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Ransom River
A stunningly complex and atmospheric crime novel from Edgar Award–winning author Meg Gardiner, Ransom River features a deeply flawed, compelling heroine, a murder trial, and the long-unsolved mystery it exposes.
Rory Mackenzie is juror number seven on a high-profile murder case in her hometown of Ransom River, California. It’s a place she vowed never to visit again, after leaving behind its surfeit of regret and misfortune and the specter of a troubled past that threatened to disturb the town’s peaceful façade.
Brilliant yet guarded, Rory has always felt like an outsider. She retreated into herself when both her career aspirations and her love affair with a childhood friend, undercover cop Seth Colder, were destroyed in a tragic accident.
While most of the town is focused on the tense and shocking circumstances of the trial, Rory’s return to Ransom River dredges up troubling memories from her childhood that she can no longer ignore. But in the wake of a desperate attack on the courthouse, Rory realizes that exposing these dark skeletons has connected her to an old case that was never solved, and bringing the truth to light just might destroy her.
Departing from her popular series novels, Meg Gardiner has gone deeper than ever into the utterly convincing lives and compelling pasts of her characters. Ransom River is an intimate crime thriller with a dark mystery at its heart—one that will keep readers breathless until the very last page.
Rory Mackenzie is juror number seven on a high-profile murder case in her hometown of Ransom River, California. It’s a place she vowed never to visit again, after leaving behind its surfeit of regret and misfortune and the specter of a troubled past that threatened to disturb the town’s peaceful façade.
Brilliant yet guarded, Rory has always felt like an outsider. She retreated into herself when both her career aspirations and her love affair with a childhood friend, undercover cop Seth Colder, were destroyed in a tragic accident.
While most of the town is focused on the tense and shocking circumstances of the trial, Rory’s return to Ransom River dredges up troubling memories from her childhood that she can no longer ignore. But in the wake of a desperate attack on the courthouse, Rory realizes that exposing these dark skeletons has connected her to an old case that was never solved, and bringing the truth to light just might destroy her.
Departing from her popular series novels, Meg Gardiner has gone deeper than ever into the utterly convincing lives and compelling pasts of her characters. Ransom River is an intimate crime thriller with a dark mystery at its heart—one that will keep readers breathless until the very last page.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 28, 2012
52 people are currently reading
1542 people want to read
About the author
Meg Gardiner
35 books2,245 followersMeg Gardiner is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of seventeen thrillers. Shadowheart, her latest novel, is part of the UNSUB series featuring FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix. The Real Book Spy calls it “A mind-trip of a story.” Booklist says, “As always, the writing is exquisite and the story is perfectly crafted.” UNSUB, the first novel in the series, won the 2018 Barry Award for Best Thriller. The Dark Corners of the Night was bought by Amazon Studios for development as an hour-long television drama.
Heat 2 is a prequel/sequel to the film Heat, co-authored with the film’s writer/director, Michael Mann. Booklist’s starred review calls it “Riveting… the fully fleshed human stories support and even transcend the often-breathtaking action.” The Associated Press says, “Slick as a Neil McCauley heist and as intense as a Vincent Hanna chase, ‘Heat 2’ is just dynamite.” It debuted at #1 on the NYT best seller list.
Meg is the author of the Evan Delaney series, the Jo Beckett novels, and several stand alones. China Lake won the 2009 Edgar award for Best Paperback Original. The Nightmare Thief won the 2012 Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense audiobook of the year. Phantom Instinct was one of O, the Oprah magazine's "Best Books of Summer."
Meg was born in Oklahoma and raised in Santa Barbara, California. A graduate of Stanford Law School, she practiced law in Los Angeles and taught writing at the University of California Santa Barbara. She's also a three-time Jeopardy! champion. She lives in Austin, Texas.
Find Meg on Facebook: Facebook.com/MegGardinerBooks Twitter: @MegGardiner1 and Instagram: @Meggardiner1.
Series:
* UNSUB
* Evan Delaney
* Jo Beckett
Heat 2 is a prequel/sequel to the film Heat, co-authored with the film’s writer/director, Michael Mann. Booklist’s starred review calls it “Riveting… the fully fleshed human stories support and even transcend the often-breathtaking action.” The Associated Press says, “Slick as a Neil McCauley heist and as intense as a Vincent Hanna chase, ‘Heat 2’ is just dynamite.” It debuted at #1 on the NYT best seller list.
Meg is the author of the Evan Delaney series, the Jo Beckett novels, and several stand alones. China Lake won the 2009 Edgar award for Best Paperback Original. The Nightmare Thief won the 2012 Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense audiobook of the year. Phantom Instinct was one of O, the Oprah magazine's "Best Books of Summer."
Meg was born in Oklahoma and raised in Santa Barbara, California. A graduate of Stanford Law School, she practiced law in Los Angeles and taught writing at the University of California Santa Barbara. She's also a three-time Jeopardy! champion. She lives in Austin, Texas.
Find Meg on Facebook: Facebook.com/MegGardinerBooks Twitter: @MegGardiner1 and Instagram: @Meggardiner1.
Series:
* UNSUB
* Evan Delaney
* Jo Beckett
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 251 reviews
October 3, 2019
I really enjoy Meg Gardiner! I loved Into the Black Nowhere. So when I discovered that my library had Random River I just had to have it. Ransom River written by Meg Gardiner, read by Angela Dawe is a thrilling suspense story. This book goes back and forth between two time periods: the present and 20 years prior. In the present, Rory Mackenzie is a juror on a high-profile case. She did not want to come back to her hometown but circumstances have led her back. The case involves a police shooting and is already getting a lot of heat. That is… until two gunmen storm the court room and hold everyone hostage. After the hostage situation is over, the police think that Rory had something to do with it. With help from her ex-boyfriend, Seth, she needs to figure out why she is being singled out in this event. The evidence leads them to a robbery that took place 20 years before…
Meg Gardiner flawlessly ties up all the ends in her stories and misdirects her readers. I could not predict the ending, as the plot had kept twisting and turning. Another thing is the pace kicks off right away. There is never a lull in the pacing. There is a constant sense of danger and suspense. The connection of both the crimes is actually brilliant. The jumping back and forth between the time periods did get a little tedious, especially when it focused on Rory’s cousins. I cringed every time Rory’s cousins entered the story. I am grateful they weren’t the only antagonists. However, I really enjoyed Rory’s character. She is strong, smart, and brave. I did love her relationship with Seth. It is flawed and relatable.
The narrator, Angela Dawe did a fantastic job at reading this book. She is able to display the emotion and tension. Overall, it is definitely worth listening to Ransom River. The crime and the suspense are phenomenal. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
Meg Gardiner flawlessly ties up all the ends in her stories and misdirects her readers. I could not predict the ending, as the plot had kept twisting and turning. Another thing is the pace kicks off right away. There is never a lull in the pacing. There is a constant sense of danger and suspense. The connection of both the crimes is actually brilliant. The jumping back and forth between the time periods did get a little tedious, especially when it focused on Rory’s cousins. I cringed every time Rory’s cousins entered the story. I am grateful they weren’t the only antagonists. However, I really enjoyed Rory’s character. She is strong, smart, and brave. I did love her relationship with Seth. It is flawed and relatable.
The narrator, Angela Dawe did a fantastic job at reading this book. She is able to display the emotion and tension. Overall, it is definitely worth listening to Ransom River. The crime and the suspense are phenomenal. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.
October 15, 2015
This book had me in from the start as it was straight into the story about half way through i was a bit confused as where the story was going the characters were appealing BUT there was to much concentration on Rory & Seth's love affair they had years ago good but not great
December 6, 2022
Smatterings of clunky dialog and melodrama aside, this was a light, enjoyable thriller headed by a hardscrabble female lead that I couldn't help but get behind.
3 Scrappy Stars
3 Scrappy Stars
July 19, 2012
Ransom River was a bit of a disjointed read for me... you're introduced to the main character, Rory, who's just moved back to town and is a juror in a local murder trial involving some cops and shady characters. Flashbacks provide some history on her family, childhood, and past boyfriend. As a reader, you're watching Rory and Seth puzzle out the mystery behind a 20-year-old bank robbery that is somehow all interconnected and interlaced with her family, the attempted kidnapping during the murder trial, and Seth's family.
My thought, as I read and right after I finished the book, was this story could've used a bit more polish. Rory's cousins Riss and Boone felt like caricatures of "bad people" -- their motive for being shitheads was sort-of presented, but I felt that the reasoning didn't really help me (as a reader) to establish why they were so completely dysfunctional. I think the best "bad guys" usually have a really clear and understandable root of evil, and perhaps even a few aspects to their personality that are normal, or human; where you are able to make an association with them and how they can possibly be that bad, live their lives and not let EVERYONE know what shit-storms they are.
The families in this book are a mess, which is a good thing -- it does take Rory a long time to figure out the puzzle of the past and see the complete picture. If she had been quicker about it, it wouldn't have been believable. Much of her past relationship with Seth is either explained or inferred from their current interactions, but {hmm, how to explain this?} -- I felt distanced from all of the characters in this book. I was reading, I was understanding, I was following the logic, I wasn't quite guessing ahead (yay!). However, I wasn't becoming emotionally attached to anyone. I don't think I ever really, truly ended up rooting for Rory to solve everything, I don't think I ever really pulled for good outcomes.
Part of it was the writing, part of it may have been the way characters were introduced and how they interacted. I kept waiting for Riss to have some measure of something human, and I kept waiting for Rory and Seth to really let down their guards with one another -- but that never happened (not even when they allowed themselves to get close physically). Gardiner leaves you with the promise that the two of them will find each other and figure out a way to close the two-year gulf of hurt feelings and pain that separates them, but when I finished the last page I didn't exactly care either way.
I have liked Gardiner's writing in the past, but she has an ongoing set of characters she writes with/for. This book is standalone, and perhaps what I'm feeling is her discomfort at trying on the skin of new characters. She's a good writer; so hopefully she'll become more practiced at this and make you really jump into future standalone books and their characters.
My thought, as I read and right after I finished the book, was this story could've used a bit more polish. Rory's cousins Riss and Boone felt like caricatures of "bad people" -- their motive for being shitheads was sort-of presented, but I felt that the reasoning didn't really help me (as a reader) to establish why they were so completely dysfunctional. I think the best "bad guys" usually have a really clear and understandable root of evil, and perhaps even a few aspects to their personality that are normal, or human; where you are able to make an association with them and how they can possibly be that bad, live their lives and not let EVERYONE know what shit-storms they are.
The families in this book are a mess, which is a good thing -- it does take Rory a long time to figure out the puzzle of the past and see the complete picture. If she had been quicker about it, it wouldn't have been believable. Much of her past relationship with Seth is either explained or inferred from their current interactions, but {hmm, how to explain this?} -- I felt distanced from all of the characters in this book. I was reading, I was understanding, I was following the logic, I wasn't quite guessing ahead (yay!). However, I wasn't becoming emotionally attached to anyone. I don't think I ever really, truly ended up rooting for Rory to solve everything, I don't think I ever really pulled for good outcomes.
Part of it was the writing, part of it may have been the way characters were introduced and how they interacted. I kept waiting for Riss to have some measure of something human, and I kept waiting for Rory and Seth to really let down their guards with one another -- but that never happened (not even when they allowed themselves to get close physically). Gardiner leaves you with the promise that the two of them will find each other and figure out a way to close the two-year gulf of hurt feelings and pain that separates them, but when I finished the last page I didn't exactly care either way.
I have liked Gardiner's writing in the past, but she has an ongoing set of characters she writes with/for. This book is standalone, and perhaps what I'm feeling is her discomfort at trying on the skin of new characters. She's a good writer; so hopefully she'll become more practiced at this and make you really jump into future standalone books and their characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2017
Good and bad..
Ok, I really like Seth and Rory as adults but that bullying crap from Boone and Rissa was just ridiculous. We just keep going for ‘now to then.’ If the bullying hadn’t stopped when it did I don’t think I would have finished this book. The bullying didn’t have to take up so many pages so I’m assuming that was to make up more printed pages in the book, rather than telling you something important. I mean, the story could have just said “Boone and Rissa bullied Rory when she was a kid” and we would have gotten it. Instead we had to read pages and pages of HOW and when they bullied her. I finally ended up skimming a lot of pages in order to get to something that had to do with the present and not the past. This book did NOT have to be 368 pages. It could have been 100 pages less and been really good. There was way too much useless descriptions of furniture, grass, trees, cars, everything no one really cares about.
