Bonnie (Eve Duncan) [Kindle Edition]

Iris Johansen (Author)

Book Description

The truth has eluded her for years. . . . Now is she ready to face it?

 

When Eve Duncan gave birth to her daughter, she experienced a love she never knew existed. Nothing would stand in the way of giving Bonnie a wonderful life---until the unthinkable happened and the seven-year-old vanished into thin air. Eve found herself in the throes of a nightmare from which there was no escape. But a new Eve emerged: a woman who would use her remarkable talent as a forensic sculptor to help others find closure in the face of tragedy. Now with the help of her beloved Joe Quinn and CIA agent Catherine Ling, Eve has come closer than ever to the truth. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Bonnie’s father is a key player in solving this monstrous puzzle. And that Bonnie’s disappearance was not as random as everyone had always believed . . .

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Eve

“The suspense and action will entertain all, even those new to the series.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Johansen launches a trilogy that takes the reader on an action-packed journey filled with killers and heroes, leaving readers on tenterhooks.”—Booklist  

“Read Eve and be hooked.”—RT Book Reviews

“Gripping…Johansen deftly baits the hook for the next volume.”—Publishers Weekly

“Johansen’s stories keep getting better with each installment.  You will find yourself drawn to Eve and caring about what happens to her.”—Night Owl Reviews (A Top Pick)

“A superb kick off ..an excellent presentation to this fantastic series that is a one sitting read.”—Reader to Reader Reviews

Praise for the novels of Iris Johansen

“Action-packed!”—Publishers Weekly on Eight Days to Live

“With an imaginative plot and gut-wrenching action…this novel packs a wallop and is impossible to put down.”—Tucson Citizen on Eight Days to Live

“You’ll want to keep the lights on while reading!”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Blood Game

 “Johansen is becoming a master of the macabre and paranormal thriller, and her latest riveting Eve Duncan tale has it all, from ghosts and secret cults to supernatural avengers.” —Booklist on Blood Game

“Readers won’t soon forget either the enigmatic hero or the monstrous villain. This one’s chilling to the bone!”—Romantic Times BOOKreviews on Deadlock

“Johansen’s knack for delivering robust action and commanding characters kicks into high gear.”—Booklist on Dark Summer

“Action-packed, adrenaline-fueled…will keep [you] eagerly turning the pages.”—Publishers Weekly on Quicksand

“Keeping the tension high and the pace relentless, prolific and compelling Johansen adds depth to her popular characters as she continues this suspenseful series.”—Booklist on Quicksand

“Bestselling author Johansen captivates readers with her latest suspense thriller…the suspense escalates toward an explosive conclusion.”—Library Journal on Pandora’s Daughter

“An exhilarating thriller…suspense that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.”—Booklist on Pandora’s Daughter

“A fast-paced, non-stop, clever plot in which Johansen mixes political intrigue, murder, and suspense.”—USA Today on The Face of Deception;

“[A] thrill ride…Action, romance, castles, bomb plots and booby-trapped hideaway in snowbound Idaho—what more could Johansen fans want?”—Publishers Weekly on Countdown

“Intriguing suspense…her new tale will please both fans and new converts.”—Booklist on Blind Alley

“Thoroughly gripping and with a number of shocking plot twists…packed all the right elements into this latest work: intriguing characters; creepy, crazy villain; a variety of exotic locations.”—New York Post on The Search

From the Back Cover

The truth has eluded her for years…Now, is she ready to face it?

When Eve Duncan gave birth to her daughter, she experienced a love she never knew existed. Nothing would stand in the way of giving Bonnie a wonderful life—until the unthinkable happened and the seven-year-old vanished into thin air. Eve found herself in the throes of a nightmare from which there was no escape. But a new Eve emerged: a woman who would use her remarkable talent as a forensic sculptor to help others find closure in the face of tragedy. Now, with the help of her beloved Joe Quinn and CIA Agent Catherine Ling, Eve has come closer than ever to the truth. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that Bonnie’s father is a key player in solving this monstrous puzzle. And that Bonnie’s disappearance was not as random as everyone had always believed…

“Johansen’s trilogy takes the reader on an action-packed journey.”—Booklist

“Read it and be hooked.”—RT Book Reviews on EVE

“Suspenseful and entertaining.”—Library Journal on QUINN

Don’t miss the  other novels in THIS SERIES

EVE

QUINN

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 441 KB
• Print Length: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; Reprint edition (October 18, 2011)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004ZM481Q
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,064 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 83 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Most Questions Finally Answered October 18, 2011

By Books and Chocolate TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

I'm a fan of Iris Johansen's novels, and the Eve Duncan series in particular. The unsolved disappearance of Eve's daughter Bonnie years ago has literally haunted her and has always been the unresolved issue in her life. In a special trilogy about Eve, Quinn, and Bonnie, readers learn about the backgrounds of the characters and the events that led up to Bonnie's disappearance.

