Title:- Twenty Years Later
Author:- Charlie Donlea
Date published:- December 28th 2021
No. of pages:- 357 pages
Genre:- Thriller
Rating:-
Plot:- 5/5 Writing:- 4/5
Overall rating:- 4.5/5
Hiding her own dark past in plain sight, a TV reporter is determined to uncover the truth behind a gruesome murder decades after the investigation was abandoned. But TWENTY YEARS LATER, to understand the present, you need to listen to the past…
Avery Mason, host of American Events, knows the subjects that grab a TV audience’s attention. Her latest story—a murder mystery laced with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal—is guaranteed to be ratings gold. New DNA technology has allowed the New York medical examiner’s office to make its first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. The twist: the victim, Victoria Ford, had been accused of the gruesome murder of her married lover. In a chilling last phone call to her sister, Victoria begged her to prove her innocence.
Emma Kind has waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but closure won’t be complete until she can clear Victoria’s name. Alone she’s had no luck, but she’s convinced that Avery’s connections and fame will help. Avery, hoping to negotiate a more lucrative network contract, goes into investigative overdrive. Victoria had been having an affair with a successful novelist, found hanging from the balcony of his Catskills mansion. The rope, the bedroom, and the entire crime scene was covered in Victoria’s DNA.
But the twisted puzzle of Victoria’s private life is just the beginning. And what Avery doesn’t realize is that there are other players in the game who are interested in Avery’s own secret past—one she has kept hidden from both the network executives and her television audience. A secret she thought was dead and buried . . .
Accused of a brutal murder, Victoria Ford made a final chilling call from the North Tower on the morning of 9/11. Twenty years ago, no one listened. Today, you will.
Avery Mason is a popular host of a reality TV series. Avery came across a new story that involves murder, kinky sex, tragedy and betrayal that will grab the attention of the general republic. In 2001, months before 9/11, Victoria Ford was accused of the brutal murder of a famous author Cameron Young as her DNA was all over the crime scene. On the day of 9/11, she was meeting her lawyer at the North Tower when the plane barged into the top part of the building. Before her death, Victoria made a frantic call to her sister, telling her that she was innocent and that someone was trying to frame her for murder. Now twenty years later, through the latest DNA technology, the remains of Victoria Ford was identified and Avery takes up the case to prove that she was innocent. She has to work with Walt Jenkins, the detective who was involved in Victoria’s murder case at the time. Walt Jenkins is also dealing with own drama as well as tasked to follow Avery Mason as she is running from her past and that she could be helping someone who is a fugitive.
This was very interesting and intriguing. How science and latest technology is able to identify the remains of the victims of 9/11 was interesting to read. This was fast paced and the writing was great that I was hooked into the story from the start of the chapter. Both the main characters, Avery and Walt are dealing with their own drama and demons. The first 10% of the story wasn’t really interesting but soon it got way more interesting and unputdownable. There is dual time line–between present (2021) and the day when Cameron Young got murdered and Walt investigating the case twenty years ago, and you could actually see the vast contrast of technology when reading both the timelines. This is the first time I am reading from this author and this thriller was quiet page turning and not able to put down at all. Whole concept of the story was interesting and unique as well–a murder that happened twenty years ago and the fact that the suspects’ remains were found at the scene of 9/11. Literally, this is one of the authors that thriller fans must look for as this book was unputdownable. Not to mention the ending was totally unexpected as well.
Overall this is worth 4.5 stars.
Charlie Donlea is the USA TODAY, IndieBound, and #1 Internationally bestselling author of critically acclaimed, propulsive thrillers including THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN, DON’T BELIEVE IT, TWENTY YEARS LATER, and THOSE EMPTY EYES. His ninth thriller, GUESS AGAIN, is out now.
Published in 40 countries and translated into twenty-five languages, his books have sold nearly 3 million copies in the U.S. alone.
He spends a part of each year fishing with his father in the far reaches of Canada, where the roads end and lakes are accessible only by floatplane. These majestic trips to “God’s Country” inspired the settings for his novels Summit Lake and GUESS AGAIN, coming in August 2025.
He resides in Chicago with his wife and two children.
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