HUSH by Karen Robards is a good return to classic Robards-
style writing. I am so very pleased about this- I like
romantic suspense and Robards has been a long time must-
read author for me, but I strongly dislike the Dr.
Charlotte Stone ghost books she has been writing recently.
For the most part, I enjoyed many aspects of this book.
There was a big reveal around 80 percent into this book
that I found completely unbelievable, however, which
rather
ruined my trust in the story.
Everyone is keeping big secrets in HUSH, which is a lot of
fun to me. Important clues are doled out over time, and
the slow unraveling of the many layers of complexity makes
for a very compelling read. The secrets usually pit the
hero and heroine against each other, although they are
often not acknowledged overtly. This raises the stakes and
also the tension all the way to the end, which I enjoy
greatly.
Riley receives an urgent text from her ex-husband, asking
her to come to the house where they used to live. She
finds him dead, and the authorities are treating his death
as a suicide. Riley knows he wouldn't kill himself,
though, and she is suspicious this is related to his
father's embezzlement. Her father-in-law is in jail for
defrauding thousands of investors of billions, and it
turns
out many of those investors are depraved criminals. He
will not reveal where he has stashed the stolen fortune.
All of the family's wealth has been seized by the
government, and Riley is helping to support her ex-mother-
in-law and sister-in-law.
Finn is one of government investigators tasked with
discovering what has happened to the stolen fortune. Finn
is loosely collaborating with a number of other government
agencies, and the distrust and willful miscommunication
between the different agencies adds another lovely layer
of
mystery to the plot. Finn has a lot of commendable traits
such as personal loyalty mixed with independence, and
Robards does a pretty good job of making him a likeable
character even though I couldn't decide whether Riley
should trust him.
Women who have sex with the agent watching out for them
are
a bookish pet peeve of mine. To me, there are fewer more
idiotic things if you are a woman on the run than getting
romantically involved with the guardian who should be
focusing his attention of keeping you safe from the bad
guys, instead of how fast he can get your dress off.
Finn,
as an agent, also comes in for my ire too- how
irresponsible on both their parts! Readers who don't have
the same hot button response, however, will enjoy the
great
sexual tension between Finn and Riley.
Karen Robards' HUSH is a complex layering of mystery and
romance that does a great job of keeping me engrossed in
the unfolding surprises. While I have some personal
nitpicks with the story, overall I find this to be a great
addition to the classic Robards collection, and look
forward to her next non-ghost release.
In New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards’s
latest
heart-pounding thriller, a woman must uncover a murderer—
or
risk being the next victim of a vicious killer.
When Riley Cowan finds her estranged husband Jeff dead in
his palatial home, she’s sure it’s no coincidence. The
police rule it a suicide, but Riley thinks someone’s out
for
blood—specifically someone Jeff’s father ripped off in one
of the biggest financial fraud cases of all time. She
suspects that someone is trying to send a message to
Jeff’s
father: Tell me where the money is, or everyone you care
about will die.
Enter Finn Bradley, an FBI agent with a dangerous secret.
He's after the money too, and Riley quickly becomes his
chief suspect. But when someone tries to kill her, he has
no
choice but to protect her until he can uncover the truth.
The question becomes, can they discover the killer’s
identity in time, before he resurfaces—and strikes again?
Dubbed an “exceptional storyteller” by the Chicago Tribune
and “one of the most popular voices in women’s fiction” by
Newsweek, Karen Robards’s latest action-packed novel will
keep you glued to the pages until the final, shocking
conclusion.
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