Book Twenty-Three of my 2013 Goal

Redwood Violet by Robin Mahle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Redwood Violet by Robin Mahle is one of those books you should not open unless you have time to read it because you won't want to put this book down. From page one I was hooked on this fascinating mystery/crime solving read. The relationships and characters are all well developed and believable. (Although how can anyone really know if they are believable unless they were put in that circumstance but I imagine it is possible for them to act the way they do in the story.) The plot was complete and uncomplicated and the story never strayed away from it. I found the pace very comfortable and always moving toward the climax at the end.

I did notice some reviewers said they hated the ending and feel they wasted their time reading this or it was not a stand alone book but I disagree with both totally. First off, the author does state this is the first of a two part series so there will be another book. The ending as it stands right now leads the imagination to a conclusion without reading the second book. Is it a great ending? No! How can it be when the story hasn't ended? (There is still another book yet.) Does it give the reader some sense of what happens if they read the words, especially the very last sentence? Yes! So that is why I say it is a stand alone book and I can be satisfied with just reading this one story but I enjoyed it so much now I want to know which children were abducted by the same person and see justice served among other things. But isn't the whole purpose of the author writing a series is to get you so hooked on book one that you will want to read book two? I say this author did a fantastic job of that despite that I am a bit disappointed book two isn't out.

Katie Reid is the main character and she is living with her boyfriend (turned fiance) Spencer. She is living the perfect life in CA, the one she always imagined until she started having these nightmares. They weren't like normal dreams, these seemed so real that they started interfering with her life on many levels. When she uncovers the reason for the nightmares it changes her life in many unexpected ways. Her perfect life shatters and she at times even questions her own sanity. The path she chose (although it seems to be more of an obsession) takes her places she isn't sure she wants to be. Now there is a whole lot more to this story but if I tell you, there isn't much sense of you reading it. Lets just say relationships are made and broken, children are disappearing without a trace, and you really need to watch what you wish for.

Although the story involves police work on kidnapped, murdered and abused children and the questioning of sex offenders (adult subjects) there is really no swearing to speak of and no sex/nudity which I found so refreshing. However, as I said it is an adult subject matter so I would only recommend it to adults.

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