This story was about a twenty year old 25 million dollar armored car heist: the men who were caught, the one who got away, and where the money went, since it was never found until the end of the book.
There was not one iota for desire or lust or passion between Seth and Rory, not even a near kiss, and then at 72% they had fade-to-black sex. How stupid was that? And the F-bomb was used 18 times.
I did like Samantha and Will, Rory’s parents, and Petra, her BFF. But I gotta tell ya’ that Rissa and Boone were two sick puppies. From childhood on they were out to torment Rory, and kill her if need-be.
Another female author who's crazy about the word "said." In this 368 page book she used "said" 1,071. Not much imagination.
As to the narrator: This is one of Ms.Dawe’s earlier books (2012), when she used to hesitate too long and too often during her reading BUT I can deal with that because her men sounded like men, which I can’t say for about 95% of female narrators back then. When a book describes a man with a deep husky voice and HE sounds like a GIRL, that’s the sign of a bad narrator. Angela Dawe has become one of my favorite narrators so I can, pretty much, forgive her anything. In fact, I can forgive any female narrator anything as long as the men sound like men.
Ok, I really like Seth and Rory as adults but that bullying crap from Boone and Rissa was just ridiculous. We just keep going for ‘now to then.’ If the bullying hadn’t stopped when it did I don’t think I would have finished this book. The bullying didn’t have to take up so many pages so I’m assuming that was to make up more printed pages in the book, rather than telling you something important. I mean, the story could have just said “Boone and Rissa bullied Rory when she was a kid” and we would have gotten it. Instead we had to read pages and pages of HOW and when they bullied her. I finally ended up skimming a lot of pages in order to get to something that had to do with the present and not the past. This book did NOT have to be 368 pages. It could have been 100 pages less and been really good. There was way too much useless descriptions of furniture, grass, trees, cars, everything no one really cares about.
This story was about a twenty year old 25 million dollar armored car heist: the men who were caught, the one who got away, and where the money went, since it was never found until the end of the book.
There was not one iota for desire or lust or passion between Seth and Rory, not even a near kiss, and then at 72% they had fade-to-black sex. How stupid was that? And the F-bomb was used 18 times.
I did like Samantha and Will, Rory’s parents, and Petra, her BFF. But I gotta tell ya’ that Rissa and Boone were two sick puppies. From childhood on they were out to torment Rory, and kill her if need-be.
Another female author who's crazy about the word "said." In this 368 page book she used "said" 1,071. Not much imagination.
As to the narrator: This is one of Ms.Dawe’s earlier books (2012), when she used to hesitate too long and too often during her reading BUT I can deal with that because her men sounded like men, which I can’t say for about 95% of female narrators back then. When a book describes a man with a deep husky voice and HE sounds like a GIRL, that’s the sign of a bad narrator. Angela Dawe has become one of my favorite narrators so I can, pretty much, forgive her anything. In fact, I can forgive any female narrator anything as long as the men sound like men.
April 25, 2020
Wow, what a wild ride. Highly recommended!
August 5, 2012
Rory, an unemployed lawyer, returns to Ransom River and quickly finds herself on a jury. Masked gunmen attack the courtroom and she is taken hostage. Somehow, she quickly becomes a suspect instead of a victim, and she runs from the bad guys and the law. Add to this a screwed up family out to get her and it is quickly hard to keep track of all of the people with gripes against Rory. An old flame, Seth, is intent on helping her out of this mess, but by this point I didn't care anymore whether she figured it all out. This is definitely one of Gardiner's weaker books.
July 25, 2017
I read Unsub, loved it and then wanted to read more from this writer. I did Shadow Tracer next. And loved it. Just. Finished Ransom River. The main characters are wonderful. Who wouldn't want a friend like Petra. And Rory and Seth are wonderfully developed. However this is another book that goes back and forth between present and past, regularly throughout the book and I feel it made the journey too difficult. I know that the past. Often has a major impact on the present but I do not like this method of traveling back and forth so much in my reading -my only complaint on this story
August 20, 2012
Excellent suspense/mystery. Sure kept me guessing up until the end. Also made me appreciate my family all the more! If you read this, be prepared to stay up until the wee hours of the morning to finish it. Kudos to Meg Gardiner!
September 2, 2021
Não gostei. Não gostei da Rory nem do enredo; nada me pareceu coerente.
