I am delighted to share my review of Gone In Seconds, the new Max Carter book, by Ed James for my stop on the blog tour. Huge thanks to Noelle Holten at Bookoutre for the invitation and for my review copy which I received via Netgalley.
The
Blurb:
A baby missing. A family in pieces. A
shocking secret that can’t be told.
Landon and Jennifer Bartlett have
everything — money, influence and a picture-perfect family. But it means nothing
when their lives are torn apart the day someone breaks into their plush mansion
and takes their newborn child right from his cot.
FBI Agent Max Carter investigates child
abduction cases. He has a reputation for working all hours to find every
missing child on his watch — after all, he was once one himself. When he visits
the Bartletts’ sprawling home in an exclusive estate in the suburbs of Seattle,
he’s immediately suspicious of Landon Bartlett and his brother Chase.
As Carter delves deeper into the lives
of the brothers, he finds a web of dubious business deals and lies that could
cost the Bartlett’s their entire family fortune. And it’s clear they will do
anything to keep their secrets — but would they withhold vital information that
could lead him to baby Ky’s kidnapper?
As Carter begins a cat-and-mouse game
with the kidnapper, he receives some startling news from home, which stops him
in his tracks. And when a young woman is spotted boarding a bus out of town
with a baby fitting Ky’s description, he must decide whether to risk everything
to find the missing child or save his own family.
Fans of Kendra Elliot, Melinda Leigh and
Robert Dugoni will love this heart-pumping, pulse-racing crime thriller from
bestselling author Ed James.
Gone In Seconds is published by Bookoutre. The paperback was released on 1st June 2020 and the eBook is out tomorrow.
Buy
Links:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B088FP74XHSocial
Apple: https://apple.co/3fDOxCm
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2WIxuqc
My
Review:
This is the second book in the Max Carter series, a follow up to Tell Me Lies which I featured back in January - you can read my review here. You don't need to have read that one to enjoy Gone In Seconds as it can easily be read as a standalone, but I do feel it would be beneficial to do so. And they're both good!
Six week old Ky is abducted from the crib in his parent's house. And despite security cameras around the house, the perpetrator can't be identified. As possible sightings of Ky start to come in, Max and his team begin a hunt that takes them all over the place. And all the while, Max is trying to track someone linked to a former case and navigate the tricky situation of having his ill but difficult father living with the family.
I really like Max. He's a straight up, loyal, hardworking and dedicated man who loves his family. But he's not without his demons. He chose this particular line of work because he was abducted himself as a young boy and it's this experience that gives him the determination to try to solve every case. We see the fire in him. But finding kids is a team effort and the rest of his unit are all well described. My standout is Tyler who regularly performs tech magic.
As a mum myself stories involving children in possible danger always send a shiver down my spine and this one was no different. I felt for Ky's mother but the whole family is full of secrets and dodgy dealings which James reveals bit by bit, layer by layer. And, in this case, I felt sympathy for the kidnapper and that's down to good writing. We also see the return of a character from a previous case who goes on an emotional journey here - lump in the throat stuff.
The action is non stop as the team race to save the baby. There are some red herrings and some really unexpected twists along the way as the tension mounts towards the finale. It easily kept me turning the pages. The denouement is nerve-racking, bloody and sad and sees a brief, unlikely alliance.
Overall, this was a really enjoyable and gripping story about overwhelming love, loyalty, family, dark secrets, difficult choices, sadness and hope. Full of action, tension and a fair bit of violence, it's a belter. And the ending took the wind right out of me! Look forward to more of that in the next book.
The
Author:
Ed James is the author of multiple
series of crime novels.
The bestselling DI Simon Fenchurch
series is set in East London and published by Thomas & Mercer.
The self-published Scott Cullen series
of Scottish police procedurals features a young Edinburgh Detective Constable
investigating crimes from the bottom rung of the career ladder he's desperate
to climb. The first book, "Ghost in the Machine", has been downloaded
over 400,000 times, hitting both the Amazon UK & US top five.
The Craig Hunter collection is a sister
series to the Cullen novels, with a PTSD-suffering ex-squaddie now working as a
cop investigating sexual abuse cases. With lots of slapstick and banter.
Ed lives in East Lothian, Scotland and
writes full-time, but used to work in IT project management, where he filled
his weekly commute to London by literally writing on planes, trains and
automobiles.
Author
Social Media Links:
Mailing list: http://bit.ly/EJMail
Email: ed@edjames.co.uk
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/edjamesauthor
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/EdJamesAuthor
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