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Witness #6
Forgotten Witness
Appearing before the Senate Select Committee on Eastern European crime, Josie Bates testifies passionately about the brutal Albanian blood feud that has sent Hannah into hiding with Billy Zuni and Archer on a quest to find them. While Senator Patriota, the man sure to be the next president of the United States, promises his patronage Josie isn’t convinced he was even listening—but someone was.
Charging through the crush of bodies, evading security, a frantic man launches himself at Josie. Toppling her to the ground, he pushes something into her hands, puts his lips against her ear and whispers five words that will send her from the icy winter of Washington, D.C. to the tropical warmth of Hawaii in search of Hannah. What Josie finds instead is a flamboyant ex-pat who deals in pineapple and hula dancers, and a Victorian compound on the infamous island of Molokai where she uncovers a horrific, long buried truth…a truth that will change her life forever if she stays alive long enough to live it.
Charging through the crush of bodies, evading security, a frantic man launches himself at Josie. Toppling her to the ground, he pushes something into her hands, puts his lips against her ear and whispers five words that will send her from the icy winter of Washington, D.C. to the tropical warmth of Hawaii in search of Hannah. What Josie finds instead is a flamboyant ex-pat who deals in pineapple and hula dancers, and a Victorian compound on the infamous island of Molokai where she uncovers a horrific, long buried truth…a truth that will change her life forever if she stays alive long enough to live it.
287 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2014
354 people are currently reading
641 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Forster
48 books516 followersRebecca Forster began writing on a crazy dare and found her passion.
Now with over 40 books to her name, she is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling thriller author. Rebecca likes hands-on research and is a graduate of the DEA and ATF Citizens Academies. She is an avid court watcher, has taken numerous weapons courses, and even landed by tail hook on the USS Nimitz to make sure she has lived what she writes.
Rebecca is married to a Superior Court judge and is the mother of two grown sons. She resides in Southern California
Now with over 40 books to her name, she is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling thriller author. Rebecca likes hands-on research and is a graduate of the DEA and ATF Citizens Academies. She is an avid court watcher, has taken numerous weapons courses, and even landed by tail hook on the USS Nimitz to make sure she has lived what she writes.
Rebecca is married to a Superior Court judge and is the mother of two grown sons. She resides in Southern California
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 8, 2014
This is one scary book.
Not because it's populated with zombies or vampires, werewolves and things that go bump in the night.
No, this is a scary book because it is populated by men and women who are elected to serve the people but who, in their ideological madness, perpetrate horrible crimes against citizens of the United States.
The most scary thing about this novel, however, is that it is not only plausible, it's rooted in actual fact.
Author Rebecca Forster's 'Forgotten Witness' is based on the startling revelations in the 1970s that the U.S. government had - for many years - conducted brutal, mind-warping experiments on its own citizens without their consent. In effect, elitist U.S. government officials, convinced of the rightness of their cause and supremely arrogant enough to think they were justified in whatever they did to ordinary people because it was for 'the greater good,' stole the lives of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of Americans by pumping them full of drugs, incarcerating and torturing them and then carefully noting down their reactions to this outrageous treatment.
If you think that sounds like what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and during World War II and not in America it's time that you think again because, in truth, it actually did happen here and, for all we know, it may still be happening.
In her book Forster imagines what might have happened to some of the victims of those unethical, immoral experiments once their minds were shattered. Her heroine, Josie Bates, must come to terms with what was done to members of her own family as part of those experiments - something she was not aware of until many years later. An attorney, who doesn't always act like a buttoned-down lawyer, Josie is singled out one afternoon by a man who appears demented and hands her a small package of information. That information sets her on a trail that will take her from the corridors of power in Washington, DC to the paradise that is Hawaii. It is there that she will learn things that will not only shock her but, in a very real sense, turn her emotional life inside out.
This is an excellent book for many reasons, not the least of which are the memorable characters Forster has created. In addition to Josie, there is a displaced - and occasionally seasick - Englishman who lives with three beautiful girls on Maui; a young woman with an unsettling past who is the daughter of the demented man and assorted Washington players who are so lacking in conscience that using the word "evil" to describe them is a gross understatement.
'Forgotten Witness' is the sixth book in a series featuring Josie Bates but it is the first one I have read. Because of that, I'm going to have to go find the other five because Forster has gotten me hooked not only on her heroine but also with her writing and the almost uncanny way she pulls her readers into the narrative.
Not because it's populated with zombies or vampires, werewolves and things that go bump in the night.
No, this is a scary book because it is populated by men and women who are elected to serve the people but who, in their ideological madness, perpetrate horrible crimes against citizens of the United States.
The most scary thing about this novel, however, is that it is not only plausible, it's rooted in actual fact.
