Book Review: The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane

The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane
Publisher: Mira
Pub Date: June 19, 2012
Hardcover, 400 pages
ISBN: 9780778313373
My rating: 4.25/5.0

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My Review:

I really enjoyed The Line Between Here and Gone. It's the second in the Forensic Instincts series, but it's the first one I have read and while I can see where reading the first in the series can give you a greater understanding of the main players behind Forensic Instincts. I didn't have any problem reading the second book without reading the first book.

The Line Between Here is Gone is very exciting and Ms. Kane keeps up the suspense plot until just about the end, but near the end everything is explained and then the final 1/8 of the book is kind of filler. Yes it was important filler (I liked the epilogue the best, I found it to be essential). But for some reason I felt like the book ended too soon or could have been wrapped up earlier. Honestly I'm not sure what I felt about the end. I'm happy, I like it, but I'm not sure if I felt it was wrapped up too quickly or just too early. But it only gets minor takeaway points because the other 7/8 of the book is just plain amazing. I wanted to get the negative out of the way first so I could focus on the positive.

So what was positive. I love the Forensic Instincts team. Love the banter and attraction between Claire-voyant (as Ryan calls her), who is the psychic in the group and Ryan, the general computer guru and tech everything. Love Marc and his love of his children and his ability to soothe Amanda. I also enjoyed getting to know Amanda's father figure Patrick, whose FBI background keeps the whole team in line at times. Then there is Casey, who heads up the entire team. Casey is tough as nails but sometimes these cases get to her. And actually my favorite member is not human at all, but is Yoda. I love Yoda, he is so cool and you'll have to read the book to find out about Yoda. This group will handle the tough cases that haven't been solved and since they aren't the police or a government entity they can cross lines sometimes to get the job done.

And this case falls right into Marc's lap and he just can't say no to the upset mother who just wants to save her baby by finding the baby's father that may or may not be dead. When Forensic Instincts gets involved they begin to learn there is much more to this than meets the eye and that the death that did not happen may go higher than they are allowed to touch, yet they will stop at nothing to save baby Justin and find Paul and bring him home to make all of this possible.

The intrigue was well-plotted. The skipping around from scene-to-scene and person-to-person, sometimes not even letting the reader know who was in the scene was very effective for building the suspense during the story. I loved watching the members of Forensic Instincts slowly put the pieces together. But what I loved even more than that was watching them fall for baby Justin and realize there was more to this case than bringing down the big dogs, that this case was about saving a baby. That was really great to see.

The Line Between Here and Gone is a well-crafted novel balancing the creation of characters with the execution of a suspense plot. I enjoyed every minute of reading this book and I had a hard time putting it down. I wanted to know what happened to Paul and would baby Justin be saved. I felt myself pulled in and pulling for this baby, and feeling the emotions of Amanda. Ms. Kane knows how to play the readers emotions and make them feel a part of the book. If you enjoy a good suspense thriller then this is the book for you. AS for me, I'm going back to find The Girl Who Disappeared Twice Now because I don't think I can wait much longer for the next Forensics Instincts book.

About The Line Between Here and Gone:
Each day is a struggle for Amanda Gleason’s newborn son as he battles a rare immune deficiency. Justin’s best chance for a cure lies with his father, who was brutally murdered before Amanda even realized she carried his child. Or was he?

One emailed photo changes everything, planting a seed of doubt that Amanda latches onto for dear life: a recent photo of a man who looks exactly like Paul. Could Justin’s father be alive? The mother in her is desperate to find out. But tracking down a ghost when every second counts is not for amateurs.

Forensic Instincts is the one team up for the challenge.
The manhunt is on for the elusive father. Yet the further the team digs into Paul’s past, the more questions are raised about whether the man Amanda fell in love with ever really existed at all.
Dark secrets. Carefully crafted lies. From the Congressional halls of Washington D.C. to exclusive Hamptons manors, there are ruthless people who would stop at nothing to make Forensic Instincts forget about the man Amanda desperately needs to find.

Little do they realize that once Forensic Instincts takes the case, nothing will stop them from uncovering the shocking truth that transcends THE LINE BETWEEN HERE AND GONE.

***I received this book from BookTrib for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***