*Starred Review* When Kellen Adams' domestic situation goes off the rails, she decides to hit the road. Accepting a job with the MFAA (Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives) program just might provide her with the time away from her husband, Max Di Luca, and her young daughter, Rae, that Kellen needs to sort out exactly what she wants in life. However, Kellen's mission of transporting a valuable artifact to a reclusive expert in the Olympic Mountains almost immediately goes sideways, leaving her with the task of saving not only herself and the artifact, but also a new partner Kellen would protect to her last breath. Featuring an unforgettable protagonist, who is carrying more baggage than a porter at LaGuardia and who makes Jack Reacher look like a slacker when it comes to dispatching trouble, and an ingenious plot that includes plenty of white-knuckle twists and turns as well as some touching moments of mother-daughter bonding, Dodd's latest superior suspense novel builds on the well-deserved success of Dead Girl Running (2018), her first Cape Charade book.--John Charles Copyright 2019 Booklist

Dodd's prequel to 2018's Dead Girl Running starts slowly, weighed down by protagonist Kellen Adams's complicated backstory, which includes a murder/suicide; a stolen identity; a stint in the army in Afghanistan; a stretch of homelessness; 13 months in a coma, during which she produced a child; and a budding romance with "tall, dark, handsome, Italian-American, broad-shouldered former football player" Max Di Luca. The present-day action finds Kellen at the Di Luca Winery in Oregon's Willamette Valley, trying to reconnect with her seven-year-old daughter, Rae, and re-establish a relationship with Max, the little girl's father. She accepts a job with a government agency, and is charged with picking up "a priceless antique head" and taking it to "a weird recluse expert." When Rae stows away in the van in which her mother is traveling, Kellen finds herself pursued by two groups of villains: one wants her dead, the other wants the antique marble head. Fans of romantic suspense who don't mind a lack of realism will be satisfied. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Endeavor. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kellen Adams is on a trip to the wilds of the Olympic Peninsula to deliver a precious artifact to a reclusive expert for evaluation. She's shocked to find that her seven-year-old daughter, Rae, has stowed away with her, but fear turns to terror when she realizes they're being targeted by killers. Their only hope is to flee into the mountains. A note left by Rae that she was "with Mommy on ad vencher" has Max Di Luca, Rae's father, hot on their bloody trail. While Kellen and Rae manage to elude the bad guys, it soon becomes clear that the threat is anything but eliminated. A skillful mix of vivid characters (the precocious Rae is a highlight), assorted misdirections, and plot tweaks, both logical and startling, add depth to the fun. VERDICT Action-packed, littered with dead bodies, and brimming with heartfelt emotion, this edgy thriller keeps the tension high. The cliff-hanger ending will have fans anxious for the next title. Although the story is complete in itself, readers will benefit from taking on the series in order. Dodd (Dead Girl Running) lives in Washington State. © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.