Vanished

December 7, 2015
Olson (Shot Girl and three other Annie Seymour mysteries) starts more strongly than she finishes in this thriller about an enigmatic woman in hiding. The 40-year-old person who now calls herself Nicole Jones abandoned her old life 15 years before the book begins. She has exiled herself to Block Island, off the coast of Rhode Island, where she works as a bike tour operator. Nicole, who has assumed a new persona along with her new name, has settled into a comfortable routine, hanging out mostly with her closest friend, Steve McQueen (no relation to the actor), who hopes that their relationship will become more than platonic. Gradually, the reader learns exactly what led Nicole to vanish and why she has cut herself off from the outside world. Inevitably, Nicole must deal with the fallout once Steve and the others she has come to know on the island learn that she's been less than honest with them. The character interactions are of more interest than the overly familiar plot. Agent: Josh Getzler, Hannigan Salky Getzler Agency.

December 18, 2017
Olson’s frenetic fourth Black Hat thriller (after 2017’s Betrayed) finds bespectacled 40-year-old artist Tina Adler, a former computer hacker once known as Nicole Jones, at a Charleston, S.C., art gallery, where wealthy society matron Madeline Whittier expresses interest in buying one of Tina’s watercolors. Madeline also tells Tina she looks familiar. Tina, who’s anxious about preserving her anonymity, excuses herself. A quick computer search reveals a connection between Madeline’s college-age son, Ryan, who disappeared in Paris four months earlier, and Tina’s love interest, FBI special agent Zeke Chapman. Tina is soon fleeing from the FBI; the hit men who have been hired by her arch nemesis, gangster Tony DeMarco; and assorted villains lurking on the web. Tina runs, leaps, bounces, slams, and spins along in a race across the country that eventually takes her to Paris. The only element that doesn’t zip along at breakneck speed is Tina and Zeke’s romance, as much of their courtship is carried out in chat rooms. Still, series fans will enjoy the ride. Agent: Josh Getzler, Hannigan Salky Getzler.

December 15, 2015
For 15 years, Tina Adler has been living on a remote island off the coast of Providence, Rhode Island, pretending to be someone called Nicole Jones. To the public, she is a missing person; to the feds, she's a criminaland not just any criminal. As a teenager, Tina hacked into a handful of hefty bank accounts, narrowly avoiding capture. On the island, she enjoys living a normal life until her old lover and partner-in-crime, Ian, shows up, bringing the feds with him. Their love affair and the unsolved mysteries that surrounded their final heist together come barreling into the present as she avoids arrest once again. Olson uncovers Nicole's past in increments. Much of the exposition is devoted to Nicole's regret, nostalgia, self-loathing, and emotional isolation, which, though repetitive at times, make her, overall, a compellingly flawed character. Effective descriptive writing, coupled with the reflective protagonist, give this thriller a contemplative feel while not sacrificing suspense. With two more installments on the way, the story isn't over.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)