Review: Hand of Evil

Ali Reynolds has had a tough year. She's struggling with grief and depression. In the midst of this, she has to help her friend Dave Homan locate his missing teen daughter, Crystal. She assists in bringing Crystal home and finds herself babysitting more often than not. She soon learns that Crystal has been sexually active. Ali also realizes Crystal witnessed an attack and someone is after her. The person who was attacked was a good friend of Ali's dad.

In the meantime, Arabella Ashcroft summons Ali to her house. Arabella and her mother provided Ali with a scholarship to college years ago, so Ali feels compelled to appear. Turns out Arabella wants Ali to read her diary from many years ago explaining about the abuse she endured by her stepbrother. His son has recently threatened to bring these acts to light in order to extort money from her. Even though Ali is reluctant to get involved, she feels obligated to help out.

In the course of the investigation, Ali also finds out that she has been out of touch with her son and needs to catch up.

Can Ali help uncover the killer and the attacker without putting herself and others in harm's way?

I really enjoy this series. I like Ali and feel the author has done a great job of creating a character that the reader cares about. I did find the subject matter of this book to be a little harder to read, being the mother of a teenager. But I know there are so many people who have had these subjects touch their lives, that I know it needs to be discussed. I thought the author did a good job of getting the information out there without making it too graphic.

I thought Crystal was a well-written character. She came across as a stubborn teenager but when you removed the layers, you found she was just a scared and confused girl. I felt she was very believable.

I see that others have complained that Ali didn't have enough of a reason to be involved in these mysteries. I disagree. I think Dave put her in the middle of Crystal's situation, and Arabella did the same. I like how the author weaves the stories together and intertwines some of the people.

Even though I found the subject matter a little tough to read, I really enjoyed this book and HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dawn Dowdle

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.

Book Review: Hand of Evil

Please Note: Books reviewed are usually provided by the publisher, author, or an agent. Reviewers usually get to keep the book.