In a suspense novel of astounding power and depth, Jodi Compton unleashes a haunting tale of secrets and betrayal...and of one woman's search for her missing husband that spirals into a dark journey strewn with bitter truths and damged lives. Here debut novelist Compton introduces an extraordinary character: Detective Sarah Pribek, a woman of strength, complexity, and instinct, a woman caught in an unimaginable nightmare...
The 37th Hour
On a chilly Minnesota morning, Sarah comes home to the house she shares with her husband and fellow cop, Michael Shiloh. Shiloh was supposed to be in Virginia, starting his training with the FBI. A seasoned missing-persons investigator, Sarah is used to anxious calls from wives and parents. She's used to the innocent explanations that resolve so many of her cases. But from the moment she learns that he never arrived at Quantico, she feels a terrible foreboding. Now, beneath the bed in which they make love, Sarah finds Shiloh's neatly packed bag. And in that instant the cop in her knows: Her husband has disappeared.
Suddenly Sarah finds herself at the beginning of the kind of investigation she has made so often. The kind that she and her ex-partner, Genevieve, solved routinely -- until a brutal crime stole Genevieve's daughter and ended her career. The kind that pries open family secrets and hidden lives. For Sarah this investigation will mean going back to the beginning, to Shiloh's religion-steeped childhood in Utah, the rift that separated him from his family -- and the one horrifying case that struck them both too close to home. As Sarah turns over more and more unknown ground in her husband's past, she sees her lover and friend change into a stranger before her eyes. And as she moves further down a trail of shocking surprises and bitter revelations, Sarah is about to discover that her worst fear -- that Shiloh is dead -- may be less painful than what she will learn next...
In a novel of runaway tension, Jodi Compton masterfully weaves together the quiet details of everyday life with the moments that can shatter them forever. At once a beguiling mystery and a powerful rumination on family, friendship, and loss, The 37th Hour is a thriller that will catch you off guard at every turn -- instantly compelling and utterly impossible to put down.
Jodi Compton is the author of the Sarah Pribek trilogy -- The 37th Hour, Sympathy Between Humans and Redball -- about a Minneapolis missing-persons detective, set in the early 2000s. Jodi's other two novels, Hailey's War and Thieves Get Rich, Saints Get Shot, revolve around a younger independent investigator, Hailey Cain. Jodi currently lives in Bend, Oregon.
You think by the title of this book that its all the meat of it will take place in an hour.. the 37th hour. It was all in the time period of 6 days. Almost leisurely investigating which in this case wouldnt be plausable seeing as how it is her husband who is missing. I did like a lot of the way she wrote things and the words she used to describe things.. and they say that when tramatic things are happening in your life things that happened not too long ago seem like a century ago.. well Compton did a wonderful job at writing that feeling.. the beginning of the book almost seemed like it wasnt part if the book, like it was a prequel. this book was an easy read and not as dark as you expect it to be.. i did not feel that anxious feeling i get when i read other missing persons books. that feeling where things need to be done quicker before something happens to them. i didnt get that suspense. Over all this book was less of a mystery or missing person book than it was just about how she met this guy and his and her life up until then. it was more of a quest to learn more about this man who was a independant type than it was a quest to find where he is. I was disappointed. But it wasnt without entertainment. i liked reading it, its just not the kind of book it says it is.
Recently promoted Detective Sara Pribeck is also a new wife. While she’s known her husband Shiloh for five years, what she doesn’t know about him probably exceeds what she does. Their marriage is only two months old when he disappears, after having encouraged her to make an overnight visit to her traumatized partner, Gen.
Naturally, Sara sets out to find her husband, and she hasn’t many clues to follow. Bit by bit, it becomes evident that the murder of partner Gen’s teenaged daughter, which happened in the recent past, is somehow connected to what happened to Shiloh.
The 37th Hour gets off to a strong, promising start, but fails to fulfill that promise with a slow middle and a weak, rather rushed conclusion. Threads raising questions about relationships, morals, revenge, and forgiveness wind up muddled and unresolved, and the book’s final chapter leaves the reader hanging. A sequel seems likely, but author Compton would do well to strengthen her plotting skills before publishing again.
