Book Review: More Than You Know

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

More Than You Know     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Margaret Chittenden
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Romance   FBI
Berkley, Sep 2003, $5.99, 304 pp.

In Chicago thirteen years old Nick Ciacia learns that his father, a cop, was killed while stopping a holdup. At the funeral a stranger informs Nick that the Snowman committed the atrocity and is rumored to have moved to Seattle. Nick vows one day to avenge his father. Eventually he persuades his mother and grandmother to move to Seattle to start over.

Twenty-three years later, Nick is a FBI agent who takes leave because he has a tip that provides him finally with a name to the Snowman. He trails Bart Williams, a German immigrant who changed his name upon gaining citizenship, but loses the man at a mall. Nick simply changes prey and follows the wife Maddy instead whom he previously met at an art gallery. When Bart vanishes, Nick persuades Maddy to let him help her find him. They follow Bart’s work trail along the West Coast where he sells pharmaceutical products. Eventually a Realtor finds him dead, allegedly a suicide victim. As Nick and Maddy continue to follow clues to determine whether Bart was the Snowman, they fall in love but she learns the truth about his quest making trust an issue.

Romantic suspense readers will have a field day (and night) with the delightful MORE THAN YOU KNOW. The story line focuses on tracing the missing husband as much as the romance. However, Once Bart is found dead (about the midpoint), the tale continues to be a terse thriller, but loses some of the momentum especially the intensity between the lead couple. Fans of Meg Chittenden will welcome back his author who was missed during her sabbatical.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner