The One Who Walked Away By Karen Rose

The One Who Walked Away is a stand-alone thriller by well known author, Karen Rose. Elle Randolph and Sara , her boss, are bounty hunters. Sara leaves after a few days to go home to her pregnant wife. Elle and Sara become persons of interest in the case and are suspected of committing a murder as the manager of the local inn’s  dead body as they are the last two people to be seen with her when she was alive. Life has finally caught up with Elle after three years of taking every case she can so she doesn’t have to face that she was the only person to walk away from a car accident that killed her husband and two other people. The police officer in charge of the investigation is Detective Ronan Clarke, a single dad with 15 years experience on the force. 

This case is set in Mendocino County. Everyone who Elle and Sara question in regards to their case of apprehending a runaway fugitive ends up being murdered. As the bodies stack up it is clear Sara is being framed but as she has a web of secrets that she is trying hard not to divulge to Ronan, it is difficult for him to trust her. As the pair try to find out who is framing her for the murder and other killings as well as trying to kill Sara a romance develops between them. 

This novel incorporates some hard hitting themes such as domestic violence which are handled sensitively. The book itself was well paced and structured. The tension builds slowly throughout the novel but it is quite easy to guess who committed the murder. As the reader, however, I found it difficult to relate to the main characters. 

I received this book via Netgalley and Headline  in exchange for a honest review.  #netgalley #gifted #TheOneWhoWalkedAway

Book Review: Family Lies by Karen Rose

 

Family Lies is a suspense thriller written by award winning novelist, Karen Rose. This is the fourth novel in the San Diego Case File series. 

San Diego Homicide Detective Kit McKittrick and police psychologist/ boyfriend Sam Reeves. 

This case focuses on Kit’s foster sister Akiko. A recently deceased woman, Mary leaves a message on Aliko’s answer machine claiming to have information about her birth mother. Kit is shot and wounded when she goes to Mary’s house at Akiko’s request to find out what she knows about her mother and finds Her body. and the story develops from there.  Mary had been in touch with Aliko’s sensei and mentor (who was subsequently beaten up). The plot line is increasingly murky as they are drawn into the Japanese mafia underworld. 

I enjoyed this novel, but I did find it to be very long and complicated with lots of subplots and characters that were superfluous to or didn’t add anything to the storyline. I found the name changing for the Japanese characters very confusing, and unnecessary. The plot line could could have been pared down without losing the overall direction of the plot.