Denise's Reviews > And There He Kept Her

Ahh, the dreaded 3-star review. I find these middle-of-the-road reads to be the hardest for writing reviews. There was nothing inherently wrong with this book, but it just lacked pizzazz.

I will say that the book is 50/50 police procedural and thriller, and I'm generally not a huge fan of police procedurals, but I don't even think that clouded my judgment here - there is just something missing in the overall effect. Ben Packard is the new sheriff in the small town of Sandy Lake. Unbeknownst to many in the town, he has a previous connection to Sandy Lake - his brother's disappearance years ago, which has never been solved. His first big case as sheriff though, is two missing teens, one of which just happens to be his cousin’s daughter. The closer he gets to the truth though, the darker the path and the more blurred the lines become between "villain" and "hero."

First of all, the title really gives it all away. There is no real twist and no question as to what happened and who the bad guy was. Hard and fast rule - if you're going to give away the whodunnit right away, the rest of the plot had better wow me. It didn't. Also, the "darkness" was a bit much for me. Emmett and Carl's characters and actions were over-the-top vile. I think Moehling was going for disturbing, but it was just disgusting. I liked Packard's character, but why tease the reader with his brother's unsolved disappearance and then never tie it in to the story in any way. I'm assuming it's because this is going to be a series, but I think opportunities were missed big time. I did enjoy the chapters about the dogs, and thank goodness, no animals were killed in the making of this story. Always a plus.

Simply put, if you are looking for a thriller, this is not it; if you are looking for an unputdownable, wild ride, this is not it either. I realize this is a debut work, and I wouldn't rule out reading another one of Moehling's books, as I think he has the writing chops - this one just didn't work for me though.