Superb mystery. Jodi Compton is a brilliant writer. But if you're looking for a wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am, this is probably not your book. Compton takes time building characters, relationships, and a convincing world rich with realism. I took my own time with it, reading it in paperback on the "screen-free Sundays" we have in our family. I could always remember where I was, which is the mark of a good writer, I think: everything was painted so clearly and believably that I had no trouble picking up the thread each week. Then, while on vacation, I read the final act over a couple of days.
Compton's MC, Sarah Pribek, is married to Mike Shiloh. Both are cops - Pribek a missing person's detective for the county, Shiloh a vice narcotics guy. But Shiloh wants to be an FBI agent and so, just two months after they've married, Shiloh is headed to Quantico for FBI training. Only, he never arrives. And now Pribek takes it upon herself to find him.
The one thing I wondered: since Pribek is on leave and not officially investigating, where are the official investigators? It's possible they might've been mentioned, and I forgot. But in a story with such verisimilitude, maybe there could have been a little more?
Otherwise, I had no problems with this book and loved how it included scenes of Sarah on other investigations, the whole subplot with her former partner, the details of her relationship with Shiloh, how they met, got involved, and how they cook a meal together.
This is a true novel, more literary than "thriller," with each moment somewhere I wanted to be. I recommend it.
Sarah Pribek Shiloh investigates missing persons, and is recently married to fellow detective, Michael Shiloh. Sarah discovers that Michael is missing when he finds clues that led her to suspect he never made to the the FBI training facility in Quantico, VA. At the same time Sarah's work partner is on leave after her daughter was brutally murdered. Thow in the fact that Sarah actually knows very little about her new husband and finds the police not too anxious to look for a man who might have left on his own. Sarah decides she has to investigate on her own, the clock is ticking, hence the title The 37th Hour. Along the way, Sarah learns more about her husband and makes some decisions that she didn't see coming and will effect everything. I feel this book could have been so much more. There were several side stories that everytime you got involved with that aspect of the book, you were pulled back to Sarah's missing husband and his problems. Seems everyone in the book was troubled.
Sarah Pribek specializes in missing person cases, which theoretically should come in handy when she realizes her husband has disappeared somewhere between home and Quantico, where he was meant to begin training for the FBI. It's only as she begins searching for him that she realizes just how little she has to go on. Mike Shiloh is a private man, they've only been married for two months, and she knows very little about his past that could offer up any clues.
While this book had a lot of potential and a few interesting characters, I felt the author spent too much time detailing out past events. I found myself skimming over entire italicized sections of 'memory' just to get back to the main plot, while recognizing that somehow everything I was being told would end up related or important. That in and of itself was something of a disappointment, because it took away some of the dimension of the book. Also, while I recognize that neither Pribek nor her husband were 'sentimental' types, I sometimes felt like her husband almost wasn't worth looking for considering how flat and emotionless he seemed.
And, finally, as many have said before, the ending wasn't all that great. For me, it wasn't the resolution so much as the details about Shiloh's past that feel heavy-handed and unnecessary. They do not effect the main story, but somehow manage to cast a shadow over the writing for being so over the top.
This book is a fun read if you're just looking for something to pass the time, but there are other mystery books I would recommend before it.
Starts out as a case of a missing husband (who's a competent cop.)
The ending bummed me out -- not only does the woman cop who's central seem like she's going to get indicted/convicted/sentenced.
But the final events leading to that outcome were plain crazy.
Why would her cop husband, who is good enough to get accepted to the FBI academy, just go off the deep end and kill the guy who killed the wife's cop partner's daughter. (partner is another woman.) This ruins his own career, guarantees he and his wife can't be together.
Also turns out the husband committed incest w. a sister - in their younger days, and then just a few years back -- all unknown to the wife, until she starts hunting for the husband, and unravels his mysterious past.
Then the wife cop goes out w. her cop partner (who's on extended bereavement leave after daughter's rape/murder) and ends up being accessory to the perp's murder. Partner goes free (skips to Europe) while wife cop knows, at end, she's going down.
Again, I liked the characters. But I don't think the author did -- or she wouldn't have wasted them on such an implausible story.
