Indelible by Kristen Heitzmann

Trevor was an Olympian gold medalist in skiing but a freak accident on a run ruined his knee and his skiing future. He has settled in Redford, teaching rock climbing and running white water rafting adventures. He has a passion to rescue others, volunteering for the local search and rescue. His passion comes out of his own loss in childhood.
Natalie owns an art gallery next to Trevor's storefront. She creates images in clay. She has to create those images to clear her mind of the images within. Her eidetic memory will not let a face disappear from her sight until she has worked the image out in clay through her hands.
Tragedy occurs when Trevor rescues a toddler caught in the jaws of a mountain lion. The child lives but has lost an arm. The toddler is Natalie's nephew and she is shunned by her traumatized sister-in-law.
Trevor tries to help Natalie adjust to the horrifying event. As they get to know each other more, deep hurts in both of them come to the surface.
Lurking in the community is an evil presence. Something is bent on drawing Trevor into another rescue operation. Toddlers are being taken yet left where they will be found. Haunting pictures of the children are sent to Trevor. He can only think of the death of his younger brother. Is someone out to cause him harm?

Heitzmann's book is well written. It will keep you reading to the very end. The characters are developed well and I liked how they worked through their inner pains. In the end, I even felt compassion for the villain. And I learned about eidetic memory, something new for me.

This book is sort of a sequel to Indivisible, Heitzmann's novel that came out in 2010. While it is not necessary to read the earlier novel to appreciate this one, one would understand Police Chief Jonah and his wife Tia much better if one had done so.
Characters in the book are Christians but the religious aspect of the novel is not overdone.

There is a reader's discussion guide at the end of the book so this would be a good choice for reading groups. There would be plenty to discuss.

WaterBrook Press, 336 pages.

I received an egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.