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Claire Abbott Mystery #3
Race Against Time
Small-town reporter Claire Abbott wakes from a nightmare, convinced a bomb will go off in the local school. And then, strangely enough, there really is a bomb scare. After the school is cleared by police and their sniffer dog, Claire is certain the threat isn't over. People are behaving strangely. Claire believes a bomber will attack the school. But when? And who is the bomber? Claire must track down the culprit and stop him before the bomb goes off.
"Race Against Time" is the third novel in a series of mysteries featuring journalist and sleuth Claire Abbott.
"Race Against Time" is the third novel in a series of mysteries featuring journalist and sleuth Claire Abbott.
112 pages, Paperback
Published September 13, 2016
6 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Gail Anderson-Dargatz
29 books343 followersWatch for Gail's new novel, The Almost Widow, a thriller, released May 2023.
GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ’s first novel, The Cure for Death by Lightning, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the UK’s Betty Trask Award, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Vancity Book Prize. Her second novel, A Recipe for Bees, was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The Spawning Grounds was nominated for the Sunburst Award and the Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award and short-listed for the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for Fiction. Her thriller, The Almost Wife was a national bestseller in 2021, and her most recent novel, The Almost Widow, is out in May 2023.
Gail also writes young adult and hi-lo books for the educational market. Her book Iggy’s World was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and shortlisted for the Chocolate Lily Book Awards. The Ride Home was short-listed for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, as well as the Red Cedar Fiction Award and the Chocolate Lily Book Award.
She taught for nearly a decade in the MFA program in creative writing at the University of British Columbia and now mentors writers online. Gail Anderson-Dargatz lives in the Shuswap region of British Columbia.
GAIL ANDERSON-DARGATZ’s first novel, The Cure for Death by Lightning, was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and won the UK’s Betty Trask Award, the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and the Vancity Book Prize. Her second novel, A Recipe for Bees, was nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award and was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. The Spawning Grounds was nominated for the Sunburst Award and the Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award and short-listed for the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for Fiction. Her thriller, The Almost Wife was a national bestseller in 2021, and her most recent novel, The Almost Widow, is out in May 2023.
Gail also writes young adult and hi-lo books for the educational market. Her book Iggy’s World was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and shortlisted for the Chocolate Lily Book Awards. The Ride Home was short-listed for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, as well as the Red Cedar Fiction Award and the Chocolate Lily Book Award.
She taught for nearly a decade in the MFA program in creative writing at the University of British Columbia and now mentors writers online. Gail Anderson-Dargatz lives in the Shuswap region of British Columbia.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 23, 2016
Like her mother, Claire Abbott has visions. One night she dreams that the local high school will explode. Claire learns that someone has posted a bomb threat on social media and the high school has been evacuated. Has her dream becomes a reality?
Claire, a reporter for the local newspaper, is at the high school and sees a teen in a hoodie sneak into a side door of the school. Is that the bomber? Can Claire convince the cops her vision is coming true or will she have to track down the bomber on her own.
Race Against Time is the third novel in the series but you don't have to read the first two to enjoy this story. It's a quick read(104 pages long). I can't wait to read the first two books in this series. A great book for cozy mystery lovers.
Claire, a reporter for the local newspaper, is at the high school and sees a teen in a hoodie sneak into a side door of the school. Is that the bomber? Can Claire convince the cops her vision is coming true or will she have to track down the bomber on her own.
Race Against Time is the third novel in the series but you don't have to read the first two to enjoy this story. It's a quick read(104 pages long). I can't wait to read the first two books in this series. A great book for cozy mystery lovers.
July 8, 2016
Super quick to read, pretty much everything happens with a couple of days in the story. Claire is a reporter for a small town newspaper and she has visions of events. Not that everyone believes her even though she's helped in the past. This time she has a nightmare of a bomb in the local high school. The school has been evacuated like in her dream/vision, but no bomb is found. She is absolutely certain but the police and the fire department are weary of her stories. She has to investigate on her own.
This is the third in the series and I've not read the first two books, but I didn't need to read them to enjoy this one.
I can recommend.
This is the third in the series and I've not read the first two books, but I didn't need to read them to enjoy this one.
I can recommend.
June 19, 2017
Good story; written with just enough detail to tell the tale but not so much to bog down the reader. There are a few twists and turns and at least one red herring to hold the readers' interest. It's a relatively short book and would be a handy companion for that short flight or waiting in an airport or doctor's office.
I am grateful to author Gail Anderson-Dargatz and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for having provided a free advance reading copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.
I am grateful to author Gail Anderson-Dargatz and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for having provided a free advance reading copy of this book. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review - the words of which are mine alone.
August 12, 2016
Claire Abbott is a newspaper reporter in a small town. She is also a psychic who has helped the police and fire departments several times. When she dreams of the local high school being blown up, she wants to believe it was just a dream. However, later that day the high school receives a bomb threat. Clair risks her reputation, job – and even her life – to prove that her dream is really going to come true unless she can stop it.
As a former teacher who has spent many hours standing on playing fields waiting for the police and bomb-sniffing dogs to clear a building, I found this book very interesting. It had a credible story line, good characters, and was suspenseful – what more could you ask for? I have not read any other books in this series – but would like to.
