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Evil Without a Face
by Jordan Dane
Debut
of New Sweet Justice series by a unique voice in the suspense genre
EVIL
WITHOUT A FACE by Jordan Dane is the first in the Sweet Justice
series, a series that will feature three unusual women --- a bounty
hunter, a vice cop and an international operative. All three are
introduced in this first book but EVIL
WITHOUT A FACE focuses primarily on Jessica Beckett, a bounty
hunter who lives on the seedier side of town and is not reined in by
standard police procedures. EVIL
WITHOUT A FACE stands at the edge of suspense and the romantic
suspense genre lines. Reading like more like classic pulse-racing
suspense in the beginning, EVIL
WITHOUT A FACE integrates the romance elements in a subtle way
with the romance emerging organically from the deeper elements of the
characterization in a subtle movement that builds to one of the most
moving intimate (though not necessarily sexual) scenes within the novel.
Seventeen year old Alaskan Nikki Archer plans to escape from her family
to live a life of freedom to fulfill her dreams. Her internet friends
understand her better, especially her Chicago friend Ivana Noskova, who
tells her stories of Russian myths. When Nikki's mother Susannah
discovers that her daughter is missing, she knows something about this
disappearance is different. In Chicago, bounty hunter Jessica Beckett
and her mysterious sidekick Seth Harper are on a hunt to capture Lucas
Baker. The fugitive recovery doesn't go off exactly as planned.
Suddenly Jess finds herself under suspicion, not exactly the best
scenario for Samantha Cooper, not only Jess's best friend but a member
of the metro police department, trying to work her way up in the
department. As the criminal paths from Alaska to Chicago and beyond
merge in a finely constructed network of global criminal activity, Jess
faces her worst nightmare, a secret chilling past that haunts her and
motivates her. Obsessed with finding one girl, she joins forces with
Payton Archer, Nikki's uncle and a former NFL quarterback. With few
clues and inner demons to exorcise, Jess's race to protect one girl
becomes a dangerous heart-stopping journey against time. Will her past
interfere with her judgment? Not everything is as it seems with the
unusual cast of mysterious characters who surround Jess.
Jordan Dane introduces bounty
hunter Jessica Beckett, a tough woman living in a tough world, a woman
who carries a Colt Python, and a woman who will do just about anything
to capture fugitives. In the portrayal of a terrifying crime that spans
international borders, Jordan Dane heightens the by showing a larger,
global network in the shape of the puzzle and a faceless, amorphous
evil cleverly hidden and protected. Jordan Dane withholds some of the
surprises, weaving several shocking twists alongside more subtle
mysterious insights into her characters in just the right measure to
maintain the high level of suspense. I have come to expect unexpected
turns in Jordan Dane's work, but even so, several chilling twists
surprise to this suspense lover's delight.
Jordan Dane has a gift for creating unusual gritty characters and
bringing them together in a manner which crystallizes the emotional
impact of crime. Tortured by memories of her past, Jess has a special
impetus behind her search for Nikki's abductor. Jess has the ability to
connect with the victims in a way that is deeply personal but also from
her darkness, her past creates a transformative power, an ability to
empower others which spreads outwards.
EVIL WITHOUT A FACE reads like a thriller in the initial pages. Each
scene builds a carefully laid structure of the intricate interrelations
between the personalities so that when romantic elements emerge, far
from being gratuitous genre markers, the depth of characterization and
the finely precise imagery combine to create a romance that left this
reader gasping quietly at the beautiful emotional effect. In darker
romantic suspense, Jordan Dane has a unique vision. She peers into the
darker side of crime and indeed the soul, not just of the villains, but
of the victims of crime with an insight that transforms the victims
themselves, not glossing over the damaging effects of crime in their
lives but empowering them in the midst of their brokenness.
Jordan Dane's victims are never just cardboard characters to be
discarded to get to the crime. Jordan Dane treats the victims of crime
with the same depth of character as she does those hunting down the
criminals. From the destructiveness of crime, the author leaves
the reader with a sense of goodness or power that goes beyond just
solving the crime or capturing the bad guys. Her books have a
redemptive element. In this aspect. EVIL WITHOUT A FACE is most like
her debut novel, NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM, but she takes the idea a step
beyond. All her novels to date have this element but her latest, EVIL
WITHOUT A FACE, crystallizes and expands on this characteristic
vision. Jordan Dane breaks new ground in suspense with this novel
and defines herself even more clearly as a force within the suspense
genre who will shape the genre itself.
Publisher: Avon (January 2009)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
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