Author Rebecca Forster's 'Forgotten Witness' is based on the startling revelations in the 1970s that the U.S. government had - for many years - conducted brutal, mind-warping experiments on its own citizens without their consent. In effect, elitist U.S. government officials, convinced of the rightness of their cause and supremely arrogant enough to think they were justified in whatever they did to ordinary people because it was for 'the greater good,' stole the lives of hundreds - perhaps thousands - of Americans by pumping them full of drugs, incarcerating and torturing them and then carefully noting down their reactions to this outrageous treatment.
If you think that sounds like what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and during World War II and not in America it's time that you think again because, in truth, it actually did happen here and, for all we know, it may still be happening.
In her book Forster imagines what might have happened to some of the victims of those unethical, immoral experiments once their minds were shattered. Her heroine, Josie Bates, must come to terms with what was done to members of her own family as part of those experiments - something she was not aware of until many years later. An attorney, who doesn't always act like a buttoned-down lawyer, Josie is singled out one afternoon by a man who appears demented and hands her a small package of information. That information sets her on a trail that will take her from the corridors of power in Washington, DC to the paradise that is Hawaii. It is there that she will learn things that will not only shock her but, in a very real sense, turn her emotional life inside out.
This is an excellent book for many reasons, not the least of which are the memorable characters Forster has created. In addition to Josie, there is a displaced - and occasionally seasick - Englishman who lives with three beautiful girls on Maui; a young woman with an unsettling past who is the daughter of the demented man and assorted Washington players who are so lacking in conscience that using the word "evil" to describe them is a gross understatement.
'Forgotten Witness' is the sixth book in a series featuring Josie Bates but it is the first one I have read. Because of that, I'm going to have to go find the other five because Forster has gotten me hooked not only on her heroine but also with her writing and the almost uncanny way she pulls her readers into the narrative.
December 23, 2013
With each new installment of Rebecca Forster’s “The Witness” series, I’m surprised at the different directions she finds to take the story. At the end of Eyewitness (the previous book in the series), we were left a bit of a cliffhanger. The main storyline came to a conclusion, but protagonist Josie Bate’s ward, Hannah, also went missing.
Forgotten Witness has two main story threads that are interwoven through the book. One follows Archer, Josie’s boyfriend/fiancé, as he follows up on a set of clues in search of Hannah. Forster tells this part of the story, keeping it always in the back of the reader’s mind (just like it is always nagging at Josie), partially using a clever technique that I’ll let the reader discover on their own.
The other story thread involves Josie as she follows another path in search of Hannah. She stumbles onto something completely unexpected which answers one of the lingering questions many readers (and Josie) have had through the entire series. However, it also generates many new questions which Josie attempts to answer.
Something new for this series that I especially enjoyed was the way it integrated real world issues, some of them very current, into the story. The main story line comes to a nice conclusion and, as always, also left me ready for more, with a couple guesses as to where we’ll be going with Josie next. I’ll probably be wrong once again.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
Forgotten Witness has two main story threads that are interwoven through the book. One follows Archer, Josie’s boyfriend/fiancé, as he follows up on a set of clues in search of Hannah. Forster tells this part of the story, keeping it always in the back of the reader’s mind (just like it is always nagging at Josie), partially using a clever technique that I’ll let the reader discover on their own.
The other story thread involves Josie as she follows another path in search of Hannah. She stumbles onto something completely unexpected which answers one of the lingering questions many readers (and Josie) have had through the entire series. However, it also generates many new questions which Josie attempts to answer.
Something new for this series that I especially enjoyed was the way it integrated real world issues, some of them very current, into the story. The main story line comes to a nice conclusion and, as always, also left me ready for more, with a couple guesses as to where we’ll be going with Josie next. I’ll probably be wrong once again.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
September 10, 2025
Every bit as readable as the others in the series. I’m only sad I’m coming to the end of them now - I love the way they’re written and the descriptive nature of everything Rebecca Forster writes. It’s realism with escapism in the same mix - a very rare breed.
October 14, 2020
I’m not sure what happened here. I’ve loved every book in this series until the last (Eyewitness) which I found not as ‘gripping’ as the earlier books in the series. And then this one I almost stopped reading altogether! It seemed disjointed to me. Josie starts out looking for Hannah, then gets involved in another case and appears to have totally stopped being concerned about Hannah. Of course Archer is out there searching also but he’s almost a postscript in the book. He doesn’t show up until the last page. I hated the ending because it was too abrupt. It may very well have been me as the book got great reviews from others- I just found it tedious.
March 2, 2025
Just gets better!
The more I delve into this series the more I get hooked! I'm loving how Josie's past plays into each book and how things are coming around. This one was great but definitely could feel the emotions that Josie goes through as she discovers things from her past that aren't what she thinks they are.
The more I delve into this series the more I get hooked! I'm loving how Josie's past plays into each book and how things are coming around. This one was great but definitely could feel the emotions that Josie goes through as she discovers things from her past that aren't what she thinks they are.