It is part of the Rapid Read Series – a series of short books designed to grab and hold a reader’s interest from the beginning until the end. It does do that. I feel the length of the book would be wonderful to have to read in airports or waiting rooms – places where you need something that doesn’t take up a lot of room. I was lucky enough to win this book from the Early Reviewers program through LibraryThing in return for an honest review.
As a former teacher who has spent many hours standing on playing fields waiting for the police and bomb-sniffing dogs to clear a building, I found this book very interesting. It had a credible story line, good characters, and was suspenseful – what more could you ask for? I have not read any other books in this series – but would like to.
It is part of the Rapid Read Series – a series of short books designed to grab and hold a reader’s interest from the beginning until the end. It does do that. I feel the length of the book would be wonderful to have to read in airports or waiting rooms – places where you need something that doesn’t take up a lot of room. I was lucky enough to win this book from the Early Reviewers program through LibraryThing in return for an honest review.
July 3, 2016
This Claire Abbott mystery is part of the Rapid Reads program, offering contemporary, entertaining, adult-themed books that focus on strong on storytelling, and designed to draw in reluctant adult readers by being short enough to read in one sitting.
In this, the third outing for reporter Claire Abbott, Claire is convinced that her nightmare about a bomb explosion at the local high school is about to come true. When there is a bomb threat at the school, Claire tries to convince the police of the danger, but the authorities brush her premonitions aside. Eventually, her obsession gets her banned from the school grounds. Will she be able to track down the bomber and save the students and the school?
Although readers will be tempted to roll their eyes at some of Claire’s obsessive behavior, the plot is action-filled and the characters are well-drawn. Reluctant adult readers and older teens will find much to enjoy in this quick read.
Recommended.
In this, the third outing for reporter Claire Abbott, Claire is convinced that her nightmare about a bomb explosion at the local high school is about to come true. When there is a bomb threat at the school, Claire tries to convince the police of the danger, but the authorities brush her premonitions aside. Eventually, her obsession gets her banned from the school grounds. Will she be able to track down the bomber and save the students and the school?
Although readers will be tempted to roll their eyes at some of Claire’s obsessive behavior, the plot is action-filled and the characters are well-drawn. Reluctant adult readers and older teens will find much to enjoy in this quick read.
Recommended.
September 21, 2016
Being a Rapid Reads book, this is a short book (112 pages) that has to get the reader’s attention quickly and hold onto it. And it does. Claire Abbott has premonitions and this one begins with a vision of a bomb in the school. She tries to warn everyone and thinks she knows who did it but do the police and faculty believe her or think s she’s a nut. Well written and good characters, but as a mystery, I didn’t feel it. I enjoyed the fast pace of the story even if it weren’t as suspenseful as I hoped.
July 28, 2016
Claire Abbott is a small time reporter that is having nightmares about an explosion at the local high school. But when a threat is made can she convince the police that it is real.
This is definitely a fast read at only 104 pages long not enough time to really get to know the characters. But it is good if all you are looking for is a quick read.
I received this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
This is definitely a fast read at only 104 pages long not enough time to really get to know the characters. But it is good if all you are looking for is a quick read.
I received this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
August 13, 2016
Claire Abbott a reporter with a gift of seeing visions of events that will happen.
When she has a vision she tries to convince people that something will happen. When they find nothing, they doubt her.
However, she takes matters into her own hands. Will she be proven right? A good story, but I would have liked it more if it had been longer. Overall a good story, I ordered her first two in the series.
When she has a vision she tries to convince people that something will happen. When they find nothing, they doubt her.
However, she takes matters into her own hands. Will she be proven right? A good story, but I would have liked it more if it had been longer. Overall a good story, I ordered her first two in the series.
July 15, 2016
I received this book as a Librarything-giveaway. this novelette was simply written and a page turner. I read it in just over an hour. The language and vocabulary are quite simple and the chapters short so this will appeal to non-readers. The plot is riveting and the theme interesting. I will be recommending it to my 17 year old son who is not a big reader, but I think this will appeal to him.
May 30, 2017
This book reads like that old series from the 70s: Five Minute Mysteries. It's barely even suspenseful, and written in a weird amalgam of adult imagery (Claire and Matt having sex) and teenage angst (Tyler not fitting in at high school). Frankly, it barely held my interest through its scant 104 pages. This is a weird book from such a talented, celebrated author. I expected much better.
July 15, 2022
Det enda positiva jag har att säga om den här serien är att jag kunde läsa den på Inläsningstjänst innan jag behövde fatta ett beslut om jag skulle lägga en del av skolbiblioteksbudgeten på att köpa in böckerna.
Dock kul att författaren själv är så nöjd med boken att hon gav den fem stjärnor!
Dock kul att författaren själv är så nöjd med boken att hon gav den fem stjärnor!
May 30, 2025
It is a very rapidly intriguing and dramatic story about a young lady, Clarie Abbot, trying to detect a school bomber based merely on her quirky instinct, while trying to convince other that she's is not mentally insane. An extraordinary suspenful and high anxiety novella!
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
July 4, 2017
Claire is having bad dreams. She realizes that she is seeing the future. When she tries to tell everyone that there really is a bomb in the school, she loses her job, her reputation and the respect of the police and fire departments. She knows she is right, but how to convince everyone else.
October 2, 2016
Race Against Time #3. Gail Anderson-Dargatz. Three books Claire Abbott Mystery series. iBook. 2/10/2016. 1/5
Book for kids. Disappointed.
Book for kids. Disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews