No One Knew by Kendra Elliot Book Review

About the Book:

In the crisp mountain air of central Oregon, a teenage girl’s search for discarded cans leads to a horrifying discovery: a body, brutally murdered and abandoned in the woods. The case falls to Deschutes County Detective Noelle Marshall, who finds herself navigating a community steeped in secrets, suspicion, and distrust of outsiders―especially law enforcement.

Miles away, FBI Special Agent Max Rhodes investigates a different kind of darkness―chatter about a violent uprising from a shadowy militia group preparing for war. The two cases seem worlds apart. But as Noelle digs into the murdered man’s past and Max closes in on the source of the terror plot, their paths begin to converge in a terrifying way. This was no random killing. It was a message. A merciless killer and a hidden army are operating in the same shadows, and finding the link between them is the only thing standing between a single murder and a full-blown massacre.

My Review:

This is another enjoyable mystery from Elliot. At first it seems two threads are being followed, the young teen and a possible domestic terrorist group. The two threads merge as the story develops.

There was an interesting exploration of how the police act during a hostage situation. The police may need to take out the hostage taker before all the necessary information is in. Max faces an event in his past where he killed a hostage taker that some think was a wrong act.

Another issue Elliot explores is the motivation of domestic terrorists, especially wanting to destroy the government. A conversation questions the motives behind the movement and is thought provoking, pointing out wanting to retain safety net aspects of the government.

I liked this novel. There is a good balance of police procedure by the characters and time spent on their personal lives. There is also some interesting thoughts on police work and domestic terrorist motives. While this is the second book in this series, I felt it read well on its own. 

My rating: 4/5 stars.

You can read my review of the first book in the series, Her First Mistake.

About the Author:

Kendra Elliot is the Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Mercy Kilpatrick novels, the Columbia River novels, the Bone Secrets series, and the Callahan & McLane series. She is a three-time winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award, an International Thriller Writers Award finalist, and an RT Award finalist. Kendra was born and raised in the rainy Pacific Northwest but now lives in flip-flops. For more information, visit www.kendraelliot.com.

Montlake, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)