Fans of Karen Robards are certainly going to enjoy her latest crime fighter book and I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't garner several new ones with this engaging, nail biter.
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sam Jones was just doing her job as a repo picking up a car being tracked with a GSP -- a marvel of today's technology. Next thing you know she finds herself locked in the trunk of that car with some guy who is definitely in sad shape -- beaten, shot and bleeding like a pig.
Sam has a problem with blood -- one's she's working through so she can get certified as an EMT. But being stuck together with this guy is definitely trouble and what she doesn't know is that this is just the tip of the iceber Trouble for Sam, her son Tyler and this guy who says he is Rick Marco is mounting with every moment.
Rick Marco -- AKA Danny Panterro -- an FBI agent undercover pretending to be Rick Marco an ex-FBI agent turned criminal and informant under FBI protection so that he can testify as part of a deal. Did you get that all? Well this is a very complicated deal. Rick/Danny was supposed to be in a secured safe house as part of the plan to keep the real Marco alive to testify. There's no denying he was a target of some very bad, violent men. But here's where the plans get murky. Somehow the safe house is compromised and Rick/Danny finds himself clinging to life and consciousness in the trunk of a car.
That's where Sam comes in as she is preparing that car to be towed by her tow truck so that she can get paid. This is how she is earning a living, barely keeping her head above water, for herself and her son. It's not an easy job but the pay is good enough to allow her to continue going to school and somewhat support her little family. There's no man in her life. Tyler's father is totally out of the picture leaving a very young Sam to cope with all the responsibilities of raising a child.
The ensuing story moves at an amazingly fast pace as Sam, Tyler and Rick/Danny work at keeping themselves safe and alive -- a hugely difficult task -- since Rick/Danny is quickly coming to the conclusion that there is a gray area of just who he can trust. Somehow there must be a mole in the organization and he is too busy trying to keep the three of them alive to ferret out that mole. In the meantime he has to admit that these two people have become very important and special to him. He admires the spunk and courage of this young woman who has been forced to endure very unusual circumstances. Tyler has definitely won a big place in his heart. And now this entire mission has become personal.
I loved SHIVER plain and simply said. Most difficult part of writing this review is not giving too much away so suffice it to say this is a page turner where the story keeps taking unexpected twists and turns leading up to an unexpected ending. Robards never disappoints her readers and SHIVER is no exception. The fear is palatable and relief often short lived making this race to safety definitely worth reading.
That night, Samantha Jones was doing what she
always did: just trying to get by. Left to make her own way
on the mean streets of East St. Louis, the pretty
twenty-three-year-old single mother supported herself and
her son as best she could by repo-ing cars. When she hooked
her junker of a tow truck up to the BMW sheโd been sent to
haul in, the last thing she expected was to find a beaten,
bloody man in the trunkโor to be catapulted into a
terrifying fight to survive.
Danny Pantrero was minutes away from dying when Sam found
him. Bleeding badly from a gunshot wound, heโd been snatched
from protective custody by a vicious gang of drug runners
who would stop at nothing to see him dead. With his life on
the line, Danny takes Sam hostage. Forcing her to help him,
he tries to make her understand that now sheโs a target for
the killers, too. When they invade her house and threaten
her sonโs life, she finally understands: thereโs no going
back. She and five-year-old Tyler go on the run with Danny
in a desperate effort to reach the authorities who have
promised him protection before the killers can silence all
three of them forever. In the face of harrowing danger, Sam
has no choice but to trust Danny with her lifeโand, more
importantly, her sonโs. Against her will, she starts to fall
for the once-menacing stranger, and discovers a depth of
passion she never imagined she could feel.
But what Sam doesnโt know is that Danny has a secret that
could destroy them all.
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