Book Review: No One Left to Tell by Karen Rose

Title: No One Left to Tell (Amazon)
Author: Karen Rose
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Source: review copy from Sophia for a guest review
Published: June 2012 by Signet

A minivan crashes in front of rookie PI Paige Holden's home. And suddenly she finds one of her pro bono clients dying in her arms - from a gunshot wound. With her last breath, the woman whispers cryptic words into Paige's ear and hands her a blood-smeared flash drive.

Five years earlier, State's Attorney Grayson Smith put a murderer behind bars. But when Paige shares the flash drive with him, its contents cast dounts on the conviction - and lead Paige and him into a world of blackmail, dark secrets, and a decades-long string of murders. An investigation they'll survive only by trusting each other - and the truth.

Why I Read this Book: When Sophia asked if I would be interested in reading No One Left to Tell and doing a guest review on Fiction Vixen Book Reviews, I didn’t even have to read the blurb; I was all over this one. Granted, I had only read one lonely title by this author previously but You Belong to Me (my review) was so damn near perfection, I’ve been wanting to read more by Karen Rose.

What I Liked: No One Left to Tell is told in 3rd person narrative from multiple POV’s, including the antagonist’s. I like this type of narrative because it gives me a deeper look into the characters and the author does so in a way that doesn’t give too much away.

There were a lot of characters to keep tabs on but the author does a wonderful job at giving just enough background and information on them to make them three-dimensional. I was glad to see that Stevie was back and I really hope she gets her own book (and HEA) soon. There was a love interest for Stevie that was hinted at in No One Left to Tell and that gives me hope that the next book, Did You Miss Me?, will be Stevie’s.

I love how the author gives the reader the suspense and mystery one piece at a time. When Adele’s character was first mentioned, I thought what does she have to do with anything? and I thought that for quite a while. But au contraire, the author doesn’t add anything to the storyline without purpose.

There was a good blend of romance, mystery, and suspense. While there was a case to solve, Grayson and Paige had desires that needed to be meet. Which may or may not have happened on a dining table. And even though the novel spans over the course of only 5 days, the pacing of Grayson and Paige’s romance is reasonable and believable, considering the circumstances.

Speaking of the novel’s time frame, at the beginning of each scene the author provides the date and time. This is both a blessing and a curse. The former in that it really did help me mentally visualize the time line of events. There was a lot going on so that time stamp helped piece it together. The latter because I kept flipping back and forth to see what the previous time stamp was.

What I Didn’t Like: My one, and only, gripe with this novel is what Elena did in order to get the evidence she needed to help free her wrongly accused husband – she slept with the enemy. It downplayed her love and devotion to her husband and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Memorable Moments:

“What else is in that backpack?”

“Magnifying glass, safety flares, dog treats. My laptop and my Wi-Fi modem. Extra ammo. Makeup. Rope. Flashlight. Trail mix and a bottle of water. Nunchucks. A Swiss Army knife. And an Ellery Queen novel. You know, tools of the trade.”

“Just don’t mix up the trail mix with the dog treats.”

“I did once. Dark alley surveillance, couldn’t risk a light. Dog treat wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

He winced. “That’s just gross, Paige.”

 

“If we weren’t on a busy street, I would have you up against the car,” he said, his voice low and rough, and he watched her swallow.

Overall Impression: No One Left to Tell kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading. Karen Rose is proficient in the craft of creating a multi-layered romantic suspense novel. The author is a master of this genre and I totally feel comfortable saying that even though I’ve only read two of her novels so far. That’s how much confidence her writing has instilled in me as a reader.

Just to note, No One Left to Tell isn’t part of a series per se; it’s more of a string of books where the characters overlap from one book to another. So this book can definitely be read as a stand alone.

Brianna’s Rating:

 

*This review was originally posted on Fiction Vixen Book Reviews as a guest review.