Book Review: Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea


My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐

In 2001, two months before the 9/11 attacks, well-known author Cameron Young is found dead in his home in the Catskill Mountains, and all evidence point to his being murdered by his mistress, Victoria Ford. However, before the case could be tried in court, 9/11 happened and Victoria was one of the many who were inside the Twin Towers on the day of the attacks when the buildings went down. The Cameron Young murder case was abandoned but never formally closed.

Twenty years later: As the efforts to identify the victims of the attack from the remains collected from the rubble of the buildings continue, DNA testing of bone fragments collected from the site of the attack confirms Victoria as one of the many who perished on 9/11. Thirty two –year old Avery Mason, anchor of a popular television show finds an interesting subject in Victoria for her segment on true crime and unsolved cases and travels to New York for further research. She meets with Victoria’s sister Emma who saved Victoria's final voice message, sent while Victoria was still trapped in the collapsing building, claiming that she was innocent. Victoria embarks on a deep search for details on Victoria’s life and the case and in the process meets up with Victoria's attorney Roman Manchester, her best friend Natalie Ratcliffe who is a best-selling author and Walt Jenkins, a retired (forcibly) FBI Agent who was employed by the New York State Bureau of Criminal Investigation at the time of the murder and was heading the Cameron Young murder investigation. As Walt and Avery dig deep into the case files and study the evidence, they discover discrepancies that were previously overlooked. Was Victoria guilty of Cameron’s murder or had she been framed? Avery is driven and ambitious and aware that Victoria’s story would be a great boost for her career but it is also apparent that Avery’s trip to New York is not just for work and she too has a hidden agenda. Jenkins assists her by sharing details about Victoria’s case but unbeknownst to Avery he was recently brought back into the FBI and is assigned to investigate Avery and her movements in New York on account of Avery’s past – a past that Avery has taken pains to hide even changing her name to hide her true identity so that people could not make the connection to events in her past. Why is the FBI keeping tabs on Avery? Will Jenkins uncover the truth behind Avery’s true motives for coming to New York?

Charlie Donlea’s Twenty Years Later is a well-paced, gripping thriller that kept me hooked till the very last page. There are multiple threads to the story but the author does a great job of keeping the chapters short, the narrative moving and bringing it all together. There is a bit of repetition but not so much that you would lose interest. Of all the sub-plots I found Walt Jenkin’s backstory and reasons for being forced out of the FBI to be the weakest. The romantic angle also felt a bit forced and was unnecessary. The details of the forensic techniques involved in determining the identity of 9/11 victims were very informative. The story is full of twists and turns, a few of which did not surprise me but some I simply did not see coming! The final twist was brilliant and overall, I enjoyed the novel. This was my first book by Charlie Donlea and I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.

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