Publisher: Penguin Intermix
Publish Date: Out Now
How we got this book: eARC from NetGalley
From the #1 international bestselling author of Watch Your Back comes a suspenseful new novella featuring Assistant State’s Attorney Daphne Montgomery and Baltimore Special Agent Joseph Carter.
After a traumatic kidnapping, Daphne’s boss insists that she take time off. But she refuses to sit on the sidelines when she meets a six-year-old girl who the police call Angel. Angel hasn’t spoken a word since they found her four days ago next to a burned out car, frozen with shock, not far from the bodies of two adults who may or may not have been her parents.
Joseph knows that helping Angel is exactly what Daphne needs right now. But when Daphne gets Angel to talk, a mysterious and chilling crime begins to unravel—one that drives Daphne into the darkest corners of her past as she and Joseph track a ruthless killer.
*Blurb from Goodreads*
MinnChica: I’ve read the last few Rose books, and found that she was easily a new favorite for romantic suspense. Her books are like an intense murder mystery with a heavy dose of romance, character development, and creepy villains. When I saw she was continuing the story of Daphne and Joseph, I couldn’t wait to find out how Daphne was doing after the total emotional destruction of the last case she worked. It was such a treat to not only see her move on emotionally, but also get to see Joseph working a case. *sigh* I love these two! This was a super short novella (only about 50 pages or so), and to me read more like an extended epilogue, with a little extra suspense kick.
MiscJoy: I would add that if you haven’t yet read Did You Miss Me? (Baltimore Series #3), and think you might like to, then do that before reading this novella. As MinnChica said, this short novella seems more like an extended epilogue to that story. It’s not necessary to have read the previous book in order to appreciate this novella. However, this novella does allude to some of the details and ultimate resolutions of the previous book which I think would spoil a bit of the tension and suspense. Having not read the previous book myself, I kinda wish I’d known that — so I’m just passing that along. Really, I picked up Broken Silence because I wanted an introduction into Karen Rose’s writing. I enjoy Romantic Suspense and had heard good things about her work. From that perspective, this novella did the trick. I’m looking forward to reading more from Rose in the future.
MinnChica: Although this read as an extension of the previous book, I have to say that Rose did an amazing job with putting a smaller suspense story within this novella. I loved that Daphne had to deal with a situation that reminded her so much of her own childhood trauma, and that she was given the chance to use her ranch and love of horses to get a little girl to open up and tell the FBI exactly what happened. Although Rose is known for her intricate plot threads, I liked that this suspense was a small scale case, that it was a fairly easy open and shut situation that they were able to resolve in under 50 pages. It made the resolution to Daphne’s story that much more enjoyable.
MiscJoy: I really enjoyed the equine therapy part, as well. I liked Rose’s storytelling approach. I experienced each aspect of the case, layer by layer, getting deeper as each new piece of information was revealed. Granted the plot was straight-forward, but that’s a good thing in this case. The story found a nice balance between incorporating the everyday lives of the characters, their emotions and experiences and blended all that with the present-day case they were actively working on. Rose did an awesome job of connecting me to the characters in very short order. Considering the short length of this novella, and that I haven’t read the previous stories, that was no small feat. I was surprised at how complete this story felt.
MinnChica: All in all I thought this was a wonderful short little story from Rose. It had everything I’d come to love from her full length novels. The mystery and suspense was spot on in what I was expecting. Getting to see more of Daphne and Joseph as they moved on to the next chapter was such a special treat. I’m even more excited to see what Rose has in store for us next!
I give Broken Silence a B.
MiscJoy: I agree! A well-done short story that, in my case, gave me a good introduction into Rose’s work and I will be picking up more of her books in future. If she can write this tight of a story in 50 pages, I’m excited to read her more intricately plotted full-length novels.
I give Broken Silence a B.
Nice review ladies, thank you. I will pass it on to my best friend.
I’m still waiting for Stevie and Clay’s book.
@xaurianx: I hope she likes it!
@Jane: ME TOO!!!!!