Over the course of the past months (a year even. if you want me to be truly honest), I’ve been buying books more than I have in the past decade. I normally prefer to check books out from the library, then if I like them enough to own them, I wait until I find them at used book/thrift stores. But with the closing and all of libraries, that avenue was cut off. What was I supposed to do? Not get any new reads?
Surely not.
Instead, I wound up finding this lovely soul on Instagram that sells books at great prices and also have found there can be great deals on christianbook.com. All this to say that my To-Read pile has grown wonderfully long, and that’s aside from the pile that I already owned that I need to read. Check out my Classics Edition and Other books to see what those look like.
ALL of that to say, I wound up with a few more Dee Henderson books, one I’d never read and the other one I think I’d only read once. And since I’m woefully behind on posting anything on here, I decided that a nice, easy welcome-back post would be to review just the Henderson books. So, here we go!
Kidnapped – FBI agent, Luke Falcon, has just walked into a nightmare. Someone has taken his cousin’s wife and son. Determined to get them back, he is searching for the kidnapper and trying to solve the crimes surrounding it. But danger is getting closer to him and the woman he loves. (published 2004, originally titled, True Courage)
~What’s interesting is this is slated as book #4 of the Uncommon heroes series. While it’s been a few years since I read them, I can’t see/remember any link to the other books. Nonetheless, this one is well worth the read. Luke Falcon- first off, a really cool name; second he’s kind of a dream-come-true-kinda guy. His life is seriously thrown for a loop when he gets the call that his family is missing. The twists and turns are just what I expect from her. The discussions of faith were really good, although they didn’t impact me as much as the ones in ‘Taken'(see below). I did feel like I should have known who a few side characters were, so maybe I do need to go back and read the Uncommon Heroes series again, perhaps they are in one of those books. But it wasn’t so much that it detracted from the story.
Before I Wake – The town of Justice, Illinois is small and quiet and Sheriff Nathan Justice loves it. He meets Rae Gabriella as she moves into town, seeking a new start after an undercover investigation went wrong. She’s decided to work as a private investigator with former boyfriend, Bruce Chapel, hoping the quiet town will help her heal. But the peace and tranquility have just been shattered by a string of murders. Women are being found in their hotel rooms, apparently dead in their sleep- no sign of theft or violence in the rooms. When Nathan finds out that Rae is working one of the cases, he’s not happy about it, especially as she fits the profile to be the next victim. Can Nathan, Rae and Bruce work together to find who and what this mysterious killer is before the killer strikes again? (published 2006)
~This was a new read for me. I really liked the small town of Justice, and the history that the Sheriff had, as his family had founded the town years before. The different aspects that were going on in this story were woven together SO well, and all actually mattered in the story. (as opposed to some books that we’ve all read that had parts that weren’t necessary to the plot and just seemed to take away from it.. but I digress). I really liked the side character, Gage Collier. Which, looking up his name just now made me wonder, isn’t he from the O’Malley series!??! Someone please tell me he is. Anyway…. pulling my attention back to this review just got harder– OK. The end was so good and satisfying although there were two things that I was like ‘wait, what?’ when I realized it was the last page. I can’t say more than that because it would be major spoilers but I’m a little surprised at her decisions in these things but I’m also holding out hope that it means she was setting it up for a second book.
Taken – Shannon’s escape was planned to the last detail, as is her plan to capture the ones who kidnapped her -the Jacoby family. Her choosing Matthew Dane, private investigator, as the one who helps her gain her freedom, wasn’t an accident. But the task of finding all the evidence, and what happened to the ransom that was paid all those years ago, is going to be harder than she thought. (published 2015)
~I did really enjoy this book. It is intense and a bit slow moving but it’s theme was different than I’d read before – taking place AFTER the kidnapping. I liked the faith of Shannon and her coming to terms with the events of her life. The romance was a little odd but it grew on me. – this was my original review from 2018. Now, having read it again, I agree with everything I said although the romance wasn’t odd to me. I liked its sweetness and carefulness. Shannon’s faith again impacted me So much. I appreciate how Henderson writes the struggles and theology into her books.
One Suggestion I have before reading Taken is to read Full Disclosure and Unspoken. Just for background on some of the important side characters. I’m sure you can read it and still fully enjoy it without but I think it would be worth it to wait and give those a shot first. They both are also excellent, from what I remember as it’s been a few year since I read either.
Here are my reviews for them from previous posts:
Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson – Ann Silver, cop, passes off a case to Luke Falcon, FBI. She’s relieved to have it off her desk, as she’s also the Midwest Homicide Investigator. He’s just been handed vital information that ties to a case he’s been working for years. But soon their lives will collide, getting far more personal than either had anticipated.
~ Whooeeee. I’d read this book years before but didn’t remember much of it. I appreciated how different of a lead female character Anne was – her end goal wasn’t marriage and kids and the white picket fence. This book has so many layers to it that I was sucked in very quickly and stayed that way. It is an intense story, as you follow along on a John Doe case. Perhaps a bit too quick of a wrap-up at the end for me, but thankfully, it didn’t ruin the whole thing. (you know what I’m talking about).
Unspoken by Dee Henderson – Almost twenty years later, Charlotte Graham still hasn’t spoken about her past. A past that includes her being the center of the most famous kidnapping in Chicago’s history. A past that includes such pain and fear that she’s never risked telling anyone. Can she finally take that risk?
~You might notice that another Henderson kick is beginning… This one is ‘connected’ with Full Disclosure and Taken. While there was a lot of detail about coins, I appreciated how much she researched it out – it didn’t take away from the novel for me. As usual, some of the faith struggles of the characters hit a bit too close to home for me – but that is one reason I appreciate Henderson’s books. She writes not only good fiction, she gives real-life faith struggles to her characters. I highly recommend this book!
And I’ll admit that I have them in an online cart right now, debating if I should break my self-imposed book buying ban and just get them, or not. Decisions, decisions.
Have you read any Dee Henderson? What’s your favorite of hers?
~Laura
The O’Malley Series Review – click to read!
I’ve made a sticky note to remind me to do a separate post for the Uncommon Heroes series sometime soon.
the start of a good life 