Last year when I first read Laura Griffin I immediately put
her on my must read author list. Then I found out that she
was going to be releasing a trilogy this year and was very
excited. What I didn't realize was that Alex Lovell the
main character in Untraceable was introduced to readers in a
previous title, and by my not having read that title I might
be missing some things that would have better explained to
me how and why Alex is the way she is in Untraceable.
Unfortunately I don't know which previous title by Ms.
Griffin introduces readers to Alex, so I shan't dwell on
that, but move forward with Untraceable. In Untraceable
Alex has established herself as a private investigator in
Austin, Texas and while she does her fair share of insurance
claims, she also has a reputation for helping women hide
from abusive spouses...much like her own Witness Protection
Program. Alex's trouble begins when Melanie, the latest
person she has helped to "disappear" comes back. Alex
desperately wants to know why Melanie is back, and to help
her hide again but in order to do that she needs Melanie's
cooperation, and at this point Melanie is anything but
cooperative.
Every private investigator needs some sources, and one of
the sources that Alex uses is Nathan Devereaux, a member of
the Austin Police Department. When Alex approaches him
wanting him to believe that Melanie is missing, and in her
mind not only dead, but murdered by one of the most
respected officers of the department Nathan is hesitant to
believe her. However, as the story unwinds, and he begins
to connect dots between some cold cases of murder, and a new
case he begins to wonder if Alex is in more danger by
attempting to locate and help Melanie than she can truly know.
As I said earlier, there must be a bit of history that I've
missed between Alex, Nathan, and perhaps even Troy Stockton,
a former boyfriend of Alex's and her connection to a place
called The Delphi Center to which both she and Nathan have
turned to for help in their various cases, and which finally
allows Nathan to believe that their cases could be
connected, and the danger at a level no one would like to
contemplate.
I found UNTRACEABLE to be a bit of a convoluted story, and
will admit to not having large chunks of time to read daily.
Perhaps if I had been able to read in a larger time frame
each day and in a short period of time overall I would have
pieced the story together more readily than I did. There
are many characters, and a thread or two left loose, but
since it's the first book in a trilogy I will assume that we
will see more character development and resolution as the
series continues.
Overall even though I had a hard time truly liking
UNTRACEABLE there were moments I wanted nothing more than to
lose myself in the pages, and I do have Ms. Griffin's
complete backlist on my shelf and will read them because I
do believe I will see her developing her talent and becoming
one of my favorite romantic suspense authors of the year.
Private investigator Alexandra Lovell uses computer skills
and cunning to help clients drop off the radar and begin
new lives in safety. Melanie Bess, desperate to escape her
abusive cop husband, was one of those clients. But when
Melanie vanishes for real, Alex fears the worst, and sets
out to discover what happened. Using every resource she can
get her hands on -- including an elite team of forensic
scientists known as the Tracers, and a jaded, sexy Austin
PD detective -- Alex embarks on a mission to uncover the
truth.
As far as homicide cop Nathan Devereaux is concerned, no
body means no case. But as much as he wants to believe that
Alex's hunch about Melanie's murder is wrong, his
instincts -- and their visceral attraction -- won't let him
walk away. As a grim picture of what really happened begins
to emerge, Nathan realizes this investigation runs deeper
than they could ever have guessed. And each step nearer the
truth puts Alex in danger of being the next to disappear....
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