Rating: 
Summary: kept my attention
Review: After reading the reviews here, I was wondering how I would like this book. I found it at the airport and bought it. It starts right off, introducing the hero(ine) and other important characters. I was carried along through the book, happily ignoring airline delays, and was surprised to find that I had reached the end of the book so quickly. The characters were good and the story was interesting. I do agree that there is some choppiness in the writing; the flashbacks and dreams do advance the plot but they do detract a little from the flow. I would recommend this book to any traveller who enjoys a good mystery/procedural that isn't very gory and, thank goodness, has almost no messy romance.
Rating: 
Summary: An OK debut for Jodi Compton
Review: Although this novel does not achieve what the publisher claims in the dust jacket, a thriller impossible to put down, it is clear to me that the writer has talent and will probably deliver a much better work given another chance.Sarah Pribeck is a detective that cares about her job, finding missing persons. She has been out of a partner since Genevieve's daughter was raped and murdered and the killer got away on a technicality. Genevieve is having a really tough time dealing with her daughter's loss and Sarah finds herself disoriented when her husband, Shiloh, disappears on the weekend he was supposed to travel to Quantico, to start the FBI program as a new trainee. Through the first moments of the search we realize how important Genevieve is to Sarah, since the latter keeps going back to the tips and recommendations the former provided in the past. With the time running against her and without being able to convince Genevieve to help, Sarah finds herself taking a plunge into Shiloh's past in the search for clues to solve the mysterious disappearance, finding a myriad of things she did not know about the man she has been married to for two months. There are several things that Compton does astoundingly well; for example the description of the characters and their emotions. I also find interesting the fact that the author focuses on creating a thriller with no romantic undertones; one can get tired of the formula used by many in which a female heroine is drawn to a "strong male" in the setting of a mystery thriller. Where I find a major flaw is in the way that the story is structured, the action keeps stopping for long intervals to go back to events from the past, which in my opinion severely cuts the intensity the book has. With the quality of her writing and the good development of the characters, the author can reach much higher heights that the one she achieved in this first novel.
Rating:
Summary: I liked the characters and story..had some minor flaws.
Review: First let me start by saying that I really enjoyed the way this author writes. I just finished this book last night. It was a very fast read for me. I liked Sara and Shilo and will be interested to see where the next book takes them. With Shilo's current situation, perhaps the next book will be heavy on Sara. I was surprised by the twist..regarding Shilo. I did feel that it was "something" dark but that was a good surprise for me at least. The few problems I had with this book was the way I felt about Sara and Shilo's relationship. I felt it could have been more descriptive. I know this is not a romance but with a gritty mystery/thriller the relationship, sexual and otherwise could have been delved into a bit more. Especially in light of what we learn about Shilo at the end of the book. All in all, a good read that I would recommend. I am looking forward to the next installment to find out what happens to these people.
Rating: 
Summary: "Who cares?"
Review: First of all, I really wanted to read this book after reading the editorial "book jacket" description. But just 25 pages into the book, something wasn't right. The author is an amateur writer who states the obvious again and again, incorporates inane dialogue and never fully gets the reader to give a damn about what happens to any of the characters. I can honestly say that there is not one character in the book that I liked. The main character, Sarah, is one dimensional and downright cold. Her conversations with her husband, Shiloh (the cop who "goes missing" and is the focus of the book) read like two distant relatives. Her cop partner, Genevieve, is equally as cold and unfeeling with zero dimension. Why these two would be "friends" is beyond me except that "like attracts like" I suppose. While I read a great deal of thriller/mystery fiction, I guessed the big "twist" midway in the book. However, without giving anything away, the author seems to be leading the reader to the conclusion that Shiloh committed an even bigger crime than he did (i.e., the murder of another younger character in the book). Why else would the author continue to tell us about his "penetrating glances" at the young girl during their Christmas Eve dinner? But this is just one of MANY false stops the author throws into the book. We are forced to read endless tidbits of other missing persons cases that Sarah dealt with but only ONE of them is mentioned as having meaning toward the end of the book and even that one is a kind of "Who cares?" In fact, "Who cares?" basically describes this entire book. When I wasn't cringing at the dialogue or rolling my eyes and groaning at the awkward plot points, I was counting the pages until the misery would be over. How this book EVER received such stellar editorial reviews is beyond me! Did they read it???????
