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Fiction. Romance. Suspense. Thriller. HTML:A thrilling novel of the deceptions we hide behind, the passions we surrender to, and the lengths we�??ll go to for the truth from the New York Times bestselling author of Untouchable. When Charlotte Sawyer is unable to contact her stepsister, Jocelyn, to tell her that one of her closest friends was found dead, she discovers that Jocelyn has vanished. Beautiful, brilliant, and reckless, Jocelyn has gone off the grid before, but never like this. In a desperate effort to find her, Charlotte joins forces with Max Cutler, a struggling PI who recently moved to Seattle after his previous career as a criminal profiler went down in flames�??literally. Burned out, divorced and almost broke, Max needs the job. After surviving a near-fatal attack, Charlotte and Max turn to Jocelyn�??s closest friends�??women in a Seattle-based online investment club�??for answers. But what they find is chilling... When her uneasy alliance with Max turns into a full-blown affair, Charlotte has no choice but to trust him with her life. For the shadows of Jocelyn�??s past are threatening to consume her�??and anyone else who… (more)
User reviews
Interesting, well-developed characters, romance, and two appealing
Recommended.
I liked both Charlotte and Max. It was nice to see them work together on the case from the very beginning of the story and I thought that they made a nice team. I liked that they both gave equally to their partnership and really tried to work together. The romance between them was nice but it never felt very exciting to me. For some reason, I didn't really feel their chemistry like I had hoped. I believed that their feelings were genuine but I missed the extra spark that I had hoped to see.
The mystery was fairly complex. Max and Charlotte were busy trying to solve a murder and find a missing person from the start of the book. As they worked to figure things out, the book takes a few twists and turns that keep the book moving along. There were times that I was able to predict some of the twists but I still enjoyed the overall mystery aspect.
I would recommend this book to fans of romantic suspense. This was a quick read with a lot of enjoyable aspects. I have not read a lot of books by Jayne Ann Krentz but I have found that I enjoy her writing style and I plan to read more of her work in the future.
I received a copy of this book from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley.
In the meantime, this person’s friend, Charlotte Sawyer can’t get a hold of her sister, Jocelyn, who was supposed to be at a convent retreat going technology free. Apparently this is the new rage for vacations, but this leaves Charlotte at a loss to be able to tell her sister that her friend had been killed. Charlotte now knew with the disappearance of Jocelyn that this definitely meant she was worried for her own life, thus the disappearance. Something major is going on and Jocelyn knows her own life is in danger, and most likely the lives of her friends.
Charlotte ends up working this case with Max Cutler, the PI, and he finds Charlotte very attractive. A romance between the two happens, but there is not enough heat between them that would make you think a romance would even be likely, but there is one. I would have liked to have seen more of this attraction between the two develop, In order to have romance, in my opinion, you need to have that heat, and the author definitely fell short here. Jocelyn and some of her friends had formed an investment group, and these friends were the friends who were at danger. There is also something about Jocelyn getting raped and that he could possibly be the killer as she had continued to follow rapes of other girls because they could not catch her rapist and her evidence box disappeared. This story had a lot in it that made for a great yarn. The author lead you in several directions, and you enjoy the ride. The book picks up pace towards the end again with all the twists and turns along with the unexpected events you deserve a good mystery to give you.
I have to say in the beginning with these four friends, a sister, the dead girl, her cousin with the same last name, the PI, I began to get a little over-charactered. It took a while to get used to all of the characters, and at one point I wondered if I would ever catch on to ALL the characters. I did. It was a good one you should enjoy. I don’t know that if this book becomes a series that the author has me dedicated enough to it that I would continue reading it, though. The publisher, Berkley Romance, provided me with a free copy of this book to read and write a review of my own opinion, and I thank them for this.
Interesting, somewhat predictable but fun.
I love the audio copy as well. Amanda Leigh Cobb does a beautiful job of narration and creating good separation with her voice of the individual characters. I have listened to and enjoyed both the CD version and the audiobook for my Kindle.
I can certainly recommend this one!
The publisher, Berkley Romance, provided me with a free copy of the audiobook CDs to listen to and write a review.
