Review: The Survivor by Diann Mills

TV reporter-turned crime novelist Kariss Walker is approached by Dr Amy Garrett, The Survivor of a brutal childhood assault in which the culprit was never caught. Amy wants her story told, and asks Kariss to write it. In her personal life, Karris is recovering from having broken off her relationship with FBI agent Special Agent Santiago (Tigo) Harris, partly because of his lack of Christian faith.

Tigo and his partner, Ryan Steadman, are pulled off a gang killing to investigate the carbomb murder of Joanna Yeat and her daughter. It seems at first that the real target might have been her husband, Jonathan Yeat, but the picture of the perfect family soon shows cracks.

The nature of a suspense novel means that the reader knows there must be some link between these two plot lines, but it isn’t immediately apparent. When it comes, it’s well done, but I thought the ending was too contrived and there were a couple of minor plot points that were never properly resolved (e.g. who did Joanna meet at the mall?).

And, out of interest, is there a single contemporary fiction character that doesn't own an iPhone and/or an iPad? Does Apple pay for this advertising? If not, why don’t any novels feature characters with tablets from Dell, HP or Samsung? Or phones from Motorola, Nokia or Sony? This isn’t a criticism of The Survivor—it just seems that every contemporary novel I open has an iPhone and an iPad, and it’s getting annoying.

Overall, this was a solid but not outstanding novel that will appeal to fans of Christian romantic suspense and authors such as Dee Henderson, Irene Hannon, Dani Pettrey and Susan May Warren. The Survivor is a sequel, and while it can be read as a standalone, it will be better read in sequence, as The Chase covers the first part of Kariss and Tigo’s relationship.

Thanks to Zondervan and Booksneeze for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Diann Mills at her website.