A review by amshofner
Countdown by Iris Johansen

4.0

Although there were a few hiccups along the way (such as the overuse of the phrase “play it by ear”), I was in the mood to be entertained, and this book did the trick. I hate reading other reviews before I write my own, but I made the mistake of doing so for this one. They weren’t very positive. Of the complaints regarding the plots – I didn’t feel as if it was far-fetched. I mean, it was, and likely nothing like that could ever happen, but part of the author’s job is to get you to suspend your beliefs, and get you to believe that whatever is happening in the book is completely possible. It worked for me.

From the Eve Duncan books that I do remember, Jane MacGuire was a young girl, scarred from her past. This gave me the chance to see her as a young woman, wise beyond her years. We also got to [re]meet Mark Trevor. It appears that the two have a tangled past, but this was my first introduction to him. I always seem to end up loving the “seemingly-unscrupulous-guy-who-is-really-actually-good” characters.

There was at least one point in the book (which was never addressed at the end) where I was practically shouting at Jane and Eve as to the identity of a reconstructed skull. I mean, if Jane is supposedly extremely smart, she would have made the connection herself, though she didn’t.

The rest of the remaining side characters were an interesting bunch, and I loved the twist at the very end, and what it now means for Jane.