No entanto, o final foi engraçadito,
No entanto, o final foi engraçadito,
February 27, 2015
The story was fine but the audio version is just okay.
I was distracted by the reader's style. To me her reading was sounded like a circular cadence that rarely varied. My quirk.
I was distracted by the reader's style. To me her reading was sounded like a circular cadence that rarely varied. My quirk.
October 8, 2019
Here we have another fun standalone from the author of UNSUB. We have a super intense opening: gunmen raiding a controversial murder trial and taking everyone hostage. From there, it never lets up. The pacing rockets forward, the plot growing bigger, the characters getting deeper. The ending was... Not the best, but right up until then we don't stop. Rory isn't a badass heroine, but she makes it work. She's smart and capable and manages to uncover the secrets, the false leads, the truth.
There's a tangled cast of characters that feels very real. From the very beginning, even the side characters were distinct and real. Rory is particularly clear, with her interior thoughts and personality bleeding into the descriptions, the reactions, everything. There are some nice flashbacks that really built up the characters (particularly Rory and Seth) and gave depth to the story.
It is a little ridiculous, though. It gets bigger and bigger and you start to wonder how much bigger it can really get before you can't possibly believe it anymore. It doesn't quite get to that point, but the possibility looms. I also don't like the "narrative drift" employed here; we spend 90% of the book in Rory's head, so it shouldn't be that hard to make the other 10% work without having to drift into other characters.
There's a tangled cast of characters that feels very real. From the very beginning, even the side characters were distinct and real. Rory is particularly clear, with her interior thoughts and personality bleeding into the descriptions, the reactions, everything. There are some nice flashbacks that really built up the characters (particularly Rory and Seth) and gave depth to the story.
It is a little ridiculous, though. It gets bigger and bigger and you start to wonder how much bigger it can really get before you can't possibly believe it anymore. It doesn't quite get to that point, but the possibility looms. I also don't like the "narrative drift" employed here; we spend 90% of the book in Rory's head, so it shouldn't be that hard to make the other 10% work without having to drift into other characters.
May 18, 2022
I have mixed feelings about this book. The description really sounded good, but the story just left me wanting more. It started off interesting with the hostage situation at the courthouse. It gave some back history on Rory, her childhood and her relationship with Seth. Then there's a 20 year old heist thrown in that people think Rory has knowledge of. Throw in 2 really strange cousins, Boone & Riss, who are very unlikeable and you have this story. Sometimes I think there was too much going on all at once and some very unbelievable situations. I really wanted to like it, but it just fell short for me.
September 12, 2023
My 1st Meg Gardiner book. Truly an amazing book with twist and a shocking ending.
Family isn’t always what they seem.
Family isn’t always what they seem.
May 28, 2024
Great plot, lots of twists and turns!! I enjoyed it!!
August 2, 2024
best book i’ve read in a while. lots of scenes where i had to re-read bc i was like no way that just happened. great start to the book, excitement wise, and this continued throughout the book.
October 8, 2024
I don’t know if this is necessarily her best book, but it’s certainly my favorite.
January 24, 2021
Ja, es ist spannend. Und der Plot wird immer komplexer, je weiter er sich entwickelt. Und am Ende ist vieles ganz anders als es am Anfang scheint.
Das Buch liest sich gut und ist ein Page Turner.
Aber für meinen Geschmack hat Meg Gardiner da ein bisschen zu viel hineingepackt. Darunter leidet die Glaubwürdigkeit.
Das Buch liest sich gut und ist ein Page Turner.
Aber für meinen Geschmack hat Meg Gardiner da ein bisschen zu viel hineingepackt. Darunter leidet die Glaubwürdigkeit.
June 17, 2012
Talk about a book that is hard to put down! This one was impossible to put down. Rory comes back to Ransom River after losing her job because the non-profit Asylum Action she was working for in Europe lost its funding. She get home just in time to be called for jury duty in a case where two cops are charged with killing an unarmed intruder. That would be sticky enough but the intruder is the son of a gangster. One day the courtroom is attacked by armed gunmen and Rory is chosen as one of four hostages. The crime goes terribly wrong and the intruders are killed but the cops think Rory had something to do with the crime and are on her case.
