Book Review: Don't Look Away

By: Leslie A. Smith

FROM THE BACK COVER:

CAN A MURDER VICTIM’S OWN MEMORIES BE USED TO SOLVE A CRIME?

Detective Veronica Sloan isn’t shocked by much. Having lived through the worst terrorist attacks in history—which destroyed much of Washington, D.C.—she’s immune to even the most vicious brutality. But even she is stunned by the discovery of a murder in the basement of the under-reconstruction White House. 

Because the victim was a participant in a top-secret experiment, Sloan and FBI Agent Jeremy Sykes have been assigned to investigate the homicide. Veronica has been training for just this kind of case, waiting to use her  special skills, anxious to learn if a recording device implanted in a victim’s head can help solve their murder….before the killer strikes again.

MY TWO CENTS:

So, I was a little thrown at first, since the victim in this story shares my name, down to the correct spelling (which is not common).  Once I got past that, this was an exceptionally compelling story.  The premise behind it, set in the future, after a terrorist attack that makes 9/11 look like it was planned by school kids, the country goes on super high alert, implanting its citizens with microchips containing vital (and very personal) stats.  Some of the chosen few become part of an experimental program, OEP, which implants an ocular recording device on their eye.  When the gruesome murder of my namesake, also a participant in the OEP program, is discovered in the basement of the “under construction” White House, Veronica “Ronnie” Sloan is called in to go through the victim’s recordings.  Along for the ride, is her almost stereotypical cop partner, Mark Daniels, who may (or may not) be secretly in love with her.  When Sloan is also attacked, and left for dead, her nemesis-that-she-lusts-after, Jeremy Sykes, is called in to help with the investigation.

When I started reading this story, I was almost disappointed because I thought I had called it within about the first quarter of the book.  Boy, was I wrong.  Ms. Smith does an excellent job of revealing hints along the way, without giving too much away.  If you want mystery, intrigue, strong characters, and an almost frightening look at a potential future for this country, you will not be disappointed with this book!  Looking forward to the next installment in the Veronica Sloan series.

I give it:
     and a