THE REDEMPTION

A troubled zoo security guard investigates a suspicious family in Taylor’s thriller.

Cass Woodward has seen better days. She was fired from her job as a police detective after seven years on the job after making a mistake that resulted in her partner being shot. She’s now struggling to keep up with her rent after taking a new position as a security guard at the Justaine County Zoo and Wildlife Park outside Spokane, Washington, and she’s increasingly bothered by memories of losing her parents and younger brother in a car crash as a teenager. Her life quickly changes when she encounters Will Frasier, a distressed man who initially claims that his daughter was abducted at the zoo but then changes his story. Cass knows something is amiss, and she continues to investigate the Frasier family, despite their resistance and continuing pressure from the person who pushed her out of the police force—a suspiciously perfect hero cop who seems to be somehow involved with the Frasiers. As tension gradually but relentlessly builds, Taylor keeps the focus on Cass, offering readers an engaging and complex spin on a former-cop-turned-investigator story. She’s haunted by a tragic past and driven to pursue the truth, even when it comes at great cost, but neither she, nor the novel, ever feels excessively grim or brooding. Her relationships with her former partner and an eccentric cafe owner keep her grounded, and the narrative has a surprising amount of cheer and optimism, despite its grave matters. The Pacific Northwest setting is a star, rendered with real love and care; its beauty, despite its frequently dreary weather, reflects Cass’ hardboiled but hopeful demeanor: “all she can hear is the gentle hissing made by the breeze as it ruffles the thick bushes and the scatter of leafy trees.”

A taut, engaging thriller with deep, empathetic character development.