Jocelyn and Charlotte are stepsisters. Jocelyn seems to
Charlotte and Max are likeable. They are both carrying some baggage and it is interesting to watch them try to work through it and at the same time deal with the strong, instant attraction they feel for each other.
As soon as they start investigating, they discover many people who will go to any lengths to keep their secrets. At times it seems the danger will never end and there is no one they can believe or trust. Charlotte can be a bit too stubborn and insistent upon doing things her way, which gets them into even more danger, but Max is a good balance to her personality and the humor in the story lightens things up just when you need it most.
There are several chapters after the main mystery has been resolved. I believe they could have been presented in a better way, perhaps as an epilogue. I kept waiting for another major reveal or dangerous situation when in fact it was really just a wrapping up of events and characters.
I received this audiobook from LIbraryThing in exchange for an honest review. I recommend it. It is a fast-paced, solid mystery with just the right touch of romance.
Why isn't Jocelyn on her planned retreat ? Does the background of the new PI skew his perspective?
This was my first Jayne Ann Krentz novel. I found this to be a romantic murder mystery with just enough humor. I was also left with a curiosity for more info on Max's storyline.
Max is interested in Charlotte because she is the first person to show up to have known Louise. Charlotte doesn't believe that Louise was using again after she had gone through so much to quit and built up a new life that meant so much to her and besides Jocelyn would have noticed and done something. Besides, the theory that her apartment was robbed by a dealer since her computer was missing doesn't hold up when you notice that her jewelry and the cash in her wallet were still there. Charlotte and Max decide to join forces to get answers.
The hard drive Louise refers to is a map with five cities circled on it and a printout of two women's obituaries where their deaths were listed as drug overdoses, but Louise had written on the paper that they had been murdered. Also included were documents of women who had been raped where drugs were involved. When Max tells Charlotte that Louise's last destination on her car's GPS was Loring, Washington, Charlotte freaks because that is where her sister was raped over ten years ago back when she attended college there. The suspect came at her from behind and put a bag over her head and a knife at her throat and she wasn't able to identify him. However, she did go to the hospital immediately afterward to do a rape kit, but the evidence box would conveniently disappear.
Louise and Jocelyn belonged to a mysterious investment club that also included Emily, who works in HR in a big business, Victoria, who works in marketing in the fashion world, and Madison, an investment banker. Charlotte doesn't know the real purpose behind the group or why they might fear that their activities would lead to Louie's death or their own which has them running scared because Jocelyn isn't at the retreat she is on the run and the rest will soon follow. Or is one of them killing each other off in order to get a bigger piece of the pie on a rather large investment that they are working on that is coming together?
There is plenty here to keep Charlotte and Max busy as they try to unravel the many strands of this mystery and nearly get killed doing so. Of course, they slowly get closer to each other physically as well as romantically. I've read better Krentz books, but this one is still pretty good. I like the characters of Charlotte and Max and the people at the retirement home are a delight. While it is a little predictable it does hold some surprises that make is worth reading.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Checking her step-sister's mail while she is on vacation, Charlotte comes across a letter and a set of keys from one of her sister's friends that has her
Not the handsomest man in Seattle---not by a long stretch, she thought. But probably the one most likely to survive if he went into the gladiators' ring to confront the best-looking guy.
Where Have All the Girls Gone is at heart a mystery thriller with Charlotte and Max's building romance and relationship a companion piece. From the moment they meet it's obvious that they have chemistry but their past hurts keep them cautious. Charlotte is freshly off a broken engagement that ended only five days before the wedding and Max recently moved cross country after a divorce and job burnout. Both were fully flushed out characters whose insecurities and shy vulnerability kind of made them adorable. Their instant connection didn't feel too fast as they just seemed to click and as they spent more time together it was apparent their personalities gelled. They're not a hot and cold drama angst couple but cool and calm sexily belonging together partners.
