Three Weeks to Say Goodbye

I think we can officially declare C.J. Box to be the Mountain West equivalent to Harlan Coben. Both started out with mystery series about unconventional detectives and now both write stand-alone thrillers centered on their respective regions (New Jersey/New York for Coben and Mountain West for Box).

THREE WEEKS TO SAY GOODBYE is Box's second stand-alone thriller and like BLUE HEAVEN, it is an extremely fast read. If it hadn't been for some personal business, I would have finished it in a day. Like most well-written thrillers, the story pulls the reader in from the first page and refuses to let go. That isn't to say it is the most perfect story ever, but good reading can activate suspension of disbelief much easier.

The story is simple enough - a couple is told that the father of their adopted daughter is now exerting his parental rights. This young man happens to be the son of a powerful federal judge who gives our heroes three weeks to say goodbye. Of course, everything isn't as it seems and our heroes and their friends must find out why before they lose their daughter.

Some of our plot twists are telegraphed, but the novel still entertains and is fun to read. And that's all that matters in the end isn't it?