It’s the first day of the blog tour for Say Goodbye, which is being published by Headline on 5 August.
So … I started reading this and was a few chapters in and floundering a bit. I loved the premise – I don’t know what it is about cults, but there’s just something about them that I find more than a little intriguing. But I just couldn’t get all the characters straight, and there seemed to be so, so many characters. I was finding it really difficult to figure them all out though. They all seemed to be connected somehow and I felt I was missing the point. It was then that I realised, after doing some nifty research, that this is in fact, the third and final book in a trilogy!! So I was coming in rather late to the party, having not read the first two books!
Anyhow, I persevered, and although I think my enjoyment may have been somewhat muted due to not having the introduction I probably needed, there is no doubt that the book is a good one. Well, it is Karen Rose, after all!
I’m doubtful as to whether this should actually be read as a standalone though. There are a lot of characters, and if you don’t have that initial background it can get confusing. The good news is that it’s a hefty read, so you do have time to figure them all out!
There’s this cult called Eden and very cleverly, over the years, its ‘Elders’ have managed to keep its whereabouts hidden from prying eyes. So, even if they need to move from place to place, they have methods that they use to ensure that nobody from the outside has a clue where they are. This comes in handy when they realise that two of their newer, younger, unhappy members have managed to send out a cry for help. FBI Special Agent Tom Hunter needs to get to them in time, especially as one of them is due to give birth within weeks and Eden’s facilities are primitive to say the least. The young, desperate soon-to-be father who received the SOS from his pregnant girlfriend, just wants her back safe and sound and wants their baby to be born safely. But when they investigate the co-ordinates that were sent to him, Eden has disappeared once again and left no trace!
It’s a race against the clock to find Eden’s hideout, but it’s not that simple. The Elders are restless and their leader, a man known only as ‘Pastor’ doesn’t realise that one of his trusted circle has evil intentions and is keeping secrets from him that could cost Eden its safety and security, things that Pastor values purely for his own selfish reasons.
Tom, together with fellow FBI Special Agent Gideon Hunter (who just happens to be an ex-Eden escapees) and Gideon’s sister Mercy team up with Tom’s long-time friend Liz an ex Army medic, now training to become a nurse. Complicating things even further are Tom and Liz’s feelings towards each other and their inability to express how they feel, even though it’s blatantly clear to absolutely everyone around them! This adds a softer edge to a nail-biting, gut-wrenching story that had me holding my breath most of the time without even realising it!
Karen Rose, never fails to disappoint. Some may say that her books are formulaic but I think that she always manages to add a little bit extra and different to avoid that tedium that might come from something that could be viewed as ‘routine’. There’s always that unexpected flair that’s thrown in, just when you’re thinking that the plot might be plodding along just a little too much, then BAM! Her ability to constantly weave her storylines and characters between books and series both past and present is quite astonishing. And that’s the sign of an author who’s truly gifted at their craft like Karen Rose is, so don’t get too comfortable!!
So … while I do recommend reading the first two books in the Sacramento series before reading this third, final book in the trilogy, I’d say that this one probably wraps things up rather satisfactorily. It’s a 4 star read.
Thank you to Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour. Follow the tour after today to see what other book bloggers are saying about Say Goodbye …
About the author:
Karen Rose was introduced to suspense and horror at the tender age of eight when she accidentally read Poe’s The Pit and The Pendulum and was afraid to go to sleep for years.
She now enjoys writing books that make other people afraid to go to sleep.
Karen lives in Florida with her family, their cat, Bella, and two dogs, Loki and Freya. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, and her new hobby – knitting.
Jan's Book Buzz 
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