January 10, 2018
Exciting
What a great continue from the previous books. Rebecca has you guessing and heart stopping though the whole book. Can't wait to read the next book to see what happens next. Love her writing.
What a great continue from the previous books. Rebecca has you guessing and heart stopping though the whole book. Can't wait to read the next book to see what happens next. Love her writing.
December 15, 2019
I’ve enjoyed all of Forester’s books, this one was just slower in the middle for me. But!, you have to read it to understand towards the end. Please understand this is still a wonderful read and I can’t wait to begin Dark Witness in a few minutes to find more about Hannah.
November 3, 2020
This book was a bit of a disappointment compared to the previous ones. The story bounced around a lot and was rather convoluted. There were also spelling and grammatical errors that detracted from the overall story.
October 22, 2017
Sadly there is only one book left in this series. This has been an amazing series.
August 12, 2018
Another good book
Another good book in this series. An easy read but kept me guessing yet again. I will continue on to the next one.
Another good book in this series. An easy read but kept me guessing yet again. I will continue on to the next one.
May 1, 2019
Enjoyed the twists of this one also as government secrets become part of the ongoing suspense
January 14, 2022
The sixth in the series and the best so far in my opinion, real edge of your seat stuff. Our hero Josie starts looking for one person and finds another and finds so much more - well worth reading.
October 28, 2022
Scary to think this could happen!
I can't wait to see what happens next. Josie is very smart and busy. Never a dull moment. Just ordered the next book.
I can't wait to see what happens next. Josie is very smart and busy. Never a dull moment. Just ordered the next book.
November 16, 2023
Josie, sure gets herself into some fixes, but always seems to be able to get out .
I love this series , now on to the next one.
Thank you
Penny
I love this series , now on to the next one.
Thank you
Penny
October 25, 2024
Very good. Unputdownable.
August 6, 2016
Forgotten WitnessI’ve been anticipating the next installment of my favorite legal thriller series with Josie Bates and Rebecca Forster has not let me down. Like sitting down with an old friend, Forster pulls you into Josie’s world with an extremely well crafted, intricate plot which has you holding your breath and urging Josie on. WOW! Forster has an eye for detail and a flare for making those “truth is stranger than fiction” plots leap off the pages. Kudos!
December 16, 2016
Wow, what an interesting book! Very well written. Especially when I looked up the web pages Rebecca left at end of the book. (See what inspired Forgotten Witness). The premise was there, some names and dates are different.
This is the 4th book I've read by Rebecca Forster. This series was recommended by Amazon. The synopsis of Hostile Witness mentioned Hermosa Beach, CA, so I decided to try the book (I grew up in Hermosa Beach).
Rebecca Forster writes a fascinating story. I am so glad I found her books.
This is the 4th book I've read by Rebecca Forster. This series was recommended by Amazon. The synopsis of Hostile Witness mentioned Hermosa Beach, CA, so I decided to try the book (I grew up in Hermosa Beach).
Rebecca Forster writes a fascinating story. I am so glad I found her books.
October 11, 2014
Not as good.as.previous Bates stories
I really have enjoyed each book in this series. this one just did not keep my attention as the others did. perhaps it was due to the government theme with Josie in parts of the country other than California. not sure but will still read next Bates book.
I really have enjoyed each book in this series. this one just did not keep my attention as the others did. perhaps it was due to the government theme with Josie in parts of the country other than California. not sure but will still read next Bates book.
June 25, 2014
Love this series! This book however was a struggle with all of the political aspects. I felt as though the political side was drawn out, think it could have been shortened up and downplayed. Can't wait for the next book!
September 7, 2016
Always a great read.
I'll read everything by this author. Her plots are gifts she has for every reader. Her settings places you long to see. And Josie Bates? I'll be looking for that tall beauty on the beach.
I'll read everything by this author. Her plots are gifts she has for every reader. Her settings places you long to see. And Josie Bates? I'll be looking for that tall beauty on the beach.
March 25, 2014
Josie Bates testifies at a Washington Senate hearing and then is pulled into a dark political plot involving a presidential candidate. Another good Rebecca Forster novel.
April 22, 2014
Totally LOVE LOVE LOVE this series. The next books don't seem to come out quick enough.
Read
March 20, 2015Love this author. Reading every one of her books
September 15, 2015
This book was very good! This one reminded me why I liked these books from the beginning. Definitely a page turner and will leave you wanting more.
February 23, 2016
This one was a bit harder to get into. Took me to almost half way before it picked up for me. Still liked it though.
August 27, 2016
It was slow moving at the start. Little confusing with characters just popping up for no rhyme or reason with no explanation . Storyline picked up and ended being a great read.
January 14, 2014
Still reading
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews