Far Gone by Laura Griffin
Far Gone is the first book in a (hopefully) new series by the author Laura Griffin, well known for her Tracers series. It is also the first book that was published in hardcover edition by the author.
I’ve only read one other book by Laura Griffin, Thread of Fear, the first in the Glass Sisters series, and as it was a while ago, I didn’t quite remember her writing style. Thus I can almost consider this author new to me. Much to my surprise the book was one that I really enjoyed reading, which also prompted me to seek out her other books to put on my TBR shelf.
The story follows Andrea Finch, a very capable police detective who is now suspended pending investigation for a shooting resulting in the death of a young suspect. This gives her the time to follow up with her brother, Gavin, who can’t keep himself out of trouble and away from the wrong crowd for too long. Just like now – he asks her for a lot of money without giving her the reason why, then he disappears, leaving Andrea worried about him for the nth time. He’s dropped out of college once again and got mixed up with a suspected terrorist group which is bad news all around.
Having all the time to herself, she goes down to west Texas to get to the bottom of it all and find her brother. Here she meets Jon North (love this name!), an FBI agent who is after the very same terrorist group. Once he realizes she’s Gavin’s sister, he enlists her help in bringing down the group, even if it means Gavin will have to go down with them as well.
Andrea is fully convinced her brother is innocent so helping Jon goes only as far as keeping Gavin out of danger.
As in romantic suspense novels, there is a budding romance developing between the two main characters. Both Andrea and Jon are strong figures who don’t need hand holding to do their job well. I was glad to see for once a female character that is not the figurative damsel in distress. Andrea can really hold her own and is not afraid to do what’s right, even if it means going against Jon whenever she can.
The attraction between the two of them is, of course, inevitable. I love the way it develops bit by bit, with the main character fighting it every step of the way, only to succumb to the inevitable when the time is right.
The pace of the story is fast, there is always something going on, and this is not a boring book by any means. The romance doesn’t overshadow the storyline, it really enhances it.
Andrea is a strong character and a very conflicted one at that. She know her duty as a police officer, but at the same time she loves her brother and doesn’t want to get him to be a mole for the FBI, even thought this might turn out to be the the only way to bring that terrorist group down. But what if Gavin is seriously involved with the terrorist’s group led by Shay Hardin, afterall? Can she do the right thing even if it will hurt the one she loves?
Far Gone is a very balanced story, full of suspense, romance and action at the same time. The characters are very plausible and real, the romance is not out there and the story is one that can be imagined in today’s world of not only world terrorism, but home grown terrorism as well.
As for the ending, I loved it! It was as rewarding as I hoped it would be.
Overall Far Gone is a very well written romantic suspense novel that doesn’t disappoint.
To learn more about Far Gone or get the book, visit Amazon.
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