Aftershock

January 19, 2015
Donlay’s middling fifth Donovan Nash novel (after 2014’s Deadly Echoes) takes Donovan, a sappy mixture of Jack Ryan and Doc Savage, to Guatemala, where Stephanie Van Gelder, his best friend’s niece, has been kidnapped on a photo shoot. Donovan rushes to the scene with his devoted cohorts from Eco-Watch, his nonprofit research company, and their high-tech flying gear. Meanwhile, Donovan’s estranged, brilliant wife, Lauren, recruits a brash retired FBI agent to uncover the long-term criminal networks behind the kidnapping; through it all, Lauren pauses only to get jealous of the femme fatale who attaches herself to Donovan. The action races to a shoot-out on the shores of Lake Atitlán and a desperate flight through a volcanic eruption as Mt. Atitlán rips itself apart. Donlay keeps things moving too fast for readers to get bored or think much about what’s happening. The aeronautical details lend interest. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron Associates.

March 1, 2015
Donlay continues to deliver high-quality, character-driven thrillers with this latest in his Donovan Nash series. One of Nash's closest friends, Stephanie VanGelder, is kidnapped in Guatemala. A straightforward rescue goes horribly wrong, leaving Nash with the problem of coming up with an alternate plan. Estranged from his wife and daughter, Nash has another problem: convince his immediate family to let him back into their lives. This personal angle gives the story an emotional core, and a rumbling volcano sets the time clock on suspense and leads to a frantic turning of pages. Donlay is on the verge of breaking outand deservedly so. Readers who pick this fine thriller up will eagerly seek out the previous titles and wait impatiently for the next Nash adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)