Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Down The Broken Road
Rachel Carver #2
BY J. R. Backlund

Crooked Lane
Oct 9, 2018/ ISBN 9781683317401
Thriller

Reviewed by Elise Cooper 

Down The Broken Road by J. R. Backlund brings back Rachel Carver. Readers are treated topuzzling murders to solve, with quite a few suspects to investigate, showing how Rachel is relentless in her quest for the truth.

He thought about, “ideas for the second book, I watched a Netflix documentary, “The Kill Team.” It is about a bunch of soldiers in Afghanistan who killed other soldiers. One of the real-life guys feared for his life after telling the story of how a bunch of guys killed innocent civilians for fun. Anyone is capable of killing. I wrote in this book quote, ‘He had seen the worst of what people could do to one another. Men beheaded, women raped and stoned to death…reprisals and honor killings. His unit had discovered the body of a twelve-year-old girl with no face.” I wanted to write about the barbarism and brutality of life in this country. I know that those who fought there always used the word “savages.’ The locals are stuck in the Middle Ages. American soldiers wonder if they are conspiring with the Taliban. I imagine that is what Vietnam was like.”

The book opens when a police officer finds news reporter Bryce Parker, barely alive, and asking for Rachel Carver. After waking up and able to speak, he talks about Rachel’s previous case, the one where she was right, and everyone else was wrong. She is now a private investigator after leaving the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation and thanks to Parker has a new set of clues to find out the truth about the previous case. Rachel puts herself in harm’s way as she begins to close in on the suspects of the murders while trying to avoid being framed.

Rachel is sharp, smart, tough, methodical, courageous, and dedicated to a fault. She is obsessed with her job and solving the murders at the exclusion of her family, friends, health, and possible boyfriend, Danny Braddock. “She is based on my mom. I started to think of my mom’s demeanor and thought her personality was perfect for Rachel. They are both single-minded on solving problems and follow their own instincts. Rachel is driven and obsessed about her job. I wrote a scene where she is afraid of what will happen as she goes down the investigative hole. She is traumatized from what happened to her, but became stronger and resilient.”

There are enough details in the story to make it suspenseful The characters are well developed with an interesting backstory.


Reviewed 2018
© MyShelf.com