I have to admit, I hadn’t read any novels of the bestselling author Iris Johansen before. Her well-known forensic character, Eve Duncan, just hadn’t come my way. I read two book jackets by her and bought them both not knowing even where they fell in line with other books surrounding her recurring characters.
I chose to read her book, Eight Days to Live (came out in 2010) purely on the premise that the character in this book (which happened to be the adopted daughter of Eve Duncan) was an artist who gets embroiled in a mystery of monumental proportions. Eight Days to Live was definitely a book I couldn’t put down and read through it quickly because of that. It was very suspenseful~full of intrigue, thrilling villains, heroes, paranormal and romance all rolled into one!
When Jane, the main character for this particular novel, is pinpointed by vicious killers to die on April 1 (8 days from the start of the book), she didn’t know why. All she realized was that she had painted a portrait of a man she saw in a dream and then named it Guilt. When she has a gallery debut, an unknown business man makes an absurd monetary offer on it and the same night the gallery owner, and her friend, is violently murdered.
As powerful men start killing those around her and come after her, she starts on a mission to find out why. She even pulls in Caleb, a “hunter” that Eve had used on a previous forensic case to find a serial killer. His known tracking instincts prove helpful, as well as his paranormal gift of being able to mentally penetrate the minds of others to get them to do exactly what he wants them to do. However, with his power comes a real desire to hunt to kill bad men and this scares all that are around him. Even with knowing this, Jane feels connected to him somehow and ultimately he helps her to see that her dreams are visions of the past. He helps her to embrace this side of her and even assists in her dream states when they are needed to find out further information. The subtle dance of romance between them in the book is very intriguing.
As Jane, Caleb, and team pursue these powerful men closer, they uncover a type of religious cult worshiping one of the most well-known betrayers in history. The mystery surrounding the cult and Jane’s dreams are thrilling and suspenseful. This is definitely a plot you won’t want to miss. This book is for anyone loving historical fiction, secret society mysteries, paranormal gifts, action and suspense!
To learn about the book, or more on Iris Johansen, go to www.irisjohansen.com where book excerpts are available.
HOOK of a BOOK! 