local authors!). I also enjoy her writing style. I feel as if they are snippets of something larger and most often I don't feel like I need more.

This story is different though. It took forever for anything to really happen. I don't often read thrillers so maybe the cat & mouse game tends to really be 75% of the book before the action happens. While I liked the main characters, the world build...more

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Jul 05, 2014 Carolyn (in SC) C234D rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-real-treat, mystery-thriller-not-a-cozy, suspense

Read this on a Goodreads friend's recommendation, and enjoyed it very much. A feisty main character, and an interesting, fast-paced story. Also got the next in the series, and will be reading it soon; wish there were more!

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Jun 18, 2014 Kiki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a fan of S.G. Redling after reading Flowertown. Her writing style is very engrossing and real. Her characters aren't too perfect or imperfect enough to make it uncomfortable. The Widow story once again has a flawed but relatable female main character that gets sucked into an unsuspecting story line. The first thing I did after finishing this book was to purchase the next in the series. I am eager and excited to see what happens next!

POTENTIAL SPOILER:

I was actually convinced one person was...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Taylor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As with all of Redling's books, I enjoyed The Widow File immensely. She has a way of writing really strong but realistic female characters; they always stand up for themselves and the people/issues they care about but aren't immune to the stress of the impossible situations they find themselves thrown into. Not to mention the twists she always throws into her stories are ones I don't always see coming - usually a crazy conspiracy but not an unbelievable one.
I appreciated this book because of how...more

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Oct 07, 2014 Willa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2014

I picked this one up three or four times before I actually read past the first few pages. I found it very hard to get into, but once the big event happens, i.e., every one of the heroine's co-workers being killed, (not a spoiler) the story picked up and I found it very engaging.

What I had a problem with in the beginning was the descriptions of the people that Dani, the protagonist, worked with. The spoiled rich boy, the lisping secretary, the woman who wore too much perfume; I couldn't imagine...more

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Jan 11, 2014 Kriss rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-review-copy

This was one of those books that was perfect for when I read it. I loved the story but it had enough issues for me that took place in the short 203 pages which I feel if fixed would have made it a stellar read instead of a good read I am giving it "I LIKED IT" more like a 3.5 star.

First off some of the aspects were convoluted and ridiculous and it would have been fine (I watch COVERT AFFAIRS) but the problem is there was not enough backstory to help me apply my complete dispelling of belief. So...more

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May 24, 2013 Tanya Eby added it

Shelves: i-m-the-narrator

Fun, fast-paced, action. And I got to use my tough voices. :)

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Dec 21, 2013 Lauren Good rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense

I tore through this book because the pace just doesn't let up, and unlike some other books it doesn't go on long enough to wear you down. The initial description led me to believe the killer and the heroine would form an unlikely alliance -- I'll just go ahead and clear that up. The killer is just that. If you're imagining Martin Blank from "Grosse Pointe Blank," stop now. One of the things I liked about this book is the depth it gave this admittedly awful man. He isn't one-dimensional, but he n...more

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Mar 15, 2014 Katie Mcquade rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok so this girl called Dani basically took some things home that she shouldn't have which kind of saved her life but didn't...if you get me? Anyway she survives a massacre and ends up playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a very talented hit-man. I know brief overview, I just don't want to spoil it and actually I do that quite a lot.

Now to the reviewing...

There was two things I didn't like about this book...
1. THE ENDING! Absolutely hated the ending, I just thought it wasn't dramatic e...more Ok so this girl called Dani basically took some things home that she shouldn't have which kind of saved her life but didn't...if you get me? Anyway she survives a massacre and ends up playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a very talented hit-man. I know brief overview, I just don't want to spoil it and actually I do that quite a lot.

Now to the reviewing...

