Karen Harper, Down River

Down River

Karen Harper

Mira, Feb 2010, $7.99

ISBN: 9780778327479

The teambuilding event planned by Carlisle, Bonner & Associates at the Duck Lake Lodge near Bear Bones, Alaska could prove divisive as managing partner Graham Bonner will use the off site to choose the next senior partner. One of the three attorneys in the running for a senior slot is Lisa Vaughn, who feels strongly this is not a good way to select. She also has bigger personal issues with the location chosen by top management that overlooks the Wild River where her mom and baby sister drowned twenty-six years ago and the lodge is owned by Mitch Baxter, her former fianc who dropped her last year when he relocated from Fort Lauderdale.

Lisa falls into the Wild River with its strong rapids. Mitch knows something is wrong and follows her by kayak until he jumps in to complete the rescue. The powerful current had carried the pair several miles from his lodge, but they survive the water. As they struggle with the ordeal of getting back to the lodge, Lisa believes someone deliberately nudged her into the icy water. Though Mitch initially leans towards her accidentally tripping; he soon believes his Lisa is in peril from an unknown adversary who will try anything to kill her, but neither know why.

Down River is an exhilarating romantic suspense thriller as the audience wonders along with the heroine why this location and who wants her dead. Faster than the raging Wild River and yet filled with vivid descriptions of the Talkeetna Mountains, readers will feel transported to the home of Sarah Palin. Karen Harper provides a powerful who is doing it and why that sub-genre fans appreciate.

Harriet Klausner