Customer Reviews

Alone: A Novel of Suspense

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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When veteran officer Bobby Dodge of the Massachusetts State Police Special Tactics and Operations Team is called out to a hostage situation in progress, little does he know that in a matter of moments his life would change. Seeing a woman with a young child in her arms held at gunpoint, he keeps the gunman in his sight of his scope from fifty yards away, but when the gunman rips the child from the woman's arms and points the gun directly at the woman's head, his finger tightening on the trigger, State Trooper Bobby Dodge does what he was trained to do.

It is that split second action that will raise questions that remain unanswerable until Bobby puts on his thinking cap in a very unorthodox way. Moreover, the beautiful damsel in distress, Catherine Rose Gagnon, has a lot of issues, including a secret past that continues to haunt her. Her child also has issues, but what they are will keep the reader guessing until the shocking finale. Once again, this author has created another intense thriller. Full of surprises and suspense, this fast-paced, intricately plotted book will keep the reader turning its pages.

Reason for Reading: I am reading this series but started with book #3, since my sister had the first book it was the perfect opportunity to catch up with the series.

Having read books 3-5 of this series it was a little strange going back to the first book as D.D. Warren is only a very minor character who is only introduced halfway through the book. Obviously, this book did not start out to be the "D.D. Warren" series. Instead the main character is Bobby Dodge, police sniper, who in the later books is D.D.'s partner. Bobby is called out to an intense domestic scene where shots fired have been reported and he makes his first on the job kill. The woman whose life he has saved turns out to be not only a woman in trouble but trouble herself. Bobby is investigated by Internal Affairs to see if his shot was righteous but the dead man's affluent parents file a civil suit against him for murder. While they also file against the widow for custody of the one grandchild whom they've accused of being mistreated by his mother. Bobby gets wrapped up in the widow's life and finds himself embroiled in the middle of a complicated case where people close to the widow start to be violently killed off, one after another.

A very intricate plot with plenty of different angles from which to switch back and forth. The character of Bobby is given a complete background and since having read other books in the series it was interesting to get to know him so much better. A compelling story that deals with multiple themes: police procedural, SWAT teams, serial killer, child kidnapping and murder for hire. All these rolled into one make for an entertaining, detailed plot that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It was quite strange to find D.D. hardly fleshed out as a character though and it will be interesting to see how the second book plays out the situation so that D.D. becomes the star of the series by book 3, leaving Bobby as the second fiddle. I would have enjoyed this even more if I hadn't read it out of order, something I try not to do too often with series.

This is a new author for me, and it is also a book that is first in a series.

I had initially planned to give this one 3.5 stars. For me, the beginning of the book read too much like a police tactical how-to manual...way too much detail and my attention span was beginning to wane. But the action-packed ending upped my rating to 3.75. There are some disturbing issues in the book, so be forewarned.

The narrator, Anna Fields, did a good job.

I plan to read more of this series.

MY RATING: 3.75 stars!