Five Days of Fear

by David Kovach

"plot twists ripped from today's headlines" –Lavish Bookshelf

During a family picnic, Jessica Britton’s well-ordered world is slammed against a brutal reality and her faith is tested when her mom is kidnapped, her dad is shot, and authorities can find no clues to begin their investigation. Jessica’s own anxiety and fear for her mother’s life compels her to help FBI Agent Dan Hamilton look for motives and clues that would lead to rescuing her mom. By chance, clues begin to emerge, and the once floundering investigation speeds to a hectic race against time and criminal minds in a desperate attempt to save Jessica’s mom and the lives of many in San Francisco’s business district.

Genres: Thriller, Christian Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2012

About the author

Born and raised in California, Dave has a love for San Francisco—its blend of history, progress, scenery, and, of course, its cuisine, make it special. After a stint in the Air Force, Dave received his education at Cal Poly, S.L.O. and UC Davis—where he met his wife, Karen. They have two children, Scott and Jen, now grown, and moved to Iowa where the topography is part of the Great Plains, but the people are anything but plain.

While working a daytime job with the government, Dave began writing study guides in the evenings for the church they attended. After writing a few of these and learning some writing skills, he decided to try his hand at fiction. Five Days of Fear is his debut novel. Dave left the tentacles of government employment and now devotes his time to writing.

Dave loves landscaping and Karen loves gardening. They “have such felicity, that they seemed to be made for each other.”

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You can follow Dave on Twitter @dkovachwrites and at facebook.com/dkovachwrites.

Reviews

[Holly (2 Kids and Tired) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not normally a thriller person. But when this one came up for review, I was curious. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and I love it. I love when someone who knows the Bay Area, uses it in a book. I love recognizing landmarks and streets and neighborhoods. David Kovach lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and his setting is authentic.

The story is thrilling almost from the first page. A family outing suddenly turns violent when Angie Britton inadvertently overhears talk of a terrorist attack. When she is kidnapped right in front of her family, her husband is shot trying to rescue her and her daughters are stunned. When the FBI takes over the case, daughter Jessica wants to help Agent Dan Hamilton find her mother.

I found the novel to be well researched as far as the procedures and how the agents tracked and solve a case. The story is compelling and moves along well. The Christian elements are normal, not preachy. My only real complaint is that the conversations are a bit formal and stiff in places. Contractions are used much more in conversation than was used here. I enjoyed the romance between Jessica and Dan, although in real life, I don't think Dan would have been able to have Jessica such a part of the investigation. However, I liked the story well enough that I could dismiss that logic and simply enjoy it.

Dan Kovachs has penned a terrific, promising first novel and I hope that a sequel is in the works, because I'd love to find out what happens to that creepy Des Moines FBI director and revisiting Dan and Jessica would be great.

[Maureen Timerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could just picture this family on their outing. Grandpa playing baseball with his Grandson, Grandma coloring with her Granddaughter. Then their world collapses in seconds.
You wanted to be a member of this loving family. First they see Grandma being pulled into a van, and when Grandpa is running to help her...he is shot. What do you do?
Grandpa is taken to surgery, and the FBI is called to help. Grandma Angie is in trouble...she has heard something she shouldn't have, and these guys will stop at nothing to make sure she doesn't tell anyone. Angie is one smart cookie! She leave little notes with one of the crayons she had in her hand when she was taken.
We meet a great FBI team headed by Dan Hamilton. Soon there is more than a mystery on hand, when sparks begin to fly between Dan and Angie's daughter Jessica.
Be ready for some great adventure....trying to stop terrorist acts, and finding Angie in time. Also will the family be able to live without their Grandpa. Will this family ever be the same?
Don't miss this exciting read, and although the chapters are long, the story is excellent!

I received this book through TLC Book Tours, and was not required to give a positive review.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is David Kovach's first book, but don't let that dissuade you from reading it. It's a little predictable and not quite believable. Would the FBI really let a victim's family member become so involved in the case? That aside, it was well written and kept the reader engaged until the very end.

Kovach proves that you can write suspense, action, and romance without having to be sexually explicit and gory!

It was a quick read and I look forward to more of Kovach's work.

[Charlotte Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

While at a family picnic, Angie Britton over hears a conversation about a bombing. This leads to her being kidnapped and her husband being shot. The FBI gets involved but really had no leads or clues to know where to start. Jessica Britton, Angie’s daughter, becomes the contact person for FBI Agent Dan Hamilton and eventually become friends. As clues start to come to light Jessie and Dan, along with other FBI agents, rush to stop the bombing, find the kidnappers/terrorism and most importantly save Angie.

