Forced to face the past when she undertakes a new assignment, Senior CIA analyst Mariah Bolt must delve into the life of her father Ben Bolt, a revered novelist who had abandoned his family long ago, and is plunged into a world of betrayal and murder, and when her daughter is kidnapped, Mariah is faced with the brutal truth - you can't afford to be innocent..if you want to stay alive.

Rather mediocre crime story even though I appreciate a lot of research about the Cold War and the Beat Poets era etc went into this but I thought the characters were pretty black-and-white. Also, as I found out, there is a previous novel in which the relationship between Mariah, Tucker and Chaney are better desribed which I didnt' know about so it was all a bit confusing to follow.

Well, I turned up at the Edinburgh Bookcrossers Meet-Up this evening calling eagerly for crime and mystery thrillers and someone held up this so with out further ado I snapped it up! Thanks kinedi for bringing it to the meeting. Judging by current form I shall be reading this soonish!

Well, a brave but disappointing attempt at something meaty. There was too much crucial *something* missing for me and not enough editing. This could have done with some serious pruning. Clearly a lot of work went into this and many sections and characters came to life here and there but I felt it was very patchy. I‘m sticking to Anne Perry and going hunting for more Charles Todd, one of my latest discoveries.