Review: STRANDED / by Dani Pettrey

Stranded / by Dani Pettrey (Alaskan Courage, 3)
Bethany House      ISBN 978-0764209840
Adult (HS)     Rating: 5

Dani Pettrey returns to the Alaskan wilderness, with another romantic suspense novel featuring the McKenna family.

In Stranded, Darcy St. James, a former investigative reporter, responds to a friend’s plea for help with a big story. When Darcy arrives at the Alaskan cruise ship, her friend has disappeared, and no one has answers for her. She remains on board as a travel reporter, and puts her life at risk as she investigates the mysterious disappearance.

Meanwhile, Gage McKenna is setting up adventure excursions for the cruise passengers on the cruise ship where Darcy is working. Gage and Darcy met earlier (in Shattered). But they have had no contact for the past five months due to a misunderstanding. They are surprised to run into each other again, and sparks begin to fly!

Darcy discovers a pattern to recent shipboard disappearances of other passengers. When Darcy’s life is in danger, Gage realizes how much he really cares for her. Together they try to unravel the sinister plot and find her friend before it is too late.

Pettrey crafts a mystery that will leave the reader guessing “who-done-it.” Stranded is filled with spine-tingling suspenseful plot twists, excellent character development, and just the right touch of romance. Her characters are imperfect and realistic — they endear themselves to the reader as they struggle with faith and relationship issues. As an author, Pettrey just gets better and better with each book in this series. Her next book, Silenced, is expected in 2014.

Fans of Dee Henderson, Irene Hanson, and other Christian suspense writers will not want to miss this next installment in the Alaska Courage series.

Disclaimer: Book reviews are my opinion of books I either purchased or received free of cost from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

Carol R. Gehringer