TAKEN

A wealthy women who is an illegal alien calls Elvis Cole for help when her daughter goes missing. The businesswoman thinks it may be a prank when her daughter calls asking for money. She's pretty sure that she just ran off with her boyfriend for a last fling before graduation. Still, the girl has everything going for her and it seems unlikely that she would decide to throw it all away and ask her mother for a few hundred dollars. Elvis Cole soon learns that the girl may be involved in an ugly ring of human trafficking. The stakes get even higher when Cole himself is taken and it's up to Joe Pike to find him.

As usual, Robert Crais' books draw you in from the very first page. I knew nothing about human trafficking and was appalled by the vivid descriptions. I always love Elvis Cole but this was a great combination of Cole and Pike. I raced through this book like I always do the books in this series and I can't wait for the next one!

Rating - A

MOBBED

A popular young actress rents a seaside home for a month and then leaves unexpectedly, leaving a number of her possessions behind. The home's owner takes advantage of the situation and decides to host a yard sale, advertising the actress' items to entice buyers to come to the sale. The owner has also decided to sell her home on a whim and her daughter is concerned. She contacts her old friend, Nora Reilly, to investigate. Nora and Regan soon become concerned about the actress who seems to have disappeared. It's a race to find her before all of the garage sale nut cases take over!

As always with Carol Higgins Clark's books, there are lots of different characters with a variety of story lines all going on at the same time. There are always plenty of wackos mixed in with some really nice ones. This used to make me a little crazy but I've learned to enjoy it - at least most of the time!

Rating - B+

BLOOD HOLLOW

A young girl has disappeared after a wild New Year's Eve party. Cork is part of the search party and nearly ends up as a victim of the snowstorm. He feels that maybe the girl's ghost helped save him. Maybe that's why he is so invested in helping a young Indian who is accused of murdering the girl. All of the evidence points his way but Cork is sure that there is more to the story than meets the eye.

As usual, this is a great book by William Kent Krueger. I really enjoyed most of this book. It's a great look at Rose and the girls. The murderer was very believable but I found a portion of the story just too strange to accept. Other than that section, I was so happy to be listening to another book in this series.

Rating - A-

A NIGHT TOO DARK

People have been disappearing in the Park and Kate is determined to find out why. She thinks that they disappearances are connected to the gold mine. It's no secret that Kate isn't a big fan of the fan or the progess it is bringing to the area. Kate is worried that those changes may ruin the Alaskan life that she knows and loves.

I haven't read anything by Dana Stabenow before even though I had heard she was very good. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the book. Kate is warm and funny. She is strong and opininated. I'll be reading more in this series.

Rating - A