My Review - TRAPPED by Irene Hannon

4.5 out of 5 stars

TRAPPED by Irene Hannon is the second installment in the Private Justice series.  And though it didn’t quite make my favorites list (where all of Hannon’s other books are) it was still an enjoyable read full of suspense and angst.

Laura Griffith is beside herself with worry when her sixteen-year-old sister takes off, leaving only a barebones note behind.  Though she and Darcy have had their problems, and becoming guardian of her half-sister has more than disrupted Laura’s simple lifestyle, having her gone is never what Laura wanted.  So she secures the help of private investigator, James (Dev) Devlin.  With her emotions on hyper drive, she finds Dev not only a thorough P.I., who works Darcy’s case with drive and determination, but she also sees him as a caring and attractive man.  But personal feelings must be put on hold so they can both stay objective and get to the bottom of Darcy’s vanishing act.

At first look, Laura’s case seems like a typical runaway scenario.  But, as Dev’s investigation continues he’s convinced Darcy couldn’t have fallen off the grid so easily without help.  It’s that help that concerns Dev most.  Knowing the exploitation of runaways is reaching epidemic proportions, he’s fighting the clock to find any evidence that would lead to Darcy’s whereabouts.  And, the more time he spends with Laura, the more he realizes his feelings for her have crossed over from client to something more personal.  Not wanting to break the rules of his P.I. firm, he tries to keep his feelings in check, but it’s getting harder with each new encounter with Laura.   

VANISHED picks up where TRAPPED left off.  Or should I say with the partners of Phoenix Inc. the P.I. firm that is the backdrop for the Private Justice series.  I love Irene’s books.  Her characters are always stellar and her plots creative.  I just felt VANISHED dragged a little.  There seemed to be some redundancy in a few of the chapters, kind of like the instructions on a shampoo bottle-Lather, rinse, repeat.  I don’t mean to sound derogatory, because again, I love Irene Hannon’s writing.  There just seemed to be a momentum shift that flat-lined towards the end.  But in true Hannon fashion, the final climax’s was page clenching. 

Overall, TRAPPED was very good, with just a slight hesitation towards the end.  I can’t wait for the release of book three in the series, DECEIVED, slated for the Summer of 2014.