Sunday, March 27, 2011

Possession by Rene Gutteridge

D. C. detective Vance Graegen is burned out after investigating a sniper case.  Wanting to make a new life for his family, he quits the force and moves his wife and son to California with plans to open a sandwich shop.  When they arrive they find the mover is holding their possessions for ransom.
It soon becomes clear that Vance has more to worry about than his possessions.  Someone is out to ruin his life altogether.  Secrets from his past emerge to haunt him.  He tries desperately to control the situation while suffering from headaches and hearing voices - post traumatic stress from the sniper case.  And then his wife and son are kidnapped.
I have read several books by Gutteridge, her humorous ones.  This is the first of her serious fiction I've read.  At first I was disappointed.  For two hundred pages I was nearly bored.  But I persevered and was rewarded.  The second half of the book is a true page turner!  The plot is based on true accounts of moving companies that Gutteridge read about.
I still think Gutteridge's best writing is in the area of humorous novels. 

Tyndale House, 366 pages.

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