Evan Delaney is a heroine of our times: a woman with a big heart, a quick tongue and a hot temper that gets her into trouble. She is shocked to discover that Tabitha, her ex-sister-in-law, has joined The Remnant - the Reverend Pete Wyoming's fanatical band of disciples. And that Tabitha is trying to regain custody of her six-year-old son, Luke, currently in Evan's care while his father is posted to the Naval Air Warfare Center. Then one of the Remnant is killed, and Evan's brother is the prime suspect. With her boyfriend, lawyer Jesse Blackburn, Evan tries to clear her brother's name and rescue her nephew. In doing so, she finds herself caught up in a wild plan to steal weapon, and a blazing inferno on a Santa Barbara hillside.
If you love suspense, you need to go out immediately and find a book by Meg Gardiner. Meg, you’ve been hidden in the UK for too long! I really enjoyed The Dirty Secrets Club, but this one was even better. At one point, Evan’s sister-in-law tries to illegally take back custody of her son while Evan is locked in the back of a police car, and I thought I was going to literally jump out of my seat! And that was just the beginning! This story of a cult gone crazy really makes you think about what we as a society can control, and what we can’t, especially as Evan tries to get help from the police, who don’t know whom to believe. And I never expected the final twist. I think I especially liked the quiet times in the story, where you got a real sense of Evan, Jesse, and Luke’s normal lives. So often you only see the characters in a suspense novel in the midst of chaos. I will definitely be reading (or listening to) more of these, likely sooner rather than later.
