Closer Than You Think

Faith Corcoran #1

By Karen Rose

ISBN#9780755389957

Author’s Website:  http://www.karenrosebooks.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Daniele

Synopsis: 

Deacon Novak has returned home. The experienced FBI Agent knows that his move to Cincinnati’s Major Crime Enforcement Squad will be challenging, but the greater challenge will be saving his younger brother before he becomes the kind of criminal Deacon is chasing. Faith Corcoran has escaped her identity. Being a therapist to victims of sex crimes was rewarding, but her work with their offenders has jeopardized her life. Her move represents a chance to build a new life in the empty old house her grandmother has left her. What Faith doesn’t know is that a killer has made the house his playground, taking girls into the basement and murdering them. And now Faith is about disturb his fun. With a murderer focused on her, Faith is going to have to put her trust in Deacon if she’s going to survive. Because this killer is always closer than she thinks…(Goodreads)

Review:

Faith Corcoran has changed her name and left her career as a mental health therapist in Miami in an attempt to rid herself of a former patient turned stalker who attempted to kill her.  When her grandmother dies in Ohio and leaves the long vacant family estate to Faith, she sees it as an opportunity to start fresh.  However, someone, possibly her stalker Peter, has set up his own torture chamber in the basement, and Faith is about to get in the way.  One afternoon on her way to meet a locksmith at the house, Faith comes upon a tortured girl who escaped her kidnapper in the middle of the road.  Thus enters Deacon Novak.

Novak is  an FBI agent who has moved home to help his sister care for their troublesome younger brother.  He works with the Cincinnati police department as part of a joint task force, the Major Crime Enforcement Squad, dealing with assaults, abductions, and homicides.  Though he considers Faith a suspect, one who is definitely hiding something, he is immediately attracted to her and feels the need to protect her.  Together, they go about identifying the real perpetrator and dealing with more attempts on Faith’s life and ghosts from her past.

Being a romance thriller, the sexual tension is high throughout the story.  I did find the sex scenes to be a bit cheesy and somewhat graphic, but I am not much of a fan of explicit scenes to begin with.  There are only so many times I can read about an erection without rolling my eyes.  However, overall, the thriller aspect of the story made up for this.  The violence is not for the faint of heart, and the body count is high.

Faith and Deacon are complexly drawn and are strong characters, though at times I found Faith to be too much of a martyr.  They make a good, smart team.  There are a slew of supporting characters, some of which are interesting – like uncles Jarod and Jeremy – and some I could do without.  They just seemed unnecessary to the story.  I did not like that all of the police seemed to be prejudiced against Faith because she worked with sex offenders.  I found that attitude a bit childish, and I hope unrealistic in real life.

I am a fan of big books, but at 544 pages, this was unnecessarily long.  It got off to a banging, action packed start, but momentum was quickly lost, and I found my attention wandering at times.  Then the action would pick up again and repeat.  Some scenes were very well written, full of tight action and dialogue, but others just rambled on.  I did like the overall arc of the story, how the perpetrator was revealed and his motives with just enough twists to question yourself as you read.  The past and present blended well.

This is my first read by Karen Rose so I cannot compare Closer Than You Think to her other works.  I enjoyed most of book, especially the thriller threads.  I recommend this to fans of Rose and those interested in serial killer action.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*