And old flame of Rory's Seth Colder comes back into the picture. They parted before Rory went off to Europe because Seth was an undercover cop and Rory thought he was too far into the undercover life and becoming someone she didn't know. She broke up with him but before they could part company Seth was called to a crime scene. On the way their truck was t-boned by another vehicle breaking Rory's leg and causing internal injuries. When Seth didn't come to see her in the hospital she knew it was over and so she left the country as soon as she could.
Besides Rory and Seth's broken relationship, this story is also about twisted family dynamics and an armored truck robbery that occurred when Rory and Seth were nine. Rory has two cousins - the children of her beloved Uncle Lee - who are just this side of crazy and who have been resentful of what they saw as Rory's perfect life. Her cousin Riss constantly harassed her in school by spreading rumors about her. Her cousin Boone tried sexual harassment when she was only twelve. Rory has kept all of this from her parents because they are her father's brother's kids but her parents are keeping secrets from her too.
Seth's family isn't much better. He is the son of a retired, decorated police officer but he quit the force two years ago convinced that something was rotten in the Ransom River Police Department. When an undercover operation he was part of was blown, he knew the information to wreck it had to come from someone inside the police department.
This a a tense thriller where new and troubling information is constantly coming to the surface. Through it all Rory is determined to "get up one more time than she falls down" but the odds are incredibly against her when she doesn't know who she can trust. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough with this one. I recommend it highly to lovers of thrillers and even to lovers of romances because the relationship between Rory and Seth is compelling too.
And old flame of Rory's Seth Colder comes back into the picture. They parted before Rory went off to Europe because Seth was an undercover cop and Rory thought he was too far into the undercover life and becoming someone she didn't know. She broke up with him but before they could part company Seth was called to a crime scene. On the way their truck was t-boned by another vehicle breaking Rory's leg and causing internal injuries. When Seth didn't come to see her in the hospital she knew it was over and so she left the country as soon as she could.
Besides Rory and Seth's broken relationship, this story is also about twisted family dynamics and an armored truck robbery that occurred when Rory and Seth were nine. Rory has two cousins - the children of her beloved Uncle Lee - who are just this side of crazy and who have been resentful of what they saw as Rory's perfect life. Her cousin Riss constantly harassed her in school by spreading rumors about her. Her cousin Boone tried sexual harassment when she was only twelve. Rory has kept all of this from her parents because they are her father's brother's kids but her parents are keeping secrets from her too.
Seth's family isn't much better. He is the son of a retired, decorated police officer but he quit the force two years ago convinced that something was rotten in the Ransom River Police Department. When an undercover operation he was part of was blown, he knew the information to wreck it had to come from someone inside the police department.
This a a tense thriller where new and troubling information is constantly coming to the surface. Through it all Rory is determined to "get up one more time than she falls down" but the odds are incredibly against her when she doesn't know who she can trust. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough with this one. I recommend it highly to lovers of thrillers and even to lovers of romances because the relationship between Rory and Seth is compelling too.
Read
August 11, 2015Just finished Ransom River for my book club and I have to say that I liked it and hope my fellow book clubbers will like it too. The book had alot of twists to it, it kept me guessing to the end because face it mysteries just baffle me and I'm always finding out to the bitter end. At some parts I wanted to quit the book but like always I needed to know the whole story behind Rory and Seth and what happened between them. But small towns hold big secrets and that's all I will say about that!
September 1, 2014
I was hooked from the start. It was well paced and when I had to put it down I couldn't wait to get back to it. I loved the author's sense of humor which isn't usually found in these types of "thriller" books. I really did love it. I am looking forward to reading more by her.
My only real negative I have is that she connected two dots out of thin air to keep the story moving. While I always appreciate a well paced book it just made no sense how she went from point A to point B.
My only real negative I have is that she connected two dots out of thin air to keep the story moving. While I always appreciate a well paced book it just made no sense how she went from point A to point B.
July 18, 2012
Do not start this book at 11:30 pm! I was up until 3:00 reading it. As usual Meg Gardiner has so many twists and changes that when I was done, I felt as if I had been on a roller coaster. I was sucked in by page 3 and kept yelling at my kids to go to bed so I could concentrate. Thrilled as always with Meg Gardiner's talent.
July 26, 2012
Sometimes you can never go home and sometimes you never should. The main character of this crime novel Rory finds this out the hard way. An intriguing mix of small town characters and hidden pasts make this a terrific novel to curl up with on a rainy night!