I was right with my guess as to what would happen but I had to read 90% of the book first. The only reason I read this was to see how far off the mark I was with my initial guess. Well it turns out I wasn't very far off but there was a twist I hadn't anticipated, well not for more than a brief thought. it was mildly interesting. I think this probably needed better editing and polishing. The idea was fairly good and the author wrote a hell of lot better than I expected after reading her acknowledgements at the beginning - "...Lastly, I wish to thank my father for .....: my sister, whose opinion I seek first on story and character:and a teacher who learned me and a lot of other kids how to read."
Learned me? Really? The first time I read that, I very nearly threw the book in the rubbish but I couldn't bring myself to do that to a book, that would be sacrilege! (The book had been given to me, I didn't buy it or borrow it!) I only started reading this as a light intermission between the fantasy books I'm reading such a lot of - just every now and then I like to ring the changes a little - and it was the only non fantasy I had at the time. This really isn't to my taste and I doubt I'd read this author again.
Sarah Pribeck Shiloh is a cop who finds missing persons. Then her husband, Mike Shiloh, goes missing, and, while she is aware she knows very little about him, she has no idea to what extent. It a relief to have the title to rely on, to know he would be found, but the totality of her lack of knowledge was a little unbelievable after five years of dating him -- even after only two months of marriage.
Step by step, tho she was from time to time immobilized with grief, Sarah learns about his last days and about him, from family that he's shut out of their / his life, and why. In the meantime, she has an issue of her own: Genevieve, her former partner, has a daughter who was killed and tho she and Genevieve know Shorty killed her, they can't prove it. It develops that husband Shiloh had a sudden clue . . .
I found it strange that the FBI would accept him without checking on his background, but that wouldn't have made this story.
A little ho-hum, I'm actually surprised that I finished this book. I think it was the fact that no one knew where Shiloh was and I really had to know. But to me, there was no climax. There was no "aha" moment. It was just a story where characters walked in and out and really made no great impression on me. I see Jodi Compton has written some other books since this one. I don't think I'll be picking any of them up, unless I'm looking to fill book count and I get it cheap/free. There are much better thriller/mysteries out there and I'd advise you to give it a miss if you are looking for something you'll enjoy.
This was a fairly simple "who done it", but it was written well enough to keep my attention and keep me reading to see where it would end up. This is the first book for this author and I would definitely recommend it as entertainment reading.
i liked the book for the first part due to the fact that it was full of suspance for the searching of the missing cop, although the end was really weird and not what i expected.
Yeah this just wasn't it for me. I picked up this book without knowing too much about it. (My first mistake) and the main reason I chose this one was because I loved the cover and title (My second mistake) So I thought the iffy description was worth it (And finally my third mistake) I had never read a detective mystery so I wanted to give it a shot. I picked this one up right before quarantine began as a way to pass the time, and even with no where to go and nothing to do, I took forever to finish. Pros: I liked Shiloh, the husband who goes missing. I found him to be interesting, not a cookie cutter or copy and paste type of character. I also liked seeing him, a rather unlikable character according to the other characters in the book as well as the narrative, through his loving wife's eyes. Nice perspective. Cons: Everything else. It was boring. All her trails went cold pretty much. Absolutely zero "Aha!" moments. I never felt like I was going along, figuring things out with her. And the end?? SHE DIDN'T EVEN SOLVE THE MYSTERY. He just returns out of the blue with answers. Not to mention the connection she did make, made no sense to me. How did she put two and two together? There were basically no clues linking Shiloh to whatever that criminal's name was, no regular human would've figured that out. And that kiss at the very end? Maybe this is just way too out of my realm, but yikes, for a horror, fantasy, scifi reader looking to explore mystery I have been let down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I struggled through this book a little. It did pick up about 3/4 of the way through. Sarah is a detective, her husband Mike Shiloh is going to Quantico to join the FBI. Her partner is on leave after her daughter was raped and beaten and died on the way to the hospital. Her killer got off on a technicality and her partner can't deal with it. When Sarah realizes Shiloh never made it to Quantico and is actually missing, she starts looking into his family. The ending revealed Shiloh tried to run over the killer of her partner's daughter but couldn't. He crashed and wandered through the woods for days. He admitted to stealing the car and must serve 24 months in jail and will never be a policeman again. The killer is dead by Sarah and her partner's hand. It is being investigated at the end, but her partner is leaving for Paris which will leave Sarah alone to face the music.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The story follows the disappearance of Sarah Prinek’s husband, fellow cop Michael Shiloh, who vanishes just as he is about to start a new job with the FBI. As Sarah embarks on a frantic search for him, the narrative delves into Shiloh’s past, leading Sarah to uncover the truth.
My thoughts:
The author’s ability to maintain tension and suspense throughout the novel is commendable, making it an engaging read. The epilogue had an intriguing cliffhanger, suggesting that a sequel is likely.
The introductory story was a great start to the novel, but later I wondered about its significance to the overall plot. Additionally, there was a lot of meaningless information that detracted from the storyline.
The plot was somewhat unbelievable. A cop who was accepted into the FBI academy destroyed his career and marriage to avenge a fellow cop’s daughter’s murder? 🙄
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Reasonable thriller which although it held my interest I didn't find particularly gripping. The story covers the disappearance of Detective Sarah Pribek's husband Mike Shiloh with "flashbacks" to the murder of Kamareia the daughter of Sarah's ex-partner Genevieve (work partner that is!). Shiloh is a loner & Sarah finds she didn't know her husband as well as she thought.... I can't say I cared enough about the characters to empathise with them.
This was an enjoyable fast moving novel set in the twin cities. It is about two female cops after the violent rape and death of Kamariera Genevieve's daughter. Her killer got off on a technicality . Genevieve of off on a long term leave. All of a sudden her work partners husband vanishes with no trace. Neither of the officers are actively searching revenge on Kamarieras killer but a series of events add up to make a very startling ending.
Not bad. Interesting, different. I read another review that said there were a lot of other storylines introduced that didn't have anything to do with the plot line. It's true, there are. But I didn't find it too distracting, although I did skim through some parts, and skipped some paragraphs completely. The end was predictable enough, but there was a part of it I didn't want to be right about. I don't know if that counts as a spoiler, but I'll hide the review anyway.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Started out so well, kept my interest. Then, not so much. This is the first of three novels (2003, 2005, 2021) with the character Sarah Pribek (I found character names to be quite confusing to "pronounce" in my head).
I like my protagonists to remain protagonists, not cross the line into the "bad guys." I expect my fictional law enforcement to be honest, or at least to have learned a lesson at the end. Sarah isn't honest, and she didn't learn any lessons.
Me ha gustado, pero cometí el error de leerme indicio de culpa (el segundo libro de Sarah Pribek) antes que este, ya que me lo compré en una librería de segunda mano y no me di cuenta. En sí el libro está muy bien pero siento que no lo he disfrutado tanto porque sabía cómo iba a terminar y sabia el final (porque es el principio del segundo libro), aún así me parece que es muy buen libro y me encantaría que el tercero se tradujese al español para poder leerlo. Recomendado (⭐⭐⭐✨)
Not so much suspense for me, but really unusual story, with some unpleasant family relationships on both sides.
I may try to read the second book before I decide whether I want to follow this sheriff's investigator character. It would be interesting to see if there is resolution from the end of this author's debut book.
I really liked it for about 1/2 of it. When I read a mystery I like to have some clues of some kind and there were none. Also, even though her husband was missing she even commented on the fact that he was in trouble. She couldn't have know that. By the time I read at the end what had been going on and why and did not like it!
Convoluted plot about partner whose daughter is killed and “opts out” and hubby Shiloh (who gets into the FBI but goes missing on his way to training). Lots of backtracking into Shiloh’s past – does she really know the man she married? – including his deaf sister who is a poet. Would only read if I had nothing else.
I have read Sympathy Between Humans and The 37th Hour. Jodi Compton is one of the best crime/mystery writers I have read. I look forward to reading all future novels by Jodi Compton. She’s absolutely brilliant!
This book presents itself as a crime procedural but it isn't really. It's a psychological character study drama, and a good one! With an ending I never thought never could have expected. The pacing however is sluggish at time and the last few pages are really confusing.
Writing was easy but the book wasn’t what I thought it would be. It followed the detectives search in figuring out her husbands past to find him in the present. Super weird epilogue (idk if they were talking about incest or what). Not really a crime book, more about Shilohs younger life
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Predictable. Written more like a British novel than American English. First time reading this author. I’d read the Sarah Priebek series again since this was the authors first novel I’d like to see how she’s evolved since then.