Review by Booklist Review
Beware the disgruntled employee is a message readers are sure to take away from Gardiner's swiftly paced thriller, the fourth in the series featuring San Francisco forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett. This time around, Gardiner weaves the twisted tale of former hedge-fund employee Dane Haugen, who seeks violent revenge after losing his job. The object of his wrath is billionaire investor Peter Reiniger, but it's Reiniger's daughter, Autumn, who will suffer for her father's actions. To celebrate Autumn's twenty-first birthday, Reiniger has enlisted her and her closest friends in an urban reality game that includes a simulated drug deal, manhunt, and jailbreak. The SFPD has been alerted to the staged crime spree, so suspicions aren't aroused when a cadre of real-life criminals, spearheaded by Haugen, kidnaps the kids and drags them deep into the Sierra wilderness. Lucky for Autumn and her pals that they cross paths with Beckett and her partner, Gabe Quintana, who are investigating a San Francisco attorney's suspicious death. The premise is a little over the top, but mystery fans will still stay up late reading Gardiner's breathless latest.--Block, Alliso. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bringing her two series leads together for the first time, Gardiner pits forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett (The Dirty Secrets Club) and reporter Evan Delaney (Kill Chain) against a kidnapping team that's out for something more than ransom in this strong thriller. When Evan contacts Jo in San Francisco for help with a story on the suspicious death of attorney Phelps Wylie, whose body was found in a mine in the Sierras, Jo agrees to conduct a psychological autopsy on Wylie, including poking around the mine with her pararescueman boyfriend, Gabe Quintana. Back in San Francisco, Autumn Reiniger embarks on an urban reality game run by Edge Adventures, a 21st birthday present from her father, the director of a hedge fund, Reiniger Capital, but is soon kidnapped, along with her friends, by a group impersonating the Edge crew, raising the stakes. In the Sierras, Jo and Gabe run into Autumn and her kidnappers, who are demanding $20 million for her safe return-and Gardiner really gets the adrenaline pumping. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
When forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett and her partner, Gabe Quintana, in the course of an investigation come across six teenagers being corralled by a suspicious group of men for a "wilderness adventure," she senses that something is amiss. Far from being reassured when the teenagers tell her that they are simply part of a mock kidnapping designed to celebrate spoiled rich girl Autumn -Reiniger's entrance into adulthood, Jo is anxious to depart and investigate further. Before they can leave, confusion erupts, and Jo and Gabe become unwitting members of the birthday group. They have ample experience surviving the elements, luckily, because they must formulate a daring plan to rescue the teenagers and unmask the players behind the kidnapping before it is too late. VERDICT In her eighth novel, Gardiner (The Dirty Secrets Club) spins a thrilling, fast-paced tale about what can happen when we tempt fate. Fans of Iris Johansen will enjoy Jo Beckett's propensity for knocking down trouble and landing squarely on her feet. [See Prepub Alert, 12/21/10.]-Natasha Grant, New York (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Bay Area forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett's fourth case (The Liar's Lullaby, 2010, etc.) finds her caught in the middle of a fantasy crime spree turned deadly.Hedge-fund king Peter Reiniger is no ordinary father, and his 21st-birthday present to his thoroughly spoiled daughter Autumn is no ordinary gift. He's hired Edge Adventures to orchestrate a weekend scenario in which Autumn becomes the Queen of Crime and five of her best buds get to play the roles of her lawyer, her accomplices and her nemesis. But not even Edge's reputation for elaborate planning can prevent rogue financier Dane Haugen from stepping into the middle of this latter-day fairy tale and, motivated by some obscure harm he suffered at Reiniger's hands, kidnapping Autumn for real for $20 million. Jo and her main man, Sgt. Gabe Quintana, are on their way back from attorney Phelps Wylie's final resting placean abandoned gold mine in which, Jo quickly rules, he certainly didn't commit suicidewhen they stop to play Good Samaritan and are rewarded by getting taken captive along with Autumn and her friends. Not enough complications for you? Another freelance kidnapper plans to grab Autumn and company from Haugen's clutches, ransom Autumn and make short work of the supporting castone of whom has the bright idea of jumping the bad guys, turning a routine fake-kidnapping-turned-real into a fight for survival against armed criminals, rattlesnakes and every other wilderness peril you can imagine.The mind-bogglingly improbable setup and the number of wild cards in the mix guarantee endless plot twists, most of them so diabolically engineered that you'll forget how wafer-thin the characters are.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
