Good as Gone
Douglas Corleone
Series: Simon Fisk Novels (Book 1)
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (August 20, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250017203
ISBN-13: 978-1250017208
In this new thriller from Corleone, who is noted for his Kevin Corvelli Mysteries we get a brand-new superhero by the name of Simon Fisk. A former US Marshal, Simon now works freelance going after children who’ve been abducted by their parents. Most of the cases have evolved out of divorce situations where one parent has lost custody and wants their child back.
Simon is one of those flawed characters who has tragedy in his past – his own daughter was abducted several years ago and never found, and then his wife committed suicide. He perceives that as a personal failure. He should have protected his family, and that is what motivates Simon to try to recover children that have been taken. While he doesn’t normally handle stranger abductions, he gets pulled into this one because of the little girl who is so much like his Hailey.
At times, Simon is one of those implausible heroes much like James Bond – bigger than life in some ways and able to do things that at first glance you might question. However, he is an engaging character and if we can suspend disbelief in some situations we can go along for the ride as Simon follows a sinister trail from Paris to the underbelly of Warsaw to save this little girl.
Except for a few places where the action slowed a bit for some narrative information that could have been given later, the pacing and story structure worked well, and the book held my attention through the dynamic climax. With every turn of a page, I wanted Simon to find the lost girl before it was too late. A ticking clock always ratchets up the suspense, and Corleone kept the clock ticking loudly.
There is a hint of healing and romance in the story, so Simon has more to live for and readers have something to look forward to in the next book.