Rhys Kinnick has been leading a relatively isolated life for seven years. Back then, he lost his job as a journalist, was dumped by his girlfriend, and at a Thanksgiving dinner at his daughter’s house, got into such a big dispute with his ultra-religious, conspiracy theorist son-in-law that Bethany said she never wanted to see him again. At that point, he decided the world had no more use for him, so he moved to his grandfather’s off-the-grid shack in Eastern Washington.
But now, he finds three people on his front porch. Anna Gaines, Bethany’s neighbor from Spokane, has brought him his grandchildren—14-year-old Leah and 7-year-old Asher. Apparently, Bethany left home for somewhere unspecified, leaving instructions with Anna that if her husband, Shane, left to try to find her, she should bring the kids to her father.
Given their rocky relationship, Rhys is surprised. He has only seen his daughter and her kids once since their falling out, during Covid, when Bethany came to visit for a few minutes.
Asher is worried about missing a chess tournament, so Rhys drives the kids into Spokane, where they find out they got the date wrong. But two big thugs appear, saying that Shane has asked them to pick up the kids and bring them back. Rhys has already learned that there is a plan in Shane’s religious group to betroth 14-year-old Leah to the pastor’s son, so he is reluctant to agree. When he tries to come along or get them to agree to call Shane, one of the men hits him in the head with a black jack.
Rhys is now determined to get the kids back, because Bethany entrusted them to him. His ex-girlfriend Lucy hooks him up with ex-cop turned P. I., Chuck Littlefield, who traces them to the Rampart, a religious compound in Northern Idaho. Rhys and Chuck set off to bring them back.
This description makes the novel sound like a thriller, but although it certainly is full of action, it’s really about Rhys trying to pull his life together and recognize his responsibilities to his family. It is also about the dangers of extremist thinking, which really strikes a chord within me these days.
I see that Walter has written quite a few more books than I have read. I need to catch up, because I always enjoy his books, and the three I’ve read have all been completely different from each other.
What? Me Read? 
I haven’t come across this author – sounds interesting, though we’re all dealing with so much extremism of different kinds at the moment it might be ‘triggering’!
I don’t think so. They’re just villains. He wrote the book Beautiful Ruins years ago that was extremely popular, a romance, sort of, and then he wrote a good historical novel called Cold Millions. I haven’t read any of his others yet.
Hmm, looking at the blurb for Cold Millions, I think that appeals even more than this one. One for the wishlist!
Good!
I’m not a romance reader so I resisted reading it for a long time, but it has more going on in it that just that.