Where They Lie by Joe Hart

 

 I am a big Joe Hart fan, having read all his books so far, and happily surprised at how he can jump around in different genres and still write thrilling stories. I'll admit this one was not one of my favorites of his but that probably stems from my dislike of Nora, the main character. She is so moody and angst-y, and goes above and beyond what a CPS agent would ever do to learn about what happened to foster children she had placed.

Kaylee and Justin Volk are only in their 20's and yet they are supposedly stellar foster parents, willing to take in abused and neglected children. Kaylee is social content creator- influencer- who features her "happy" foster family as her topic. The next couple of sentences are not much of a spoiler, since it is revealed in the short first chapter. A private plane crashes into the ocean, and a witness observes people fighting at the controls through the window. That plane belonged to the Volk family: Kaylee, Justin, Andrea, Bethany, and Mason. Only one family member will survive the crash. Sounds intriguing, right? It is absolutely something of a thrill ride, suspenseful. Unfortunately I was able to guess most of the ending (maybe because I live and breathe thrillers and mysteries and have gotten pretty good at guessing story outcomes). It still didn't take away my interest in the story, and my need to see how the plot would be tied up.

I see that this is the first in a series featuring Nora, CPS agent/child advocate. I know I've said that I didn't care for Nora that much. She seems to have PTSD from what happened in her miserable childhood and dwells in her head much of the time. She takes every case of abused foster kids seriously (as she should), but she then becomes an amateur sleuth who takes reckless chances with her own safety. Regardless, I will definitely read the next book in this series, as I enjoy Joe Hart's work and it is always worthwhile to read.

Recommended, 3.5/5 stars, rounded down but hopeful about enjoying the next one..
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital copy of this for review.