Far Gone

Starred review from February 17, 2014
Bestseller Griffin (Tracers) delivers the goods with this perfectly gritty romantic thriller. Austin homicide detective Andrea Finch, suspended after a justified off-duty shooting, gets a disturbing call from her younger brother, Gavin, a computer genius who’s fallen in with a bad crowd. Investigating the backcountry Texas ranch where Gavin is holed up with murder suspect Shay Hardin, Andrea runs into FBI agent Jon North. Jon thinks the ranch harbors a militia group with devastating potential, though the FBI doesn’t give much credence to his theory that Hardin’s the mastermind behind a deadly bombing and a plot to kill a senator. When Jon can’t shake Andrea, he recruits her to help his investigation. Andrea is split between loyalty to Gavin and her duty to serve and protect—and she’s got the feeling that Jon might be a man she can let inside her tough-as-nails defenses. Griffin sprinkles on just enough jargon to give the reader the feel of being in the middle of an investigation, easily merging high-stakes action and spicy romance with rhythmic pacing and smartly economic prose. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary.