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Without Warning

Review

Without Warning

I’m a war hero, you can ask anyone. Except me. It’s almost like an official designation, created to separate the “true heroes” from the other men and women who put their life on the line…

Wilton, Maine, Chief of Police Jake Robbins doesn’t want to be a war hero. He doesn’t want folks labeling him as a war hero or looking at him as a war hero, and he definitely doesn’t want folks pointing him out as a war hero every time his name is mentioned in the newspaper. What Jake wants is to put his life back together since the murder of his wife a few years ago. It’s complicated, though. Jenny wasn’t the victim of a random killer. No, she died at the hands of her lover, the husband of his old friend, Katie Sanford, who also happens to run the local newspaper. So Jake has a lot to work through.

"WITHOUT WARNING is one incredible rollercoaster ride of a book, with just as many twists and turns. David Rosenfelt starts right out with action and never backs off."

Katie’s husband went to prison for his crime and, in an ironic turn, was murdered there himself. That shifted things for Jake, returning an odd sort of balance to life. It seemed like maybe he could finally begin to heal. Then came the hurricane. Tiny Wilton has a long tradition of burying a time capsule every 50 years, leaving an assortment of items for the folks of the future. It’s only been five years, but there’s a fear that it might have been compromised by the storm. So the authorities agree it needs to be checked. They dig up the capsule and find it intact. They also discover a body lying on top of it.

That was a snag that changed a lot of things. Now, Jake takes over the opening of the capsule. What he discovers inside is even more frightening than the bones of a dead person draped over the outside. Along with the miscellaneous items donated by prominent citizens of Wilton, historically, a set of predictions is placed in the capsule. As the chief opens the first prediction, he gasps at the words he reads. He opens another, and another, feeling sicker with each one. In five years, several of the predictions have already proven accurate. People have died. Were those accidents or something more sinister?

In the following days, with growing horror, Jake and Katie realize that someone is making the predictions come true. It becomes a race against time for Jake to unravel the mystery of the puzzles contained in the capsule. He knows that failure could mean a lot more than a few dead townspeople.

In the process of solving these crimes, Jake and Katie rekindle an old romance, one that began back in high school. But his position as Chief of Police is at odds with her position as newspaper manager. To his dismay, clues that he would prefer remain private keep ending up in print. Does he have a leak in his department, or is Katie somehow sabotaging him? He desperately hopes they are working toward a common goal. Only time will tell. And they have precious little of that.

WITHOUT WARNING is one incredible rollercoaster ride of a book, with just as many twists and turns. David Rosenfelt starts right out with action and never backs off. Pacing, plot and personalities drive the story, making it impossible to put down. Don’t miss this one!

Reviewed by Kate Ayers on March 28, 2014

Without Warning
by David Rosenfelt

  • Publication Date: March 25, 2014
  • Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Minotaur Books
  • ISBN-10: 125002479X
  • ISBN-13: 9781250024794