TAKING EVE

Jim Doane will stop at nothing to get the answers he wants as to what happened to his son, and he knows forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is the key; not only can she recreate Kevin’s face from his skull, but she’s a character in a deadly game she doesn’t even know she’s playing.

Renowned forensic sculptor Eve Duncan loves her life. She loves her husband, her adopted daughter and the calling she has for recreating faces from skull bones of the dead. Jim Doane only wants one thing—to get answers about his son’s death. After years of research, the time has come to act. First step, take Eve—which is complicated, given how fiercely protective the people around her are. But Doane has an answer for everything, and nothing can get in the way of his agenda. He won’t hesitate to threaten Eve’s loved ones if it means getting her to do what he wants. In the end, she’s simply a pawn in a broader chess match than even she knows. Or wants to know. Doane is convinced his son was special, and if anyone can reach beyond the grave to revive his own special kind of magic, it’s Kevin. Eve is in danger, and every step closer to recreating Kevin’s face brings her nearer to an uncertain future, though even she’s shocked when Doane confesses his true intentions and reveals the biggest secret of Eve’s life so far. Johansen is known for her tight plotting and suspense-driven storytelling, and this book doesn’t disappoint. An interesting conspiracy-theory backdrop, with hints of the supernatural tendrils Johansen is known for—particularly in regard to Eve’s connection with her long-dead daughter, as well as a new animal-psychic character, Margaret, and adopted daughter Jane’s love interest, Caleb—make for a slightly different take on an Eve Duncan book. An abrupt, not-completely-resolved ending that is a prelude to the second book of the series is annoying but probably a good marketing ploy for fans.

A successful Johansen novel, filled with intriguing twists and characters and an overarching mystery that will keep fans coming back for Book 2.