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Shady Cross on February 24, 2015 Pages: 298
Format: Paperback
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In one hand, small-time crook Stokes holds a backpack stuffed with someone else's money -- three hundred and fifty thousand dollars of it.
In the other hand, Stokes has a cell phone, which he found with the cash. On the line, a little girl he doesn't know asks, "Daddy? Are you coming to get me? They say if you give them the money they'll let you take me home."
From bestselling author James Hankins comes a wrenching story of an unscrupulous man torn between his survival instincts and the plight of a true innocent. Faced with the choice, Stokes discovers his conscience might not be as corroded as he thought.
Shady Cross by James Hankins is a suspenseful thriller that kept me turning the pages and wanting to see how it would play out. Stokes is an unlikely hero – a man with a checkered past who pulls off small con jobs to make his living. After one such job, he is heading home when he gets in an accident. He discovers a backpack full of cash along with a cell phone. When the phone rings, there is a scared little girl on the other end, asking if her Daddy is coming to get her.
Stokes is not a good guy. Even so, he struggles with what to do. He really wants to keep the money and skip town. But he also can’t get that little girl’s voice out of his head, along with the kidnappers’ threats. He feels obligated to do what he can to save her, even if he knows it’s probably not going to turn out well.
I ended up liking Stokes. I think what I liked best about him is that he is so flawed and he is not who you would expect to work at saving this little girl. But I think that because of his criminal history, he is able to do a lot of things along the way that most law-abiding citizens would never have done, even with a child’s life hanging in the balance.
The author does a great job of keeping the story suspenseful throughout. My heart was pounding and I kept turning page after page, wanting more of this story. This was a quick read for me because of that. The thriller aspect of the story was well done and I enjoyed the story. I would definitely read more in this genre from James Hankins.
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I can’t imagine being in Stokes shoes – I know I’d have to help in any way I could!
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