Brynn is one of those strong, calculated, pragmatic women (no-BS) and her son is truant unbeknownst to herself (or she is unwilling to admit). She is remarried (her first husband was another cop who abused her).
A young couple vacation out in the woods and die as a result. On the surface of it, the killers were hired to take them out, but unfortunately a third party is present.
Enter: a young woman named Michelle who says she is the Feldmans' (the couple) friend, and she had begged them to take her out into the woods. And they died as a result of it.
She seems like a spoiled, rich-girl debutante who is unwilling to get her feet wet or her hands dirty--which proves a problem for Brynn, as they are on the run and locked in a fight for their lives against their pursuers.
In Hart (one of the assassins), Brynn finds a worthy adversary.
The 911 call was actually a desperate last-ditch effort on the part of Steven Feldman--he had dialed 911 as he and his wife were being murdered. The killers cut the call off before he could speak to the 911 operator. Tom Dahl, the sheriff of Kennesha County, calls in Brynn (over another deputy, Eric Munce--which becomes [somewhat] relevant over the course of the novel), who, because it is routine, decides it won't lengthen her night to go check it out.
Not to sound cheesy/corny, but "Boy, was she wrong."
The killers manage to get a hold of Brynn's phone and turn it off. Hart, however, thinking almost in parallel with Brynn (once he figures her game out--that she is like him--a strategist, pragmatic, and ruthless), decides to turn it on to prolong keeping anybody away (giving him and his partner more time to pursue and murder the women).
Good thing.
Graham Boyd (Brynn's second and current husband) calls, worried, and Hart answers as another deputy and sets Graham's mind at ease.
The women are all alone out in the wilderness.
Brynn must work with Michelle to escape and if they are to make it out alive and get help. No other residents are present at their neighboring cabins (already NOT very nearby--each of the lake house owners clearly want their privacy).
[Idk why but this reminds me of "Funny Games"]
Michelle whines and finds it disgusting to wear Emma Feldman's clothes--she complains of the cold and of her "low blood sugar"--clearly Brynn wishes she had someone along who would be willing to work with her.
HOWEVER. Things start to look up.
I won't give away the rest (b/c that, believe it or not, is [sorry!!] about the 1st 50% of the novel), but as an experience of a non-bestseller and (at the time) unknown author, this book was a fun read.
I was a tad disappointed by the ending, but I'm not sure if it is because Mr. Deaver had this plotline planned all along and just didn't set up/deliver as well, or if he decided to change it up as he brought the reader to the end (see my comments on The Historian--build up and 'seriously??!' ending).
He does a better job, however, of wrapping the story up and I would recommend this to anybody who has nothing to do on a nice summer's day (or rainy day). It'll be a quick read.
Overall grade: B
[I've given up on my whack grading system. For now, it'll just be Grades and/or "stars"]
Cheers!!
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