Book Review: Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason

The following review originally posted on the Suspense Sisters blog where I will post a romantic suspense novel review once per quarter.

If you’re like me, after reading No One to Trust, the first book in Lynette Eason’s Hidden Identity series, you’ve been chomping at the bit, waiting for Nowhere to Turn to hit the shelves. Chin up, romantic suspense readers, September is right around the corner. In the meantime, let me give you a little idea of what to expect.

My heart beat faster when learning the series carries on with the first book’s secondary character, Adam Buchanan, now a former U. S. Marshal.

Dani Harding is desperate to escape an abusive marriage and protect her son. When danger from an unknown source looms, she turns to an organization called Operation Refuge and places her future in the hands of strangers. For Dani and her deaf son, Simon, it means learning to trust again.

Adam now works for Operation Refuge, run by David and Summer, the hero and heroine of book one. Though they aren’t, technically, law enforcement, they have the South Carolina governor’s support to help those in danger—people like the Hardings. Protecting Dani requires Adam’s 24/7 attention and puts him in a tight spot with his family at a critical time. His character arc stems from the effect his actions in the previous novel played on his family relationships. Guilt is a tough thing to manage.

The tension begins with the first sentence: Danielle Harding pressed the ice pack to her bruised cheek and watched her husband back out of the driveway. It remains high throughout the rest of the novel as Adam tries to keep Dani and Simon from an attacker, one who seems to know their every move. Adam’s efforts to communicate and gain the trust of the boy are sweet.

One of the things Ms. Eason does exceptionally well is to create creepy antagonists who leave the reader’s skin crawling. Kurt Harding, Dani’s husband, is an unrepentant, evil soul that haunts the characters throughout the book.

When all seems right with Dani’s world, the author throws in another twist. It’s as if she believed she needed one more for good measure. Let’s just say, I didn’t see that last one coming.

For me, the story fell a quarter-inch short of the awesomeness of the previous book, but my bar reached the stratosphere, so that’s reasonable. My only disappointment in the plot was the failure of the main characters to figure out a vital clue. In my opinion, it was a bit too cliché and should have been the first thought of a trained law enforcement professional.

The fun of a book like this is often not in the uniqueness of plot, but in the telling of the story and the thrill it stimulates. The romance is certainly there, but for sheer, entertaining, page-whipping suspense, I highly recommend Nowhere to Turn.

Oh, and the prologue of No Place to Hide (book three) is included at the back. It already reads like another winner!

Disclosure of Material Connection: This book came to me free from the publisher, Revell, with the hope that I would mention it on this blog. There was no requirement for me to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.