The Mistaken, a Book Review

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A decent, hard-working man turns to the bottle and seeks violent vengeance in the aftermath of two tragic accidents. "Somewhere down deep inside me lurked a monster, an abomination, a bitter man so broken and lost that vengeance seemed the best course, the only road left to follow."

This was a thought running through the mind of Tyler Karras, the hero of The Mistaken, the fiction debut of Nancy S. Thompson. Tyler is living the American dream in San Francisco, when his brother joins ranks with the local Russian mafia. Tyler tries to intervene on his brother's behalf, but instead only becomes himself a target for their wrath.

Tyler's wife, pregnant with their first child, falls victim to a credit card scam and when she goes to confront the woman who perpetrated the crime, she is killed in a traffic accident. Wallowing in grief and ravished by excessive alcohol consumption, Tyler strikes a deal to deliver the woman con artist to the mafia in exchange for his brother's freedom.

Only Tyler grabs the wrong woman. It's a simple case of mistaken identity, but it's not a simple thing to escape a promise to the mob.

Tyler travels with Hannah, the innocent woman whose life has become intertwined with his own, to a confrontation with the mafia, where Tyler plans to beg forgiveness for his mistake. But he learns that the thugs that await him will accept no alternative to the woman they were promised, unless it's the life of Tyler's brother.

Tyler and Hannah head toward their destiny with the intensity of a locomotive heading for a certain train wreck. They cannot escape from this dangerous journey anymore than we, as readers, can put down this novel as we await its violent conclusion.

The circumstances of the plot may be a little far-fetched, but the character transformations are totally believable. We feel for Tyler in his grief and urge him on as he seeks revenge against those who have brought such havoc to his life. We understand when Hannah, who is literally kidnapped before our eyes when we first meet her, eventually empathizes with her captor and envisions a life together with him.

We need to be reassured that Tyler and Hannah will escape certain death.

The best time to read The Mistaken is when you have a whole day, or an entire night, ahead of you, because you'll find it that difficult to put down the book.

The Mistaken is a tour de force debut by a new master of the romantic suspense thriller. I look forward anxiously to the next book by Nancy S. Thompson.

Buy The Mistaken and read it now!

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