Review: Unspoken by Dee Henderson
Charlotte Graham is at the center of the most famous kidnapping in Chicago history.
The task force of FBI and local cops found her two abductors, killed them, rescued her, but it took four very long years. The fact she was found less than three miles from her home, had been there the entire time, haunts them. She’s changed her identity, found a profession she loves, and rebuilt her life.
She’s never said a word–to the cops, to her doctors, to family–about those four years.
A family legacy has brought her back to Chicago where a reporter is writing a book about the kidnapping. The cops who worked the case are cooperating with him. Her options are limited: Hope the reporter doesn’t find the full truth, or break her silence about what happened. And her silence is what has protected her family for years.
Bryce Bishop doesn’t know her past, he only knows she has coins to sell from her grandfather’s estate–and that the FBI director for the Chicago office made the introduction. The more he gets to know Charlotte, the more interested he becomes, an interest encouraged by those closest to her. But nothing else is working in his favor–she’s decided she is single for life, she struggles with her faith, and she’s willing to forego a huge inheritance to keep her privacy. She’s not giving him much of an opening to work with.
Charlotte wants to trust him. She needs to tell him what happened. Because a crime cops thought was solved, has only opened another chapter…
I’m still making up my mind about the truths revealed in Dee’s last offering, Full Disclosure (my review). They’re not as prominent here though the people in that greyed out portion of my review are mentioned in passing a few times. The main secondary characters are Ann and Paul from that book.
I still tend to equate Dee with Romantic Suspense in my mind. I’m not quite sure why that is though there is an element of suspense it’s not the page turning, will they die a horrific death by the end of the chapter, type suspense. More mystery still I guess.
I did enjoy Unspoken. I read it in about a day or so – which is about right for me when I sit to read a book and don’t have a whole lot else on my plate. But… it doesn’t hold quite the same… something. Kind of like when you’ve been dreaming of Andy’s Frozen Custard for weeks and weeks and then you get it. It’s GOOD but you’ve built it up a bit TOO much in your mind [I’m not sure if that’s possible for Andy’s but you know what I’m talking about ;)].
I didn’t figure out who the missing guy from her kidnapping was in advance, but unless I missed something we weren’t given enough information to. I did call the twist connecting the two cases [Charlotte’s kidnapping and the cold case Ann and Paul are looking at]. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say they’re connected somehow because if they weren’t it’s a waste of ink on a plot line that doesn’t mean anything.
And Dee Henderson is way too good for that.
Will I jump at the chance to review her next one? Absolutely. Will I try to lower my expectations just a smidge? Probably. Not much but a bit.
Overall rating: 8.25 out of 10 stars