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A review by ericarobyn
The Unknown Man by Natalie Hanson
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
The Unknown Man by Natalie Hanson is a dark mystery about an FBI agent that is blackmailed into taking on a case. Thinking she will handle things quickly, she has absolutely no idea what she is really about to walk into.
CW: Cancer, Drug Abuse, and others. Check out my review on StoryGraph for more detail.
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from the author per request of an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
Zalla Bennbett is an FBI agent under immense pressure. Her husband is sick with cancer and his life may just depend on her keeping her job, and most importantly, her health insurance. But her boss is threatening to falsify evidence to get her fired if Zalla doesn’t get back with her after their short affair ended. By forcing her into the case, Zalla is sent to a small town to investigate the kidnapping of the twin daughters of one of the FBI's sources.
Hoping to handle things delicately, Zalla partners with Dallon Brown, one of the two local police officers. Right away, she is put-off by Dallon, but as they spend a little more time together, the two start to build a friendship.
At first, they struggle to find any leads. When they do happen to catch a break, the leads just keep bringing them to dead ends. That is, until the puzzle pieces begin to fall into place… but at that point, is it already too late?
This book is intense! From the pacing of the storyline itself, to the punches that the author throws left and right, this book will leave you stunned! So many scenes toward the end turned my stomach and left me a bit nauseated for hours after I put my Kindle down.
I cannot recommend this one highly enough to fans of dark mysteries!
My Favorite Passages from The Unknown Man
He wasn’t giving this blowhard any satisfaction. He’d lived in a lot of places in his life. Stupid seemed to be the same everywhere.
Suddenly he felt the weight of everything in his gut. Like and anchor has been tied to his lower intestines and tossed overboard.
“Everyone has a core, where the truth lives. People can try to put it in their basement and cover it with lies, but it’s still there,” she said.
“Small-town gossip is a beast that will chew you up and spit you out before you even realize it has you in it’s mouth.”
My Final Thoughts on The Unknown Man
If the second book had been out when I completed this read, I would have snagged it and jumped in immediately! Needless to say, I will have my eyes on the look out for any new releases from Natalie Hanson! I can’t wait to see where this series goes!
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction, Vomit, and Trafficking
The author handles each of these topics wonderfully, but they are there, and they are quite dark!