SHE FELL AWAY by Lenore Nash

5 stars

This amazing literary thriller, told in such a compelling, clear, intelligent voice, centers on Lake Harlow, a U.S. diplomatic staffer who’s relocated from Phnom Penh to what she hopes will be an easier assignment out to the New Zealand embassy. But just as she arrives, a rising young singer with a huge social media following, Bowie Bishop, goes missing during her study abroad year. At the same time, a young rising American NFL quarterback, Bruce Walter, is found dead at his Airbnb rental in Wellington of what seems an accidental overdose.

Lake contends with both sets of over-the-top upset parents. Bruce’s parents had no idea he had traveled to New Zealand, and his bellicose Dad comes in screaming, pounding his fist, and exercising his wealth and power to intimidate the New Zealand law enforcement to find answers. Bowie’s single mom, Suzie, an over-the-top controlling stage Mom and aging former rocker who’s micromanaged her daughter’s social media rise, arrives in New Zealand both distraught and overbearing. Lake gets assigned to handle both sets of parents, a no-win assignment, and to liaison with New Zealand law enforcement in their investigations, including a dashing police sergeant, Mason Yates, around her own age.

Things get even more complicated when Lake realizes that Bowie’s Mom is a long time employee of Bruce’s Dad’s Las Vegas casino, and there may be a link between the two incidents. On top of this, the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, Lake’s boss who has been known to hit on young women and who’s friends with Bruce’s Dad, warms Lake to back off looking further into either case. And there may be a much larger conspiracy underfoot of the death and disappearance.

In a race for time, Lake, who’s haunted by her own traumatic childhood being raised in Alaska, feels a deep personal stake in the search for Bowie. Much of the novel delves in to Lake’s interior thoughts and crises, as powerful as the external events in her continuing desperate search for Bowie, with time ticking at every turn.

Here’s hoping that Nash, a clearly talented former Foreign Service officer, carves out more time from her romance writing to turn out more outstanding thrillers like this one!

Waiting eagerly for the next sequel featuring Lake!

Thanks for Simon & Schuster for a review copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.