SAFE HARBOR – Hope White
A Perfect 10
Love Inspired Suspense
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-44538-7
May 2013
Inspirational Series Suspense

Waverly Harbor, Pacific Northwest – Present Day

A 911 call from entrepreneur Edward Lange's cell phone brings Waverly Harbor Detective Alex Donovan to Lange's lakeside cabin, only to find Edward's dead body.  No sign of the cell phone, but the sound of someone sobbing draws Alex to the closet.  Inside he finds Nicole Harris, curled up and cowering behind a stack of boxes.  Trembling and barely able to speak, Nicole refuses to answer the questions Alex poses.  What could have frightened this woman so much?  Assuming she witnessed Lange's murder, Alex takes her into custody.  FBI agents are combing the cabin, and Alex is arguing with them, preventing them from taking Nicole into their own custody.  The FBI's ongoing investigations into Edward Lange's activities make Nicole an important witness who needs protection, but Alex refuses to cooperate.

And, as the argument ensues between Alex and the FBI agent, Nicole manages to slip away into the night, running into the nearby forest.  Nicole spent a lifetime with her father's threats to find her, maybe end her worthless life (in his words).  And now, a killer is after her as well.  The police won't help; she knows that by experience.  All those years living under her father's abuse while said police and the justice system failed to help her and her siblings.  As Nicole looks for a place to hide, a man appears in the shadows of the forest; he reaches for her, and she runs straight for the lake, falls over a tree root, and plunges into the freezing waters.

Is Waverly Harbor really a SAFE HARBOR for Nicole after a lifetime of running?  Already, her life has been threatened several times in the last twenty-four hours since Edward Lange was found dead.  She knows that Alex will help her; he's the only person she trusts to protect her, but how can they hide? Where can they hide?  The killer finds them with each hideout and each step of the way; it's almost as if someone were giving out their location over and over again.  Alex is determined to protect Nicole no matter what, even if he has to lose his job to do it.  He lost one woman he loved when he failed to protect her, and he refuses to let it happen again.  This time he plans to take Nicole somewhere safe and protected.

SAFE HARBOR is just a dream for Nicole.  She has nobody to lean on.  Alex has his God to turn to, but Nicole has never had a lot of faith in God.  He never thought to answer any of Nicole's prayers, so she's not going to depend upon Him to help out.  Until it is Alex who is the one in danger, then Nicole decides to turn one last time to God and prayer, even though He has never helped her, he has to help Alex!

Fast paced and perfectly orchestrated, SAFE HARBOR does not miss a beat!  The action is taut and the characters dynamic. You will not put the book down until you finish; that is a guarantee! This is just the kind of story I love to read, and SAFE HARBOR is absolutely the best suspense novel I have read this year!  You can't get much better than that, so I am giving it A PERFECT 10!

Diana Risso