The catalyst for the murder mystery is Charlotte's step-sister Jocelyn investigating rapes and murders that have occurred recently that seem to match her rape in college where the man was never caught. We learn the investment group Jocelyn belongs to and didn't want Charlotte a part of doubles as a cover for her and her friends to find men who abuse their wives and covertly punish them. When Jocelyn's friend Louise is found dead, it's not known if she really did overdose, one of the punished men found out about the group, or if Jocelyn's rapist has discovered that she is hunting him. As Charlotte and Max investigate, the tangled weave starts unraveling with even more threads, a corrupt police department, the investment group might be coming into some money, a serial rapist might have turned murderer, and even more lies, backstabbing, and deceit. Add all this in with multiple povs from secondary characters who have their own very flushed out storylines, background drama with Max and his biological father, and a reappearance from Charlotte's ex-fiancée and you have enough storylines for at least five books.
All the characters and their storylines were interesting on their own but we already had a great kitchen, each added drama started to feel like an extra sink being thrown in. The secondary characters and their storylines were obviously added to keep the reader guessing as to who was guilty of what but they ended up detracting from the true villain/s as their storylines were hidden towards the end; made them feel the least flushed out with their motivations. The ending and big reveals ended up feeling dragged out and full of info dumps, very staggered. We are left with some loose threads in regards to Max's past and with mentions of two other brothers, one coming to work for Max, along with Jocelyn and her friends in the investment club, it looks like this might be the start of a series.
With rape and murder being the center of this mystery thriller it had some darker tones but Max and Charlotte brought a lightness and charm that also gave it some light. Too many plot lines unnecessarily overcomplicated and cluttered the story at times but the danger, mystery, romance, and fully fleshed out secondary characters will keep you locked in, engaged, and entertained.
The narrator had a pleasant voice which is important when listening to audio books.
The story begins rather mysteriously with a murder but then moves on to the disappearance of a woman. Soon, the cousin of missing woman teams up with a
Suspenseful!
Hired to investigate Louise Flint's death, private investigator Max Cutler is not as convinced as the police that Louise's death was an accidental or deliberate overdose. The
Having recently relocated to Washington following his divorce and resignation from his job as a profiler, Max is struggling to get his private investigation business off the ground. Despite the circumstances that resulted in his career change, he is still an impeccable investigator with finely honed instincts. It does not take long for him to realize that Louise's death was most likely foul play but his investigation hits a dead end almost immediately. While some of Max's investigative techniques are a little unorthodox, he is a slow, methodical investigator who turns to good old fashioned detective work to help solve the case.
Fresh off a break up just days before her wedding, Charlotte does not exactly trust her instincts when she first meets Max. She is a little naive and trusting but she is a genuinely kindhearted person who takes people at face value. Charlotte is very concerned about Jocelyn's suspected disappearance but she has complete faith that her stepsister has done nothing wrong. Convinced Jocelyn is in danger, she refuses to let Max shut her out of the investigation and she is surprisingly resourceful as they track down clues and follow up on leads.
Although the mystery aspect of the storyline is interesting, it is fairly easy to put the pieces of the puzzle together. There is little attempt to hide the identity of the villain but the motive for the crimes is obscured for much of the novel. A couple of secondary story arcs add suspense to the main storyline but how these threads fit into the original investigation is quite difficult to discern. The plot feels a little disjointed and slow-paced for the first half of the novel, but the second half of the story moves at a fairly brisk pace once the various arcs begin to intertwine. The novel hurtles to a fairly dramatic conclusion with plenty of plot twists that are impossible to predict.
When All the Girls Have Gone is an enjoyable mystery that will appeal to fans of the genre. The characters are vibrantly developed and easy to like. The romance element is understated but believable. While the investigation into Louise's death and Jocelyn's disappearance are fully resolved by the novel's conclusion, the lack of closure for events from Max's past seem to indicate When All the Girls Have Gone is the first installment in a new series from Jayne Ann Krentz.
I do miss JAK's humour and tighter focus on the romantic relationship in this book but it's a well-written suspense story that I think my dad is going to enjoy. I dearly miss Arcane but I don't fault JAK for wanting to go in a more mature direction and that's how this story feels. It reminds me of the Henrie O series Carolyn Hart started writing once she got tapped out on the Death on Demand series.
I can always re-read Second Sight or Wildest Hearts for a full on JAK fix.