In this first book in the 'Bone' series, a man is dead and a toddler is missing.
*****
Attorney Jillian Ellington grew up in the idyllic town of Paradise, Tennessee, then moved to Mississippi for college and law school. This 'desertion' angered Jill's parents and allegedly 'killed' her father - so Jill hasn't been back for years. Now, big trouble in Paradise has drawn Jill back.
Jill has an identical twin sister Kate, who is suspected of stabbing her husband to death.....and the couple's three-year-old son is missing.
Moreover, Kate can't explain what happened because she's in the hospital.....beaten, bruised, and catatonic - unable to move or speak.
Stunned by this occurrence - and desperate to help her sister and find her nephew - Jill has returned to town. At the suggestion of her former law professor, Richard Lawton, Jill has engaged the services of former FBI profiler, Dr. Paul Phillips. Paul, who has psychic abilities, was once a top FBI analyst, but quit after a case went bad.
The profiler is now a lonely, hard-drinking depressive who rarely takes a job. In fact Paul only agreed to help Jill because he owes Professor Lawton a favor.
Jill and Paul don't hit it off right away but a romantic attraction soon has them working together. Once the duo start asking questions, though, they run into hostility from EVERYONE in Paradise, including: Jill's mother; the police chief; the mayor; the senator; and much of the local populace. It's pretty clear that the town has a secret no one wants revealed.
Paul's paranormal talents give him insight into what's going on, and he and Jill start to suspect that Paradise's medical research facility - which is very important to the town - had something to do with the death of Kate's husband and the disappearance of the toddler.
In fact, Jill and Paul fear the laboratory is engaging in unethical Nazi-like research. During their investigation, the twosome look up the experiments of the Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele - and there are graphic descriptions of the disgusting monster's horrific 'research.'
Though Jill and Paul face fierce opposition - including threats (and worse) - they carry on to uncover an almost unbelievable conspiracy. 😮
I enjoyed the suspense/mystery part of the story, which is interesting and well-done. Nevertheless, the book has some problems (IMO):
- First, it's hard to believe that Jill's decision to attend college in another state would rip her family apart. This rings a false note.
- Second, Jill's mother behaves very oddly. She actually gets angry because Jill is trying to find Kate's vanished child. Who would believe this? 🤨
- Third, the romance between Jill and Paul doesn't ring true. It's hard to accept that an attractive successful attorney would instantly fall in love with a gruff loser who's almost an alcoholic. In addition, Jill and Paul's romantic thoughts about each other are adolescent and goopy. And finally, the initial 'consummation' of the couple's love is laughable, and a picture I don't need in my mind. 😝
All that said, I'd mildly recommend the book to fans of romantic suspense. Other mystery fans can probably find books they'd enjoy more.
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