Vanished

Title: Vanished
Series: Private Justice
Author: Irene Hannon
Publisher: Revell
Published: January 1, 2012
Pages: 336
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Reporter Moira Harrison was lost in a dark thunderstorm, when a lone figure appeared in front of her headlights. She slammed on her brakes but hears the sickening thump against her car. Then a man opens her door and tells her he saw everything and promises to call 911. When she wakes up after passing out, she realizes that the man didn’t call the police and the person she hit is gone. She’s determined to find that person. If only she can get someone to believe that this happened.

Ex-detective turned private eye Cal Burke is skeptical when Moira comes to him with her story, but with her reporter background and genuine composure, he thinks she’s telling the truth. He starts investigating and doesn’t find much until Moira realizes who that man was in the rain. Once that happens, Cal and Moira start uncovering secret after secret that wasn’t supposed to be discovered and it could lead to their demise.

As they work side-by-side in this bizarre case, they start to fall for each other. But, Cal isn’t ready to fall in love again after losing his wife and Moira isn’t ready to lose her heart again after being cheated on. However, despite their resolve to not fall in love, they just can’t seem to stay away from each other. They’re trying to catch a killer but, just when they discover love again, they might be his next target.

Will Moira and Cal be able to find out who did it and why or will the killer be just too good at what he does? Will their search put them in the killer’s sights or are his sights focused to tightly on perfection to notice? Will Moira and Cal risk love again or will they miss out on what could be the best thing ever? Why did that person jump in front of her car? Will Cal be able to keep Moira safe or will this be the second time he loses someone close to him?
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Irene Hannon is one of my favorite suspense authors. She always manages to keep me riveted and never lets me get bored reading her books. This book was no different. It started out very intense and definitely action packed. It also kept my attention throughout the course of the book and the romance seemed to progress naturally throughout the storyline.

The mystery surrounding this book is intense. You never fully know what happened until the very end and it definitely kept me guessing. Also, the reason this happened and why completely makes sense and I loved how the author portrayed the “bad guy” as more misguided rather than evil and someone to be pitied not hated. I think this is this author’s best yet.

The romance was definitely this author’s best. Before her romances kind of lacked, well, romance and it took a back seat to the suspense. This one wasn’t like that. The romance was prevalent throughout the book and I genuinely felt that this couple really did feel attracted to each other. I didn’t feel disappointed or jilted with this romance and it was actually really good considering it had to compete for time with the suspense. Definitely this author’s best.

The storyline was complicated yet easy to follow and kept me on my toes. Though I wasn’t given much of a chance to guess who that mystery man was, I spent the whole time trying to figure out why he did it and how he did it. It was a huge mystery and I loved it. I loved the new perspective and I loved how the answers weren’t really clear until the end of the book. This was a solid storyline that I loved and highly recommend.

This author captured me from her days as a Love Inspired author and ever since then I have tried to read every one of her books. Over time she’s gotten better and I constantly grow to love her more. I highly recommend this author and particularly this book. I’m convinced this is her best yet and am excited to see where this series will go. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series and the rest of her books. If you haven’t read any of this author’s books I highly recommend that you do.

Overall, a great suspense book and the best this author has written. I highly recommend this book to fans of her or fans of suspense. This book is great for adults and maybe teens, but not really much younger than that. I give this book a four out of five.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.*