There was two things I didn't like about this book...
1. THE ENDING! Absolutely hated the ending, I just thought it wasn't dramatic enough or things were a little too easy, you'll understand once you have read it. I also would have liked to see more of Choo-Choo in the ending and maybe a little more explanation. I also would have liked to see Booker's perspective on the ending and what happened to him but I didn't get that so now I am disappointed.
2. THE BEGINNING! I know this may sound a tad morbid, however during the massacre I would have liked to been there, not when Dani got there but before that, I think that would have been a really interesting plot point because we only really get the severity of it through Dani's eyes and to be honest I don't think it does the plot that much justice. Finally the author lacked a little clarity in the beginning for example when Dani was trying to get to the roof, I don't think that was particularly tackled correctly as I found myself lost in more than one instance and had to read back to really understand what was going on.

Now the two things I loved about this book...
1.THE CHARACTERS (ESPECIALLY BOOKER) I really did like the characters, maybe not the ones who died because I didn't really form an opinion on them, as they weren't in it for very long. I loved Dani, how calm, cool and collected she was throughout the whole ordeal but also tough. Another thing I particularly liked about Dani and what the author chose to do with her is her height, now I'm 5'2 and people already think I can't do things because I'm small or make fun of my height. I like that the author didn't make Dani's height an issue, I like that Redling showed that small girls are capable of the things tall girls can do. Choo-Choo I liked too because he was funny and also really just a breath of fresh air although, I would have liked to have heard more of his back story and maybe why he is called Choo-Choo or maybe that was revealed and I wasn't paying attention (Oops). My favourite character has to be Booker - the hit-man. Simply because he was a great character, he was the typical hit-man but like any other "villain" he made me feel uncomfortable. For some reason no other "villain" has made me uncomfortable but Booker did and I don't know whether it was his infatuation with Dani and what he does/or describes in her apartment but when the final showdown comes his perception and the fact that he's like (in my best deep man's voice) I don't have a voice, well I do, I just choose to kill you :).
2. THE TWIST I guess if you can call it that. I know others are saying that they knew who it was straight away but to be honest I didn't I mean I knew it would be whatsherface (see, no spoilers here) but I was kind of banking on it to be someone else. Well hey, it's not often I'm wrong but I am wrong. Wait I think that's the wrong saying...anyway off track again...soz...Additionally when the "final showdown" came I thought bloody hell are they really going to get away unscatheed, well isn't that a load of balls but apparently I was wrong again. The audience don't know what is going on, I certainly didn't anyway, I had no clue what they were looking for nor who they were working for.

In conclusion, overall this book is good and I recommend you read it however there are some minor annoying bits but I oversaw them so I don't see why anyone else can't. (less)

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Dec 10, 2013 Darcia Helle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs-vine-reviews, ebooks, suspense-thriller-mystery

This story grabs you from the opening paragraph and doesn't let go. The plot is intricate, intense, and thought-provoking. We're given little bits along the way that gradually form the bigger picture. And there are some great unexpected twists.

The characters are fascinating, multi-layered personalities. I really grew to like Dani. She's unexpectedly tough, independent and resilient. I enjoyed her connection with Choo-Choo, though I never understand why he was given such a ridiculous name.

Two iss...more

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Feb 19, 2014 Annie Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, free-arcs, mystery-thriller

a most excellent 5 star read for me, review to come...:)

My criteria for a 5 star review is... if I can not stop turning the pages, I am in! I was turning the pages like crazy most of the way through this book. I was a little unhappy with the ending but, hey....not my book. I would love for this to be a series with Dani and Choo Choo stomping out the bad guys!
Dani works as a data analyst for the big security company Rasmund, she has the unique ability to read the things people throw away, their...more

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About S.G. Redling

S.G. Redling, a graduate of Georgetown University, has spent fifteen years waking up the good folks of Huntington WV and its environs on the WKEE-FM morning radio show. She recently wound up her headphones for the last time and is focusing on thrillers, mysteries and urban fantasy. When S.G. isn't writing (don't tell Christine Witthohn!) she loves to paint, travel and embarrass herself by speaking...more

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Quotes from Widow File, The

“When it comes to danger,” he’d say, “everybody’s chicken. But there are two kinds of chickens—chicken hawks and chicken shits. And it doesn’t matter how high up you throw chicken shit, it ain’t never going to fly.” — 3 likes

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