Finding Kate Huntley - Theresa Ragan

Finding Kate Huntley
Theresa Ragan

We begin this tale on a boat in the middle of the sea, at the dead of night. A young girl witnesses her Father’s death at the hands of a man with a serpent tattoo on his neck. It seems that the man on the verge of finding the cure for AIDs has amassed some resourceful enemies. Just before he dies, her Father tells her that she can’t trust anyone and to run. 10 years later, Kate Huntley is living on the Island of Haiti. Taking her Fathers advice to heart, she has spent the years training herself to protect herself and keeping people at a distance. She has always been prepared for her Father’s killer to find her, but she wasn’t prepared for the FBI agent Jack Caffrey to find her first. Jack is an agent with an obsession for missing person cases. After his sisters kidnapping, he scoured the files of missing girls, hoping he would gain some insight into her whereabouts. Upon the visits to these files, he came across Kate’s photo and with his eidetic memory, he never forgets a face. When comes across her face amongst the shots of a funeral in Haiti, he starts to investigate her, unwittingly informing her Fathers killers that she is still alive. After the murder of Kate’s Fathers best friend, and fellow scientist, Jack decides the time is right to pay her a visit. Unfortunately, he brings with him some unwelcome visitors, and pretty soon Kate and Jack are on the run from some very dangerous and influential people. When Jack is mysteriously placed on the FBI’s most wanted list for murder, hiding out becomes very difficult for the fugitives.  Who wants to prevent a cure for AIDs so badly, they are willing to kill anyone who gets in their way? Moreover, what on Earth could be the motive? With all Jacks contacts at the FBI compromised, is there anyway of getting out of this mess alive?

Wow, this book is like a James Bond movie. It starts with action but then it explodes into a dizzying tale of two people desperate to survive some very bad people. This is a suspense novel with a Romantic subplot, the main plot is the crime element and it is well thought out.  It took me a few chapters to get used to the pace of the book (I read more Romance, this does not start with guns!) but after I settled into it, I was hooked. Kate is a woman that I can admire. She had survived for years on her own, which means she had become quite hard and tough. Yes, people had taken the lost little girl into their homes after she was pulled out of the sea, but she never let them get close. When she meets Jack, she immediately tries to channel any feelings that she has towards him into sex. It’s probably a good idea but unfortunately, Jack is having none of this!  I liked her dry sense of humour and ability to get herself out of tough situations; I just thought she put herself in harm’s way a little too much! Jack is fun, but not tortured enough for my liking. He goes to find Kate because he believes it’s his job, and he stays because she gives him hope that his sister could still be alive. I enjoyed his restraint with her; he has feelings for her from quite early on and refuses to be a quick fling. The relationship building between the two is the same of the rest of the story, fast to build and a steady pace is kept at all points. There are smex scenes. They are sensual, rather than smutty and this fit well with the theme of the book.

The “who-dunnit” part of the plot takes up the bulk of the word-count. The majority of the bad guys aren’t cloaked, we see them and their motives throughout the course of the book, but the major question is always who is the mysterious “Lou” who seems to be giving out all the orders. The motive behind all the killings is made clear to the readers from an early point. Although the motives are simple, the plotting is anything but, and I had to concentrate to keep up with it. With the Bourne Identity style action sequences, more details are released about the whole plot behind the murder....I enjoyed the way everything  was revealed gradually. The author did seem to stay away from the old writer’s adage that you should torture your lead characters, instead settling on torturing the side characters. There is a myriad of well-written characters brought in to advance either the plot or the side plot. From Jack’s best friend AJ, to the neighbour’s children at their hideout, everyone had a role to play in the story. I liked the way that words were not wasted with this book, however this did mean that I had to pay extra attention, and often had to re track to figure out what I’d accidentally skimmed over.

A sexy, fast-paced, all action thriller that just didn’t let up! A good, solid read :D