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Above Ground
“Gerdes’s nail-biting latest takes the reader into the edge-of-your-seat jaunt through Las Vegas’s underbelly. A promising setup and intelligent prose complement the unpredictable plot and the twisty and satisfying conclusion. Though romance remains only an undercurrent throughout, Romantic suspense readers looking for page-turning crime drama will enjoy this engrossing outing. Gerdes knows how to entertain.” Prairie Book Review 3.19.21 --- Under the bright lights of the Strip, another world exists, one where dancers live beside professionals who can’t afford a place to live—or don’t want to be found—in one of the world’s most famous cities. Corridors of sleeping areas are separated from communal food sections, heat and water allocated. It is the community of the water sewers, nearly three hundred miles of tunnels existing below Las Vegas. --- Attorney Shay Wilson has worked her way from a single wide trailer to UNLV where she graduated top of class, taking a job at the top trust and estates firm in town. One day, she will open her own firm, one proudly displaying her name. But her dreams aren’t forthcoming. New clients are taken by the law firms female managing partner, her rent has increased and her pride prevents her from asking her surrogate father for money. Uncompromising, she returns to bartending a few nights a week at the hottest club in town, new clients follow, as do designer clothes and a luxury apartment on the strip. Yet as her success increases, so does the number of lawyers dying in roadway accidents. Stolen goods, money laundering and human trafficking are no longer jokes said at law school, but real activities. Falling in love with a detective who believes she may be a suspect, and avoiding a clothing executive convinced she is fencing his stolen products, she must keep her job, prove her innocence and learn the truth before she becomes one more dead attorney.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 26, 2021
2 people are currently reading
About the author
Sarah Gerdes
27 books45 followersMy readers know that the works I create are based on the people I meet, the experiences I’ve enjoyed and the places I’ve traveled. Therein lies the essence of the Traveling Author, for that’s what I am. Where some sit and write book after book, my lifestyle is one where I take a break, traveling to rejuvenate my mind, body and soul, absorbing all that I’ve encountered, then I return to my home and produce a novel.
Travel with me as I search for inspiration. You can virtually tag along, or show up with a book in hand. My itineraries are posted on my website under Destinations.
Travel with me as I search for inspiration. You can virtually tag along, or show up with a book in hand. My itineraries are posted on my website under Destinations.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 16, 2021
Gerdes spices up her latest suspense thriller with romance, intrigue, and murder.
As a new attorney, Shay Wilson is barely making ends meet. Out of desperation, she begins to bartend at the most happening club in the city. The money is good, and she’s able to score new contacts for her private practice. Meanwhile, bodies of lawyers are piling up in the city. When Shay uncovers some unexpected and disturbing details about her new clients, her investigation leads her to a direct link between her clients and the recent murders. With her life in danger, Shay has no option but to enter the dark underground world and join a deadly game of survival.
The pacing is smooth and even, and Gerdes balances the tension and grisliness of the underground life with affecting romance, sharp dialogue, and fully-fleshed out characterization. Shay is feisty throughout, and the extreme hardening of her character toward the end is both surprising and uplifting.
Gerdes seamlessly weaves the gritty crime drama around the characters into the love and loss in their lives. Setting her rich narrative against the sin city’s vibrant scenery integral to the plot, she keeps pages turning. But what makes this novel most engaging is Gerdes’s ability to suffuse her story with rich details of her protagonist’s life, as well as sizzling doses of intrigue and mystery.
Intelligent prose, entertaining storytelling, and enticing suspense make this a read to be savored.
As a new attorney, Shay Wilson is barely making ends meet. Out of desperation, she begins to bartend at the most happening club in the city. The money is good, and she’s able to score new contacts for her private practice. Meanwhile, bodies of lawyers are piling up in the city. When Shay uncovers some unexpected and disturbing details about her new clients, her investigation leads her to a direct link between her clients and the recent murders. With her life in danger, Shay has no option but to enter the dark underground world and join a deadly game of survival.
The pacing is smooth and even, and Gerdes balances the tension and grisliness of the underground life with affecting romance, sharp dialogue, and fully-fleshed out characterization. Shay is feisty throughout, and the extreme hardening of her character toward the end is both surprising and uplifting.
Gerdes seamlessly weaves the gritty crime drama around the characters into the love and loss in their lives. Setting her rich narrative against the sin city’s vibrant scenery integral to the plot, she keeps pages turning. But what makes this novel most engaging is Gerdes’s ability to suffuse her story with rich details of her protagonist’s life, as well as sizzling doses of intrigue and mystery.
Intelligent prose, entertaining storytelling, and enticing suspense make this a read to be savored.
April 16, 2021
Gerdes’s nail-biting latest takes the reader into the edge-of-your-seat jaunt through Las Vegas’s underbelly.
ears ago, the determined Shay Wilson worked as a bartender to pay her tuition fee toward a career in law—only to return to bartending after her law practice couldn’t provide enough to pay the never-ending bills. Now she has money and contacts to start her own practice. While working with a client, she unravels a sinister secret that throws her in the path of a dangerous organization. Finding refuge in the dark world that exists underground in the city, Shay must do everything in her power to face the deadly enemy or become another murder victim.
The narrative is lively, and the action remains tense and convincing. There’s an endearing sweetness at the core of Shay’s relationship with Gabriel, particularly in the way Gabriel is always there for her, helping her glide through life and making her feel safe and protected. Shay, meanwhile, is fiery and charismatic. By the end, she emerges as a ruthlessly savage person, who would go to any length to protect what they hold dear.
A promising setup and intelligent prose complement the unpredictable plot and the twisty and satisfying conclusion. Though romance remains only an undercurrent throughout, Romantic suspense readers looking for page-turning crime drama will enjoy this engrossing outing.
Gerdes knows how to entertain.
ears ago, the determined Shay Wilson worked as a bartender to pay her tuition fee toward a career in law—only to return to bartending after her law practice couldn’t provide enough to pay the never-ending bills. Now she has money and contacts to start her own practice. While working with a client, she unravels a sinister secret that throws her in the path of a dangerous organization. Finding refuge in the dark world that exists underground in the city, Shay must do everything in her power to face the deadly enemy or become another murder victim.
The narrative is lively, and the action remains tense and convincing. There’s an endearing sweetness at the core of Shay’s relationship with Gabriel, particularly in the way Gabriel is always there for her, helping her glide through life and making her feel safe and protected. Shay, meanwhile, is fiery and charismatic. By the end, she emerges as a ruthlessly savage person, who would go to any length to protect what they hold dear.
A promising setup and intelligent prose complement the unpredictable plot and the twisty and satisfying conclusion. Though romance remains only an undercurrent throughout, Romantic suspense readers looking for page-turning crime drama will enjoy this engrossing outing.
Gerdes knows how to entertain.
July 26, 2021
Above Ground is a thrilling romantic suspense that takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions while exploring the underground taverns and extraordinary nightlife of Vegas!! Who knew such a world existed?!! Gerdes does a spectacular job of keeping her readers engaged and thirsting for more. Get ready...hold on to your seats, because everything for sure is not always what it seems.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews