As a 911 dispatcher, Dana Newell takes pride in being calm in tough circumstances. In addition to her emotionally-charged career, she’s faced enough emergencies in her own life. She recently escaped her abusive fiancé to move to tranquil Rock Harbor where she hopes life will be more peaceful.
But the idyllic town hides more danger and secrets than it first appeared. Dana is continually drawn to her new friend Boone, who has scars inside and out. Then she answers a call at her job only to hear a friend’s desperate screams on the other end. Soon the pain in her past collides with the mysteries of her new home—and threatens to keep her from the future she’s always wanted.
My thoughts: Like many other readers, I loved Ms. Coble’s Rock Harbor series, set in an area of Michigan that I know and love. And although I have never written Ms. Coble asking for more books in the series, I was glad when BENEATH COPPER FALLS came out.
I enjoyed getting to know Dana and Boone. I knew a bit about Dana’s job thanks to my son’s time working for the sheriff department and it was fun learning about Boone and what made him tick.
The suspense – as my daughter said “sounds scary.” I asked if she wanted to read it and she said no, she doesn’t do scary. She punctuated it with a shudder. It wasn’t really all that scary, but as the reader I was kept awake one night trying to figure out who-dun-it and by the time I got up in the morning I had it figured out and then I had to finish the book to see if I was right.
Ms. Coble does an excellent job with the red herrings and I think one has to be more than somewhat familiar with the genre to figure out her who-dun-it before the end, which is good because it will keep readers guessing!
It was also great to revisit Bree, Kade, Adu, Laurie, Mason, and other familiar Rock Harbor characters–not to mention the Search and Rescue dogs.
Great story. There is no faith message and a couple uses of soft swear words for those who are bothered by mild swearing.
