The Nightmare Thief by Meg Gardiner

In the California wilderness no one can hear you scream.

San Francisco Forensic Psychiatrist Jo Beckett doesn’t dissect the body or the crime scene – she dissects a life and a mind, recreating the victim as a person, piecing together the story of their death to get to the truth. And then she goes after the killer.

Autumn Reiniger wants something special for her twenty-first birthday. Daddy’s bought her the car and the apartment, but now she wants excitement. And what Autumn desires, she gets.

Her father signs-up her and five friends for an ultimate urban reality game. ‘Edge Adventures’ alert the SF police that a ‘crime situation’ is underway, so the authorities will ignore any squealing tires or desperate cries for help.

Then – when working on a case nearby – Jo Beckett encounters a group of men carting six sullen college kids to the woods for a wilderness adventure. Suspicious, she takes a closer look. And winds up with an invite to a birthday party she may never leave …

When I began reading The Nightmare Thief by Meg Gardiner – in the very early hours of Saturday morning – I had in the back of my mind the idea that I would read a couple of chapters, put it to bed so to speak and pick up the following morning just like any sane person would do – after all it was the weekend! Two hours and a strong cup of Twinnings tea later I admitted defeat, turned off the light, placed the book on the bedside cabinet and slept!

The opening chapters in any book are incredibly important and given the number of hours – sometimes days – a book demands of us, get it wrong and you’ve lost a potential customer for future publications – obviously very important for serialisations. No such fears with Meg Gardiner’s latest offering however, the opening chapters are full of adrenaline packed scenarios, effortlessly setting the scene all the while building a solid foundation for the skirmishes and twists found later in the book.

The Nightmare Thief sees Meg Gardiner’s leading ladies – Jo Beckett and Evan Delaney – join forces for the very first time in what is Jo Beckett’s fourth outing, although the pair don’t actually have that much face time in this book. They do work well together, albeit from afar, aiding each other’s attempts to secure a satisfactory conclusion to a game that began innocently enough. The question is can their combined power stop the inevitable?

Characterisation is well developed and although Jo Beckett is billed as the protagonist in this series it was Gabe – her boyfriend and National Guard pararescueman – who shone for me. A strong character he manages to exert his experience and personality on the group, a group in serious trouble, as they try to find a way out from a deadly predicament. Jo and Gabe work well together and the relationship is an interesting one that Gardiner develops and explores throughout.

Published by Blue Door The Nightmare Thief is available in hardback and kindle

As I have already alluded to earlier, the narrative flows unhindered from beginning to end giving a very quick and enjoyable read. However, with 150 pages left the book, the story moves up another couple of gears and is incredibly fast paced as Gardiner packs in an amazing amount of detail in the closing scenes. There were times when the unexpected occurred – always a good thing – but on the whole I had a feeling I knew roughly what the outcome would be (I didn’t get everything right!). That said Gardiner keeps the reader on his or her toes by throwing the odd curveball in for good measure. There are a number of spine chilling deaths along the way and one Indiana Jones would be quaking in his boots – enough of a hint?!

I would have liked to see a little more police procedural /forensics in the book but given this story is more of a wilderness adventure and survival than a police procedural this should come as no surprise! The storytelling is powerful and Gardiner certainly knows how to write suspense thrillers.

A highly enjoyable read with great character development, The Nightmare Thief is a gripping wilderness adventure with more than enough suspense thrown in for good measure! Next time you plan a birthday surprise – just check the small print! Recommended.

Published by Blue Door The Nightmare Thief is available in hardback and kindle