And There He Kept Her: A Novel (Ben Packard, 1)
"Stellar debut." --Minneapolis Star Tribune
"A dark and complex mystery that will consume you." --Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author
They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong.
When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he's been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he'll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.
Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff's deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.
Unrelentingly suspenseful and written with a piercing gaze into the dark depths of the human soul, And There He Kept Her is a thrilling page-turner that introduces readers to a complicated new hero and forces us to consider the true nature of evil.
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Community Reviews
The officer soon assigned to find them is acting sheriff Ben Packard. He just moved to the small town of Sandy Lake running from his past as a officer in a big town. As this small town police procedural takes place soon we learn much more about Ben and his past. One of the strengths of this books is his character development. It is handled so well as he is a take no crap kind of guy. There is one scene where he is interrogating a young crying teenage girl which is almost lol funny.
This book started SLOOOWWWW. In fact after that WTF moment it's almost 50 pages until we find out what happened. But this book soon finds it's pacing as it's expertly paced and written. After that first hump it charges forward relentlessly and I finished it in a day. Definitely some great Alfred Hitchcock scenes where we know what is going on but the characters don't and it's literally so suspenseful to read. There is one part towards the end where I knew what was going to happen and even after it did I still jumped, I think some of the negative reviews are from people giving up so early on the book.
Some Cons: Like mentioned above the characters of Ben Packard (And bad guy Emmet Burr) are expertly written and developed. But as much as they are you can't say the same for the supporting characters. There are several one dimensional characters. Like I think Moehling was trying to make one of the female officers a likable badass but it didn't come across that way? To be fair either Ben Packard or Emmet Burr are in every scene as it's told in third person POV from those two characters. That and the slow start keep it from a perfect rating.
All in all it's a great read although the subject matter is very disturbing and you will be shocked at some of the scenes. But such a great read to have the book take off as the officers and citizens of Sand Lake try and find those two kids. And also kudos for the non cliffhanger / cliffhanger. Joshua Moehling literally spends the last two pages randomly setting up a sequel. Just have a spouse or puppy to hug after reading this one.
Book given free for honest review.
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