Rachel Caine – Rosepoint Publishing

Book Blurb:

She’s investigating a cold case no one else could—by going places no else would dare.

In spite of a harrowing past still haunting her, Gwen Proctor is trying to move forward. Until a new assignment gives her purpose: the cold-case disappearance of a young man in Tennessee. Three years missing, no clues. Just Ruth Landry, a tortured mother in limbo. Gwen understands what it’s like to worry about your children.

Gwen’s investigation unearths new suspects…and victims. As she follows each sinister lead, the implications of the mystery grow more disturbing. Because the closer Gwen gets, the closer she is to a threat that looms back home.

In a town that’s closed its ranks against Gwen; her partner, Sam; and her kids, there’s no bolder enemy than the Belldene family—paramilitary, criminal, powerful, and vengeful. As personal vendettas collide with Gwen’s investigation, she’s prepared to fight both battles. But is she prepared for the toll it could take on everyone she loves?

My Review:

As if Gwen Proctor didn’t have enough problems with her own history and the tortured life she’s doggedly tried to leave behind, she accepts a cold case assignment regarding a young college man who disappeared without a trace.

A new author and series to me, Gwen is apparently partnered with Sam (the two of them have a rather unbelievable history, and there is Gwen’s two kids, Lanny and Connor. These two kids might need more than a therapist to get them through life after understanding the PTSD inducing family history. The POVs alternate between the four, with protagonist Gwen spearheading her investigation and getting the whole family into one heckofa pickle.

While Gwen is a licensed concealed weapon carry, kick-ass PI, she tends to be just a little slow on the uptake a few times. And Sam might be just a tad too good to be true. The well-plotted thriller starts with a deadly hook after which you are sunk (read it–you’ll understand that double-entendre) and you must keep reading. It drives tension, pushes disbelief, but doesn’t drop the ball or slow the fast-moving storyline.

There is no love lost in the town nor the people who comprise her neighbors and most would just prefer that she leave. There is the backwoods mafia who could spearhead the move but hold to their code when push comes to shove and the deeper the investigation, the deeper the threat to Gwen’s family. It would seem she continues to be proclaimed guilty by association of the former glaring headlines while inviting further castigation with the present situation.

I had so many questions regarding Gwen and was never able to fully invest in her–she kept me off balance, never knowing which way she was going to flip. The kids didn’t help the situation any and the Sam/Gwen relationship didn’t feel plausible. Vi, where did she come from? Trust is spent. There is more than one unreliable narrator here, methinks, and I couldn’t invest in any.

I received this download from the publisher and NetGalley and appreciated the opportunity to read and review. I read as a standalone, but there is obviously a lot of backstory here missed in coming in at Book 4. Recommended for those familiar with the series and author and any seeking a fast-paced action-packed and entertaining thriller.

Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publisher: Thomas and Mercer

ISBN-10:154204233X
ISBN-13:978-1542042338
ASIN: B07NQDQ8JV

Print Length: 335 pages
Publication Date: To be released January 21, 2020
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Bitter Falls

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five of Five Stars

The Author: Rachel Caine is the New York Times, USA Today, and #1 internationally bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including the #1 smash hit bestselling thriller Stillhouse Lake, the internationally bestselling Morganville Vampires series, the Great Library series, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, the Revivalist series, and the acclaimed YA novel Prince of Shadows.

The pilot for the crowdfunded show MORGANVILLE is now available on Amazon Prime as streaming video.

Rachel is very pleased to have participated in DEAD AIR, a new combined project from acclaimed producer/publisher Serial Box, cowriting episodes with Gwenda Bond and Carrie Ryan. The project launches in August 2018.

She was born at White Sands Missile Range, which people who know her say explains a lot. She has been an accountant, a professional musician, and an insurance investigator, and ultimately a corporate management executive before leaving to write full time. She and her husband, comic historian/actor/artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas.

WWW.RACHELCAINE.COM