July 31, 2013
i loved this book-I read it in a day. I am not a mystery/crime reader, but I could not put this down. The book is ready to be optioned (if not already) for a movie. it is a fast read, interesting scenarios, leaving you on the seat of your pants.
July 10, 2012
Awesome!! Couldn't put it down.
August 24, 2012
Wow, what a book!! A little different than the normal books by Gardiner, but twists and turns all the way to the end! There were things in the book that I was no where close to guessing!
November 16, 2017
4.5 stars. This is an atmospheric thriller surrounding a dark mystery. Ransom River is a fictitious suburb of Los Angeles bordering the San Fernando Valley; Rory Mackenzie grew up there, and for various reasons (mainly her family) has vowed never to go back. She is currently in Geneva aiding political asylum seekers when the plug is pulled on the organization she works for and she is left jobless. The only thing she really has is her return airline ticket, which has already been paid for. Returning home, she finds a jury notice in her mailbox, and boom, she's trying a murder trial when two thugs break in and bar the doors. Ransom River takes off at a rocket pace and never lets the reader relax throughout the action. A very engaging read.
April 1, 2019
Ransom River is a good, always interesting, if a bit complicated, story & very well read.
Rory, juror #7 in a murder trial in her home town, is brilliant but frustrated/sad/angry? from circumstances with Seth, her old love 2 years before. The plot soon thickens , with Real scary bad guys, evil cousins Riss & Boone and $25 million, stolen 20 years ago.. and most likely still in the area. Rory has No idea why so many bad guys want to get their hands on her & squeeze her for info!
Slowly, she & Seth, under-cover cop... figure it out.
There were several times where my life was put on pause because I Had to see what happened next... and even surprises I never saw coming. I like a happy ending ,, & this was left a bit open-ended , perhaps for a sequel..? I hope so!
Rory, juror #7 in a murder trial in her home town, is brilliant but frustrated/sad/angry? from circumstances with Seth, her old love 2 years before. The plot soon thickens , with Real scary bad guys, evil cousins Riss & Boone and $25 million, stolen 20 years ago.. and most likely still in the area. Rory has No idea why so many bad guys want to get their hands on her & squeeze her for info!
Slowly, she & Seth, under-cover cop... figure it out.
There were several times where my life was put on pause because I Had to see what happened next... and even surprises I never saw coming. I like a happy ending ,, & this was left a bit open-ended , perhaps for a sequel..? I hope so!
March 17, 2023
Rory Mackenzie left Ransom River two years ago vowing to never return. Unfortunately her international position runs out of funds and she finds herself back in Ransom River, just in time to receive a jury summons to the decades hottest murder trial.
When the trial is interrupted by two gun men Rory has to think fast to keep herself and others alive. During the investigation Rory discovers that she may have been the target of the gunmen. Rory and the ex she ran from two years ago team up to find out what has painted a target on Rory's back but as they peel back the layers they find the family secrets that go much deeper than anyone thought.
Great fast paced read with lots of suspense. This is an earlier title of Meg Gardiner's and I don't think she had quite found her groove yet as there were several plot holes and facts that didn't measure up. I think I'll stick to her newer books as I really enjoyed all of those.
When the trial is interrupted by two gun men Rory has to think fast to keep herself and others alive. During the investigation Rory discovers that she may have been the target of the gunmen. Rory and the ex she ran from two years ago team up to find out what has painted a target on Rory's back but as they peel back the layers they find the family secrets that go much deeper than anyone thought.
Great fast paced read with lots of suspense. This is an earlier title of Meg Gardiner's and I don't think she had quite found her groove yet as there were several plot holes and facts that didn't measure up. I think I'll stick to her newer books as I really enjoyed all of those.
December 16, 2018
December 2018
2.5 Stars - It was Okay
Audiobook
So this was a book that started off with a lot of potential but then just petered out. Lots of twists and misdirections, but was a little OTT with out being especially interesting.
This is supposed to be a romantic thriller.... the thriller part is there, I guess, but the romantic part fell very flat. I never warmed to Rory & Seth as a couple. They didn't seem all that taken with each other. And the ending was awful for a romance.
Anyway, this was ok but nothing memorable.
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