2.5 to 3 stars. It’s fine but really annoying at times.

Action packed but a super weird plot involving the Alaskan wilderness and infertility.

The writing isn’t great. It jumps around and gets a little confusing and there is so much time spent on the agent’s crush on her partner is almost painful to witness. So much time is devoted to telling us about how attractive and perfect she finds Hux it gets annoying real fast. Just show us why he’s awesome and stop telling us that he’s good looking. Give them some banter or some kind of legit friendship or just let them bang already.

Of course I’m going to ready book 3 because I got it from Netgalley and I promised to. I only read the first two because of the free book 3. ( )

Alaska, crime-fiction, cults, disrespect, ex-military, false-information, infertility, law-enforcement, read, search-and-rescue, suspense, thriller, undercover*****

Second in series, I have not read the first but am intrigued enough to put it on my TBR.
Felicity Harland is former FBI out of Chicago and now with Investigative Services Bureau of the U.S. National Park Service in Alaska out of Denali and has brought with her the marvelous dog Ollie. Her partner on this assignment is Ferdinand “Hux” Huxley, park ranger and former US Navy SEAL
The assignment is simple enough on paper: follow up on an alleged cult leader who preys on desperate couples from the lower forty-eight. Then they find out that the "missing hikers" that were found dead under suspicious circumstances were part of that target population. Let the suspense and danger begin. Excellent read.
I requested and received an ARC e-book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

ISB Agent Felicity Harland is back on the case with Park Ranger Hux Huxley, this time in Alaska. All set to leave for a long weekend in the lower 48, she gets assigned a missing persons case in the Gates of the Arctic. Finding the bodies is the easy part, trying to track down a self-proclaimed fertility guru, convince everyone that the deaths weren't just a tragic accident, and restrain herself in the presence of her hunky partner is the hard part. I can't wait to see where Felicity's next assignment will take her and Hux. If you like the Anna Pigeon series, give these a try.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books for access to a digital ARC via NetGalley.

An Unforgiving Place: A National Park Mystery by Claire Kells picks up a few weeks after Vanishing Edge. On assignment in Denali National Park, Investigative Service Branch Special Agent Felicity Harland is sent to the Gates of the Artic National Park to investigate the discovery of two bodies. Search and rescue is active in another part of the park looking for two hikers that have been missing almost a month. Timothy and Kelsey Greer might be the deceased or they might still be alive and lost in the vast wilderness.

Before long Special Agents Felicity Harland and Ferdinand Huxley (who has made the jump to ISB from being a Park Ranger and is being pulled from doing training modules- much to his relief) are at the scene of the two bodies. Unlike in most cases, there has been little involvement by animals. No obvious cause of death and no signs of defensive wounds. It is clear that they are dead, but the signs of what caused it are not clear. There are also clear indications that something strange was going on before they died. One example are the faint marks on the wrists on both bodies that indicate some sort of ligatures were used on them in recent days.

Harland and Huxley are on the case and soon forced to work undercover to ferret out the truth. Humans are one threat. Nature itself is another. Either can kill you dead if you let your guard down.

A worthy and enjoyable sequel to Vanishing Edge, much is going on in this complicated and action filled read. Events and backstory regarding the first book come up here. Quite a lot from book one is referenced, so it is strongly recommended that readers start with Vanishing Edge first. You will enjoy this very good sequel a lot more if you do so.

While the book is currently scheduled to be released on November 8th, I was able to read it now thanks to a digital ARC from Severn House via NetGalley.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022 ( )