Review: Wonderful!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 6, 2011
I LOVED this book! I love pretty much anything Josh Lanyon writes, but this one was just fantastic! This book should be sold as a mainstream mystery/thriller. It's really sad that it won't be simply because the protagonist is gay. But the fact that Elliot is gay is really rather beside the point. It's a real credit to Josh Lanyon's writing skill and style that you feel you're not reading about a gay relationship (when it comes to his relationship with Tucker - which is not the main thrust of the story, but still vital), but just a relationship. You get so involved with Elliot, the person, and his prickly relationship with Tucker, that you don't think along the lines of it being gay vs. straight. It just IS. I love that. Josh always has the ability to draw characters so vividly, so realistically, you start to feel you know them. You really feel a connection and start to care about them. The characters in this book, especially Elliot, are no different.The story here, though...the mystery is what draws you in. You get sucked into the story from the beginning, and it doesn't let you go until you reach the end. I was truly surprised once the culprit was revealed. When I first read this, (I'm about to start reading it again for the third time.) I was still in physical therapy after a couple of knee surgeries. So, I really felt a connection to the pain Elliot was experiencing with his knee (though, mine couldn't compare to his practically being shot off!). Josh is a master of writing in the first person. He did it to perfection in the Adrien English books, and he does so here as well. You get an insight into a character like no other with this writing format. You feel what the character feels, you see what the character sees, and you experience things right along with the character. When reading this book, you understand just how much Elliot misses being an FBI agent. You feel his heartache at knowing that the career he loved is over. You feel his abivalence at being a college professor. You feel his resurrected joy and energy at delving into helping to solve the mystery of the missing students. You feel Elliot's hurt, anger, tension, and a deeper emotion he's not ready to admit is love when he meets up with Tucker again.There are some chilling moments, too. You get creeped out when Elliot comes home to his cabin and suspects he's not alone. You're willing Elliot to hurry up and get back to his car when he's on the college campus at night alone, retracing the steps of one of the missing students. And the ending...when you realize (I won't give away any details) at the same time what Elliot is realizing, when he's at the gala event and looking at...Well, you'll have to read it to find out. It's very chilling! I highly, highly recommend this book! I really hope Josh plans on a sequel!