This sounded like the sort of mystery I�Ûªd like, and it clearly struck a chord with many goodreaders. I listened to the audiobook edition and confess that I gave up after listening to 40% of the book.

The concept of a bulldog newspaper reporter (Jason Wade) seeking to solve the mysterious abduction of a baby is a good one. However, the characters all seemed stereotypical. The dialog is mostly in short, clipped phrases. The point of view is continually shifting, often first person of whatever character is focused on, but sometimes omniscient third person. Jason and the police are completely stuck. Then came a chapter where we suddenly crawl inside the head of the perpetrator. That‰Ûªs when I quit.

The narrator Paul Costanzo spoke slowly but consistently in a tone of heightened tension regardless of context. Think Dragnet: ‰ÛÏJason felt hungry. Went to coffee lounge; looked at the vending machine. Tried to decide what to select. Knew he was eating too much junk. Inserted his coins anyway and pressed. Went back to his desk, deadline approaching.‰Û

Returned audiobook. Now can‰Ûªt enter review on audible. Got to remember to write review first.... ( )

A tantalizing thriller!

4 solid stars for a great suspense thriller by Canadian author Rick Mofina. This is the first novel by this author that I have read and it did not disappoint me.

Every Fear explores what happens when a child is abducted and the mother is involved in a hit-and-run and left for dead. The investigation and search for the abductors is examined from all angles--from the viewpoint of a reporter, a tough police investigator, the father of the abducted child and many other characters.

If I have any criticism about Every Fear it is this: there is such a large cast of characters that it's difficult to say whose story it really is. The back text led me to believe it was Jason Wade's story--the journalist. Yet, while the characters were three-dimensional and kept fairly distinguishable from each other, I felt at times the large cast took away from the story and from the emotional impact the novel could have explored more. I would have liked to have seen more of how the father was affected by his son's disappearance. I also would have liked to see the relationship between Jason and Grace develop more naturally, with time and with more interaction between them. But that's just me.

Regardless, the action in Mofina's novel is razor sharp, the journey is tense, and the plot of an abducted child is a basic fear of every parent, and ironically, one I also dealt with in my latest (unreleased) novel Children of the Fog.

Overall, a tantalizing thriller that keeps you turning pages. If you're looking for a great beach read, I highly recommend this novel. I took it with me to Mexico and finished it in 3 days! Well written, crisp language and expertly detailed, Every Fear is a novel worth reading.

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
Canadian suspense author ( )

great mystery!! ( )