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Rennie Vogel Intrigue #2
Scapegoat
Accountability. Responsibility. When things go wrong, someone has to pay. In this case, that someone is Rennie Vogel.
Hung out to dry for the debacle of the Tajikistan mission, Rennie finds herself on the outside of the system with no hope of return. To make things worse, Hannah Marcus has moved on, seemingly willing to consign their interrupted relationship to the past.
Rennie has never heard of The Foundation, but they have heard of her. A former adversary unexpectedly offers her an opportunity to serve her country in a less-than-legal but honorable undertaking. With rare hope, Rennie tries to make contact with Hannah only to find her new mission is setting them on a collision course—and if they don’t find an elusive homegrown terrorist in time Rennie knows who’ll take the blame. If she lives that long.
In a powerhouse follow-up to her lauded debut Miles to Go, Amy Dawson Robertson delves deeper into the trials of a hero coping with the complicated landscape of guilt, responsibility and honor.
Hung out to dry for the debacle of the Tajikistan mission, Rennie finds herself on the outside of the system with no hope of return. To make things worse, Hannah Marcus has moved on, seemingly willing to consign their interrupted relationship to the past.
Rennie has never heard of The Foundation, but they have heard of her. A former adversary unexpectedly offers her an opportunity to serve her country in a less-than-legal but honorable undertaking. With rare hope, Rennie tries to make contact with Hannah only to find her new mission is setting them on a collision course—and if they don’t find an elusive homegrown terrorist in time Rennie knows who’ll take the blame. If she lives that long.
In a powerhouse follow-up to her lauded debut Miles to Go, Amy Dawson Robertson delves deeper into the trials of a hero coping with the complicated landscape of guilt, responsibility and honor.
302 pages, Paperback
Published December 12, 2011
2 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Amy Dawson Robertson
5 books56 followersAmy Dawson Robertson is a native Virginian and graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis. She lives in the Washington DC are and her writing interests include genre fiction and short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 1, 2018
Great series! Highly recommended to everyone..
December 18, 2019
Just as captivating and engaging as the first book in series. Action filled and I'd say more romance than the first book but still less romance in general if that's what you're looking for
January 11, 2012
Definitely recommended. Scapegoat is a follow up novel to Miles to Go: A Rennie Vogel Intrigue and takes place some time after the events in that novel. Rennie and Hannah are both dealing with the aftermath of the Tajikistan mission ... or not dealing with it. Rennie is basically a mess - relegated to an analyst in Istanbul, she struggles with what happened and her disillusionment with her superiors. Hannah is doing a bit better, but still grappling with finding her place after everything that happened.
It was refreshing to see that there wasn't a pat HEA after the first novel - bad things happened and both Rennie and Hannah are struggling with that - and this gives the reader an even better understanding of both characters.
After hitting bottom, Rennie is recruited to join a mysterious Foundation that seems to have the same ideals and goals she had, but meeting the other members of her newly formed team you have to wonder.
Don't worry, this isn't a maudlin or introspective book - there's plenty of action and intrigue as both Rennie and Hannah are seperately drawn into a rather nasty plot - and Roberston builds a plausible situation as well as ratchets up the suspense so you don't want to put the book down until you find out how it will all end.
Roberston touches on some pretty heavy ideas (and ideologies) around domestic terrorism/militias and presents them in such a way that the you can understand why some of the characters were drawn to those things - it helps that most of these characters were fleshed out and three dimensional rather than complete fanatics.
The book is told through muliple viewpoints to allow the reader a wider scope in what is going on and how everything comes together. If you're reading the epub version, it can be a bit disconcerting as the section breaks between viewpoints didn't make it through the conversion. One of the POVs is the bad guy's ... which is not one of my favourite things. Roberston carries it off well - unfortunately, he was the one character that just didn't really fleshed out as well as the other supporting characters. I still don't know why he did what he did (and he did a lot) but that may be the point ... sometimes there just isn't a good reason.
The set up of the book and the attention Roberston put into the supporting characters makes me think (hope) that there will be more to come in this series. I just hope she writes fast.
It was refreshing to see that there wasn't a pat HEA after the first novel - bad things happened and both Rennie and Hannah are struggling with that - and this gives the reader an even better understanding of both characters.
After hitting bottom, Rennie is recruited to join a mysterious Foundation that seems to have the same ideals and goals she had, but meeting the other members of her newly formed team you have to wonder.
Don't worry, this isn't a maudlin or introspective book - there's plenty of action and intrigue as both Rennie and Hannah are seperately drawn into a rather nasty plot - and Roberston builds a plausible situation as well as ratchets up the suspense so you don't want to put the book down until you find out how it will all end.
Roberston touches on some pretty heavy ideas (and ideologies) around domestic terrorism/militias and presents them in such a way that the you can understand why some of the characters were drawn to those things - it helps that most of these characters were fleshed out and three dimensional rather than complete fanatics.
The book is told through muliple viewpoints to allow the reader a wider scope in what is going on and how everything comes together. If you're reading the epub version, it can be a bit disconcerting as the section breaks between viewpoints didn't make it through the conversion. One of the POVs is the bad guy's ... which is not one of my favourite things. Roberston carries it off well - unfortunately, he was the one character that just didn't really fleshed out as well as the other supporting characters. I still don't know why he did what he did (and he did a lot) but that may be the point ... sometimes there just isn't a good reason.
The set up of the book and the attention Roberston put into the supporting characters makes me think (hope) that there will be more to come in this series. I just hope she writes fast.
July 4, 2013
A great follow-up to Miles to Go. I really hope this is not the end of Rennie Vogel's adventures.
May 3, 2024
3.75 stars.
June 26, 2012
First Line: The rain had been coming down hard for days all over the West Virginia Panhandle.
When a covert government operation goes wrong and becomes fodder for the press, someone's got to take the blame, and with regard to the botched mission in Tajikstan, Rennie Vogel is the chosen scapegoat.
Shuffled off to a dead-end assignment in Turkey, Rennie descends into depression, forgetting to exercise her body and her mind but remembering to drink, smoke, and stay awake through the endless nights agonizing over the rubble that's left of her career. For years, she's wanted a job where she could serve the country she loves, a job where she could truly make a difference. When she's finally forced completely out, she has nothing left. Even Hannah Marcus-- the woman she rescued in Tajikstan and came to care deeply for-- has moved on. The government has forced them to agree never to get in touch with each other.
Hannah Marcus takes a safe job at a newspaper while recovering from her traumatic time as a hostage, but that job soon palls. She, too, wants to make a difference, and she soon learns of a homegrown terrorist group in North Dakota. Hannah quits her job and goes freelance, traveling to North Dakota to uncover everything she can about the group.
In the meantime, one of Rennie's former adversaries offers her a job. She's never heard of The Foundation, but they've heard of her. When asked if she'd be interested in a rather illegal but honorable job, she eventually overcomes her misgivings and agrees to work for the group. She soon finds herself on the way to North Dakota. She and Hannah are set on a collision course with some very dangerous people.
The character of Rennie Vogel fully engages me as a reader, and she often brings out clashing emotions in me. While she wallowed in self-pity long enough for me to want to shake her, I have to admit that the woman has the worst luck with her employment and her personal life. She's cut off from her family-- her mother in particular-- and her wish list is short: (1) to find people who will accept and love her for whom she truly is, and (2) to have work that fulfills her need to serve her country and to do good. She's really not cut out for government work; she is too moral for that line of business. To Rennie Vogel, collateral damage is not acceptable-- "People aren't peripheral." (It's a sad state of the world's affairs when hearing someone say this is so refreshing.)
Although the action took a while to get started, once it did things moved quickly, and Robertson had more than one surprise in store for me toward book's end. The author does an excellent job of portraying a very strong yet conflicted character. Rennie Vogel is the type of character who can (and hopefully shall) go far in a series.
When a covert government operation goes wrong and becomes fodder for the press, someone's got to take the blame, and with regard to the botched mission in Tajikstan, Rennie Vogel is the chosen scapegoat.
Shuffled off to a dead-end assignment in Turkey, Rennie descends into depression, forgetting to exercise her body and her mind but remembering to drink, smoke, and stay awake through the endless nights agonizing over the rubble that's left of her career. For years, she's wanted a job where she could serve the country she loves, a job where she could truly make a difference. When she's finally forced completely out, she has nothing left. Even Hannah Marcus-- the woman she rescued in Tajikstan and came to care deeply for-- has moved on. The government has forced them to agree never to get in touch with each other.
Hannah Marcus takes a safe job at a newspaper while recovering from her traumatic time as a hostage, but that job soon palls. She, too, wants to make a difference, and she soon learns of a homegrown terrorist group in North Dakota. Hannah quits her job and goes freelance, traveling to North Dakota to uncover everything she can about the group.
In the meantime, one of Rennie's former adversaries offers her a job. She's never heard of The Foundation, but they've heard of her. When asked if she'd be interested in a rather illegal but honorable job, she eventually overcomes her misgivings and agrees to work for the group. She soon finds herself on the way to North Dakota. She and Hannah are set on a collision course with some very dangerous people.
The character of Rennie Vogel fully engages me as a reader, and she often brings out clashing emotions in me. While she wallowed in self-pity long enough for me to want to shake her, I have to admit that the woman has the worst luck with her employment and her personal life. She's cut off from her family-- her mother in particular-- and her wish list is short: (1) to find people who will accept and love her for whom she truly is, and (2) to have work that fulfills her need to serve her country and to do good. She's really not cut out for government work; she is too moral for that line of business. To Rennie Vogel, collateral damage is not acceptable-- "People aren't peripheral." (It's a sad state of the world's affairs when hearing someone say this is so refreshing.)
Although the action took a while to get started, once it did things moved quickly, and Robertson had more than one surprise in store for me toward book's end. The author does an excellent job of portraying a very strong yet conflicted character. Rennie Vogel is the type of character who can (and hopefully shall) go far in a series.
January 9, 2015
Enjoyable and engaging follow-up to miles to go. Story does not disappoint.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews