When She's Gone

September 12, 2016
A misstep as a cop in Texas prompts Ara Zuyev, the heroine of Palmer’s action-packed debut, to get a fresh start in New York City as a bodyguard. Wealthy business magnate Oliver Boone hires Ara to provide security for his wife, Holly Harper, and his 17-year-old stepdaughter, Sam. After dinner at a posh Manhattan restaurant, Holly tells Ara to go outside and text their driver. While Ara is reluctantly away from her charge, a masked man grabs Sam, pushes her out a back exit, and throws her into a van. When the family receives a ransom letter with a 48-hour deadline, Oliver brings in an FBI team headed by Luke Patrick. Luke considers Ara a possible suspect after speaking to her former police commander in Texas. Despite his distrust, Luke needs to rely on Ara, because of her knowledge of Sam. As the kidnappers’ plan spins out of control, the search for Sam draws Luke and Ara into a world populated by art forgeries and criminals. The tension mounts as the kidnappers’ deadline approaches. Readers will hope Ara and Luke return in a sequel. Agent: Beth Campbell, BookEnds.

September 15, 2016
Is the mysterious past of a wealthy family's bodyguard behind the kidnapping of their teenage daughter?Bodyguard Ara Zuyev brooks no interference in running the security team for the Boone family. Employees follow her directions, no questions asked. But she's thrown off guard when her role switches from protector to detective after her teenage charge, Sam Harper, goes missing. The daughter of Holly and the stepdaughter of billionaire Oliver Boone, Sam is a budding troublemaker, and interspersed chapters show that her kidnapping is actually her own plot to defraud Oliver out of millions. But Ara doesn't know that. Neither does Luke Patrick, the FBI agent dispatched to investigate Sam's disappearance. Given Ara's role as bodyguard and her coincidental absence at the time of Sam's abduction, Luke's suspicions immediately fix on her as his prime suspect. It doesn't help that there's so little information available about Ara's past, though she claims there's nothing worth knowing and certainly no connection to Sam. Meanwhile, Sam's plan to get revenge against Oliver takes a dangerous turn when one of her co-conspirators turns actual kidnapper, trading Sam to threatening men who may not release her even if the ransom's paid. Sam's safety seems completely reliant on Ara's ability to use what she knows about Sam's life to connect the dots and convince Luke to investigate her hunches rather than Ara's own background. A straightforward, fast-paced series kickoff in which character development is limited to whatever qualities most directly drive the plot.

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November 1, 2016

Ara Zuyev, a Russian immigrant and former cop, now works as a bodyguard for Samantha Harper, the stepdaughter of billionaire Oliver Boone. When the 16-year-old is kidnapped while dining with her mother, the secretive Ara falls under suspicion because she failed to follow basic security protocol. FBI agent Luke Patrick is assigned to the case, and his distrust of Ara is palpable. But as Luke and Ara pursue the kidnappers, it becomes clear there is far more at stake than the $15 million ransom demand. VERDICT A taut plot and the adversarial relationship between the two protagonists combine to make a real thrill ride in this series launch. The flawed Ara's volatility will remind some readers of Chelsea Cain's Gretchen Lowell.

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