Rating:
Summary: A promising, but flawed, debut
Review: First, kudos to any author who can get published and Ms. Compton deserves much praise for her writing style and deft plotting devices. I can understand why she was able to sell this series featuring Sarah Pribek -- we quickly care about this character and get involved in her gut-wrenching search for her missing husband. I will not retread the plot points mentioned in other reviews, but I echo those who were disturbed by the radical change in prose and plot of the second half -- it's as if two different authors were at work. The last fifteen pages are especially weak and forced, as if someone was writing on deadline. I have a feeling these were not the original pages when Ms. Compton first submitted her manuscript. Too much of the final act seemed to be strictly from Pribek's narration afterwards instead of the reader being there as discoveries were made. Things were just a bit too tidy. This is an author I want to read about two or three books from now because by then she'll be the master of her craft. This first effort shows promise, but also some warts.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed it!
Review: I enjoyed this book so much I stayed up late into the night reading it. I didn't want to put it down.
I don't understand the negative reviews and found Compton to be a skilled writer. The plot grabbed me and I will be reading her next novel.
Rating:
Summary: Good till about the last 10 pages
Review: I had heard good things about this book so I was anxious to read it. I really wouldn't consider it a mystery, more of a fiction type of book. It started out really well and about halfway into it, I thought I had figured out what happened. But towards the end, it all fell apart. The ending felt rushed compared to the rest of the book and the way it ended kind of left you hanging. What I thought happened did not, but I almost wish I was right compared to what really occurred. There is a very disturbing plot twist right at the end that caught me by surprise. I was disappointed in the ending and I'm not really sure if I would read the next one in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Passi ve and BORING
Review: I have to agree with another reviewer, how one EARTH did this passive mess get published? And she has another coming out next year????? Please, tell me it isn't so!! I have a 50 page rule when reading. If a book doesn't grab me in the first 50 pages, I give up and go on to something more interesting. So many books, so little time. I made it to page 24 in the mess. NOTHING HAPPENS! Hello? What's the first rule of writing - anything? Start with bang. Kill someone, blow up a bridge, get a character lost in a blizzard, something to peak our interest. This book is simply - S L O W. I didn't give a rip about the main protagonest - or anyone else. There is WAY too much back story up front. Don't waste your money or time. If you want an excellent mysery, read, "Whispers & Lies" by Joy Fielding - the best mystery I've ever read.
Rating:
Summary: I am not sure where the mystery was...
Review: I really liked the beginning of the book and the characters especially Shiloh and Sarah. I thought that there was a lot of potential for the characters and future stories lines. But then the author fell apart in the last third of the book. (Sigh) it was really very disappointing. The other reviews mentioned " true mystery, tension weaving writing and a thriller" of a book. I was disappointed at the quick resolves that came out of no where and then thrown in was some disgusting unnecessary twists that cheapened the characters that the author created. The values that made them good police detectives in the beginning of the 37th hour, is not found at the end thus makes it hard for a interesting followup book in the future. To be honest there was very little detective work was done in this novel. Eh, maybe it wasn't intended to be a mystery or detective story...the author needs to read about Elvis Cole and Joe Pike; Lucas Davenport to see what good mystery and detective writing is about. The ending was so sad and poorly put together that I am not sure I care enough about the characters to read another story, thinking I might get cheated out of a good story and be depressed about spending so much money on a hardbound book.
Rating:
Summary: Never Again
Review: I really looked forward to buying this book, thank godness I bought it used! Jodi Compton did not let you get to know the characters in her book, so that you never really cared what happened to them. She just throwed the story together without any real emotions. I do not recomend this book to anyone that loves a good mystery. There is no meat to this book. Will not read anything from this author again, do not see her improving!!!!
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