Friday, March 8, 2019

"Without a Trace" by Emily Thomas


About this book:

  “Following a meeting of the Blue Hill Library's writing group. Lucas Miller disappears. His teenage daughters, Remi and Bella, who are also part-time library employees, are unable to console their distraught mother when Lucas's car is found crashed into a tree outside of town, without him in it. Anne reluctantly agrees to look into the published author's disappearance, but the mystery gets more tangled with each clue she finds. What does the strange code in Lucas's last manuscript mean? How is his disappearance related to the rash of break-ins happening around town?
  Meanwhile, Ben and Liddie's grandparents are coming to town to spend time with them. Their presence floods Anne with bittersweet memories of her late husband, and their attempts to encourage her to consider dating again upset Ben. As the case keeps pulling Anne's attention away, she struggles to give her family the time they deserve.”


Series: Book #13 in the “Secrets of the Blue Hilly Library” series. Reviews of #1 Here, #2 Here, #3 Here, #4 Here, #5 Here, #6 Here, #7 Here, #8 Here, #9 Here, #10 Here, #11 Here, and #12 Here!


Spiritual Content- A few Scriptures are quoted, read, & remembered; Bible reading; Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of Bible reading & those in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, & a reverend; A few mentions of faiths; A few mentions of mission trips; A mention of being blessed;
             *Note: A few mentions of a statue of a god; A couple mentions of evil intentions.


Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’ and a ‘stupid’; A mention of a curse (said, not written); Going to a casino (for the mystery, not to actually gamble); All about many mentions of a car accident, disappearance, & wondering if the person is still alive (barely-above-not-detailed); All about many mentions of illegal activities, casinos, & gambling; Mentions of car accidents, injuries, blood, & deaths; Mentions of guns being aimed, gunshots, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of kidnappings, being abducted, & being held hostage; Mentions of crimes (including organized crimes, theft, burglary, and drug charges); Mentions of intruders/thieves, break-ins, & stolen/missing items; Mentions of threats; Mentions of prisons; Mentions of drinking & not being drunk; Mentions of marijuana, cigarettes, smoking, & smoke; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of a husband leaving his family & others doing the same; A couple mentions of vandalism; A couple mentions of rumors; A couple mentions of divorces; A mention of the mafia;
             *Note: Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of social media platforms; A mention of a TV show (Dick Van Dyke); A mention of a band (Beach Boys); A mention of a GQ magazine.


Sexual Content- A little bit of Noticing; A man comments to/flirts with Anne a couple times (not necessarily inappropriate comments, but awkward just the same); two ‘babe’s; Mentions of a married man possibly seeing another woman & possibly cheating (he is not); Mentions of a high school sweetheart, dating, dates, boyfriends, & girlfriends; A few mentions of kisses; A few mentions of a man making passes at a woman; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of winks & blushes.

-Anne Gibson, age 34
                                P.O.V. of Anne
                                                        270 pages

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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
To be very honest, this was probably my least favorite in this series to date. The whole plot seemed very far fetched and a little over-the-top dramatic to me. I go into a Guidepost mystery as a laid back and calm read, but this one really wasn’t with the FBI ties and two kidnappings. Felt a little Hallmark movie-ish in the sense of the writing.
On the other side of the plot with Anne deciding if she’s interested in dating or not, it does seem a bit sudden compared to the previous books. A couple parts made me tear up (Liddie’s comment) and I still look forward to reading the rest of the series to see what will happen.


See y’all on Friday with a new review!


*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.

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