Keep Her Safe by K. A. Tucker

suspense/ romantic suspense

Summary

Noah is the son of Austin Police Department’s female chief of police. He’s had a relatively comfortable lifestyle, if you can overlook his mother Jackie‘s growing alcoholism. One night, a drunken Jackie alludes to the horrible secret that’s destroying her: she’s believes she’s guilty in the death of her former police partner, Abe. Then she dies.

Abe had been the perfect cop, Noah’s father figure. Abe’s violent death and evidence of his corruption and drug connections had stunned young Noah.  Now, devastated by his mother’s suicide, he struggles to understand what she meant. He was a good man . . . I need her to know . . . Don’t wait too long . . . They don’t have much time . . .  

Gracie‘s been dealing with her mother’s drug addiction for a long time. Now a young adult, she’s worried that her mother will overdose again and it will be too late to save her. Their life is wretched, but at least no one in their trailer park knows that her dad was a corrupt cop.

When Noah shows up on her trailer doorstep, the two are thrown together by unexpected events. Neither understand Jackie’s last words. Neither can deny their growing attraction to each other. But as they seek answers to long-held secrets, it’s clear that others–including some powerful police–don’t want these questions answered. It’s also clear that the truth might destroy their new relationship.

My thoughts: 

This was a satisfying novel. Still, one issue lingered in my mind.

Noah is awesome. Too awesome.

Polite, strong, self-sacrificing, courageous, swoon-worthy, good looking. (Have you ever met a romantic hero who is ugly?) In real life, he’s the type of guy I’d want my daughters bringing home, but I might wonder if he’s a little too good to be true. Scratch that. I’m so suspicious that I would definitely wonder about Mr. Perfect’s intentions. Thankfully, we see Noah’s point of view and see that he’s got a bit of a temper and has doubts about his decisions. But major character flaws? I didn’t see any.

I don’t read romance or even romantic suspense, so I don’t know whether this is typical of male lead characters or not. But it detracted from the suspense for me, as I knew that given Noah’s character, he would choose to do the right thing, no matter what. If this type of characterization is standard in this genre/subgenre, then the fault lies in me, rather than the author. Other readers might enjoy this more.

There’s plenty of terrific things in this novel, though.

Gracie & Noah

These are young adults who have had to grow up too fast. Both feel responsibility toward a troubled mother. Both are missing a father-figure. Technically Noah has one–he lived with his father for several years–but he really views Abe as his father.

Their first meeting is well-written. It’s a tense, dramatic, and all-too-real situation involving an overdose and the consequences, and both display their characters. The slight sexual tension between the two isn’t emphasized until later. Given the situation, that’s not surprising.

Their relationship develops quickly but that doesn’t seem unusual. Neither is certain if they can trust the other. Again, not surprising. (Would you trust some man who showed up with 98K in a duffel bag? Would you trust some woman who charged at you with a switchblade at first sight? Didn’t think so.)

At the same time, they both want their late parents to be admirable people and wonder if that’s true. This leads to the biggest conflict in the book:

If Abe’s name is cleared, that implicates Jackie in a cover-up.

If Jackie wasn’t involved in a cover-up, then Abe was rightly labelled a corrupt cop.

The two scenarios are mutually exclusive. And the more involved Gracie and Noah become, the harder it will be when one of those situations emerges as the truth–hard enough that it could destroy their relationship.

The realities of addiction, suicide, & trafficking

Tucker doesn’t sugarcoat the effects of addiction. Multiple overdoses, aborted rehab stints, and broken promises leave Grace skeptical that Dina will make stay clean this time. She’s certain that one day, she’ll come home to a dead mother. Noah wants to deal with Jackie’s alcoholism but is unsure where to turn for help.

As a suicide survivor, he’s wracked with guilt. The what if‘s and whys and should I have seen this coming? haunt him.

While the sexual trafficking subplot isn’t emphasized, there’s enough to be unsettling and show how horrible the realities are for too many people.

The dual timeline

For once, this works! (More on this in the tips for writers section.)

Overall, this is a strong novel. Recommended.

Bonus tip for writers

This is a dual timeline that works. The present day story is told from Noah and Gracie’s POVs, the past told from Abe and Jackie’s POVs. (All are in 1st person narration.) The flashbacks keep the story moving forward because the scenes are relevant to what is happening in the present day. There are links between the two. Two examples (no spoilers):

When a black duffel bag shows up in one of the flashbacks, we immediately grasp the significance because a black duffel bag has shown up in a recent present day chapter. Like Noah and Gracie, we’ve wondered where it came from. Now we know. But its appearance also raises important questions about the link between that past event to the bag’s present location and owner, neither of which are at that past event.

A similar thing happens when a peripheral character from the present day steps into a flashback and shows his importance. Our new knowledge about him changes how we view him in the present day and raises more story questions. It also raises our suspicions and our fears that the heroes (Noah and Gracie) will be hurt by him.

Use flashbacks to keep the story moving forward. It can be done!

This review appears in part on Goodreads.