The first plot of the novel was playing out in my mind like a movie. The story moved at a fast pace but not too fast. I loved all the action, starting from the beginning, when Angie gets kidnapped , and ending at the last page. There was everything a good action plot needs, terrorist threats, financial misdeeds, and great crime tracking technology. I actually felt this could be a modern day, real life story.

The second part of the plot, the love story, was my favorite. There is Jessie, who comes from an amazing family with an abundance of lover. Jessie is looking for Mr. Right and won’t settle for anything less. Especially someone who will love her freckles. Then there is FBI Agent Dan, who grew up with his aunt and uncle and their numerous kids after his mom gave him up when she remarried. Dan just wants to fit in and be part of a complete family, being loved and accepted totally. I loved watching their friendship grow. Neither Jessie or Dan were rushing into the relationship. They both wanted to totally know each other before taking any big steps. It was also nice not to have them just fall into bed.

The fact that Five Days of Fear is a book without heavy violence or bad language made me enjoy it even more. I can easily recommend this novel for everyone.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

An innocent picnic in the park, a child and his grandfather playing catch, a grandmother going to retrieve the ball that was tossed too high, and a gunshot; thus begins "Five Days of Fear." Is five days long enough to know someone well enough to fall in love? It probably is, if those five days are like a lifetime, five days going at lightning speed and painfully slow simultaneously.

In this, his debut novel, David Kovach has hit it out of the park. A thriller that involves the FBI, search dogs, high profile corporate hijinks, revenge, a kidnapping and a traumatized family holding onto faith and hope. Well-researched and tensely written, the tension is only broken by an evolving relationship and a loving family. An intense drama that keeps the reader glued to the book.

I always like to learn something new from books I read, and I learned a lot from this one, particularly about invasion of privacy and sharing of privacy through computer technology. The author certainly knows what he is talking about. This book really captured my attention and let me feel the drama unfold. David Kovach is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

[Elizabeth Turnbull · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Kovach's FIVE DAYS OF FEAR takes readers on a thrilling ride with first-grade teacher, Jessica Britton and FBI agent Dan Hamilton. While structured in 5 chapters, one for each day, David keeps the pace of the story moving, weaving in good detective work with just enough serendipity to keep readers hooked.

I thoroughly enjoyed Jessica's character and loved watching Dan soften and become more interesting as the novel played out. I also appreciated the fact that though this is an FBI thriller, it's also "clean fiction," leaving out unnecessary violence or foul language. It's a book I'd feel comfortable recommending to friends, no matter how conservative they may or may not be.

FIVE DAYS OF FEAR is a great read and I highly recommend it.

[gayle a tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a fan!

I loved this book! It was suspenseful, interesting and had good moral values. Good details. Please keep writing. Thank you.

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the author’s first novel, and a good attempt, so I am going to be gentle with my review. I won a book club set for my book club, and we chose to read this as our June 2013 selection. The book takes place over 5 days, and there is a chapter for each day. The story starts when the Britton family is picnicking on a beautiful day in San Francisco, when the Grandma retrieves a ball from the parking lot and overhears something she shouldn’t. This results in her being kidnapped and her husband being shot. The FBI is called in, and the resulting investigation and search for the kidnappers really is interesting. It this alone had been the story, the book would have been short, but quite good.[return][return]The problems arose when the author attempted to make this a crime thriller - romance. The youngest daughter, Jessica, is unattached and content to remain that way unless a man she is interested actually like her freckles. Of course, FBI Agent Dan comes to the rescue, and immediately notices her freckles. The problem here is that while her dad is recovering from a gunshot wound and her mother is missing, and possibly dead, Jessica has time to not only notice what a nice guy Dan is, but fall in love with him. And yes, her family noticed....and approved. Because you can’t control when the Mr. Right comes along. This was not only pretty unbelievable, it felt very forced to me, and really slowed the story down. At times, I felt like I was listening to B movie dialog being read by bad actors. There was also the issue of Dan violating policy and allowing Jessica to become very involved in the investigation, also unrealistic, but this didn’t bother me nearly as much.[return][return]I could see this book getting a good screenwriter to fine tune the dialog and get rid of the romance, and it would make a great movie. But as it is, there were too many times I had to put the book down or skim through a section because it got bogged down in the very rapidly developed relationship between Jessica and Dan. A lot of reviewers at Goodreads really liked the book though, so if the story sounds like something you’d enjoy, go for it!

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry to say this, but my third graders can write better than this. I really wanted to enjoy this book! I NEVER put one down without reading the whole thing. I made it 75% of the way through this one and gave up. :-/

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

What could have been a fun suspense novel took a dull turn with a stupid romance. Ridiculous love story that read like a twelve year old wrote it.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh...so-so. Predictable. Good story idea, but writing was weak. I was disappointed, but I paid a whopping $1.99 so I had to finish! My parents trained me well...

[Diane Friends · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very predictable story line..no real suspense.