Book Review: North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan

Rating: 3.5⭐

It’s been five years since Tony Reed fled Los Angeles leaving behind a life of crime and his association with the Los Angeles McIntyre crime family headed by Boyd McIntyre. Tony was godfather to Boyd’s children – Kristen and her younger brother Ryan who is hearing impaired. When Tony fled five years ago he took the children with him to save them from the life that awaited them under the watchful eye of their paternal grandmother who holds the reins to their criminal enterprise. But Boyd has traced them to the small Montana town they have made a life for themselves as a family and will leave no stone unturned to bring his children back home and exact revenge on Tony.

Escaping Boyd and his goons won’t be easy this time. Boyd has connections and has used his money and connections for information on Tony. When the plane in which Tony, Kristen and Ryan are attempting to leave is shot down and Tony is injured it is up to Kristen and Ryan to tap into the skills Tony has taught them to survive the incoming blizzard and the danger of being found by Boyd and his men who are tracking them. Also tracking theme are Tony’s employer, rancher Nick Lorenzo and his son Jason who is a friend of Kristen’s, who are concerned for the kids and Ruby McIntyre, the kids’ aunt who severed ties with her family and joined the Army years ago and who was contacted by Nick when got wind of what was transpiring.

I loved the premise of North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan and the Montana setting. The plotting was on point and the characters were well drawn. However, the pacing suffers midway into the novel and I felt the journey to the end was a tad long-drawn with several characters who enter the fray. Overall, I enjoyed the dark and suspenseful vibe and especially liked the female characters – the good ones and otherwise - and the moose whose heroics in a crucial moment deserves a special mention! This was my first Allison Brennan novel and I would be interested in reading more of her work.

I paired my reading with the audiobook narrated by Eliza Foss which did enrich the experience though I felt that with so many characters, the audio experience would have been even better with more narrators.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the digital review copy and the ALC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.