Title: What Doesn’t Kill Her by Christina Dodd
Cape Charade Series Book Two
Publisher: HQN Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 400 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
One secret, one nightmare, one lie. You guess which is which.
1. I have the scar of a gunshot on my forehead.
2. I have willfully misrepresented my identity to the US military.
3. I’m the new mother of a seven-year-old girl.
Kellen Adams suffers from a yearlong gap in her memory. A bullet to the brain will cause that. But she’s discovering the truth, and what she learns changes her life, her confidence, her very self. She finds herself in the wilderness, on the run, unprepared, her enemies unknown–and she is carrying a priceless burden she must protect at all costs. The consequences of failure would break her. And Kellen Adams does not break.
What doesn’t kill her…had better start running.
Review:
What Doesn’t Kill Her by Christina Dodd is a riveting, fast-paced mystery. This second installment in the Cape Charade series can be read as a standalone, but reading book one provides important background information.
Kellen Adams is trying settle into her new life at the vineyard owned by her former boyfriend Max De Luca. She is maintaining her emotional distance from Max and seven year old Rae when she accepts a job from Nils Brooks. While taking a priceless antiquity to a reclusive expert in the wilderness, Kellen must avoid two sets of hired guns who are threatening her while also keeping someone dear to her safe. When Max discovers the truth about Kellen’s latest task, will he find her before it is too late?
Kellen continues to experience difficulty settling into her new post-military life and she is uncomfortable living with Max, Rae and Max’s mother Verona. She very eagerly accepts Nils’ job but it does not take long for her to realize he didn’t tell her the complete truth about her assignment. A shocking discovery ups the ante as she dodges numerous assassins whom Kellen quickly deduces are actually two separate groups of people who are after her. She quickly surmises one faction is planning to steal the artifact she is transporting. But Kellen is at a loss to understand why she is being targeted by the other set of men who seemingly have a much more nefarious plan as they stalk her through the backwoods.
Max is losing hope that Kellen will be receptive to resuming their relationship. He is also frustrated by her continued efforts to hold Rae at arm’s length. Fed up with Kellen’s evasive maneuvers to avoid spending time with Rae, Max pushes her to work with Nils. Will Max finally break through Kellen’s formidable defenses and convince her to give him and Rae a chance?
With plenty of action, What Doesn’t Kill Her is a suspenseful mystery that is impossible to put down. Kellen continues to grow and evolve as she admits her fears and lets down her emotional walls. Max is a little too good to be true but this does not lessen his appeal. Rae is a precocious little girl who steals every scene she stars in. Christina Dodd does an outstanding job keeping the identity of the person who is after Kellen and why tightly under wraps until an adrenaline laced showdown between Kellen and the perpetrator. The cliffhanger conclusion will leave readers anxiously awaiting the next installment in the Cape Charade series.