This is the last book of the trilogy and thankfully, it does give closure as readers - and Eve - finally learn what happened to Bonnie and why. I won't spoil the ending by revealing what that is but I will say it comes from a surprising source that I didn't expect. I also like that this book is not the end of Eve and Quinn. Their story and what they do in solving crime will continue with or without the appearance of Bonnie. I'm looking forward to the next thriller from Johansen.

I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher but the opinion of it is my own and was not solicited, nor was a positive review required.

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I hope Bonnie Rests In Peace October 22, 2011

By J. D. Witt

Format:MP3 CD

I have been reading Iris Johansen all my life. She is one of my favorite writers so naturally, I've followed the story of Eve and her missing daughter, Bonnie, since the very first mention of her so long ago, emphasis on long ago. I read her trilogy: EVE, QUINN, and finally BONNIE, eager to solve the mystery. All are written with Johansen's easy to read style. I love all the characters, especially the latest additions of Catherine Ling and Joe Gallo, Bonnie's father. But I'm sorry to say that the final reveal just underwhelmed me. When the killer is finally revealed all I could think was that a whole lot of intelligent people missed a pretty obvious suspect. But I really think Johansen just dragged Bonnie's story on way too long. Maybe that is why the story didn't really move me as it should, because her long held grief over bringing Bonnie home went on for too many books. This is a story she should have resolved many years ago.

I can certainly understand a mother's grief over losing a child. I don't expect a mother to ever get over that kind of tragic loss. But you do have to let go and finally make the most of the present, something Eve refused to do. Many cultures believe it is wrong to grieve too much over a loss, that it holds back both the soul that has passed on and the person who does the excessive grieving. Bonnie's story certainly illustrates the reasoning behind that belief. Eve was never able to focus on anything else but lost children. Here she had a man who loved her beyond reason and she never made a family with him, never had more chidren that could have eased both of them and brought new joy into their lives. She did adopt Jane but Jane too was dragged down by Eve's continally being haunted by Bonnie. Their lives have been all about Eve's grief.

(SPOILERISH)
But most importantly Bonnie could not move on either. At least on seeing Bonnie's ghost Eve has the assurance that her daughter still lives. An assurance few people ever get when dealing with loss. But even seeing that Bonnie is happy and well is not enough to resolve Eve's obsession. So many times I wanted to shake Eve and tell her to think about Bonnie's welfare for a change. Poor Bonnie has new fields to explore but has to continally look back and worry about her mother. And now, finally, when Bonnie's ghost BEGS Eve to let her go, Eve STILL says she can't do it. This really made me angry. Just how selfish IS this woman? Her daughter has made it clear that she is happy, learning new things, and has a spiritual peace we could all envy and her mother refuses to let go of her own by now pathogical grief so her daughter can move on? And I'm sorry, but if Eve digs her up and "brings her home" after Bonnie makes it clear she is happy with her beautiful resting place then that is just sick. Is she really going to expose Bonnie's remains to that kind of sacriledge? That is something I don't want to see or read about. She can certainly make a small memorial for Bonnie at her home if she needs it but digging up her grave is just gross. Especially since Bonnie in her wisdom has assured Eve she is NOT THERE. That she is alive and well and apparently learning more in a day than Eve has learned in a decade. All I could think of when finishing the book is LET BONNIE GO! Eve has put Bonnie through more grief than her killer ever did. Enough.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The Stiffening December 17, 2011

By Possibility

Format:Hardcover

I came across Iris Johansen's new trilogy in audiobook format at my local library and decided on a whim to borrow all 3 books: finally, the solution to a mystery that has kept legions of fans (myself not included) pondering for years. The experience has been akin to being arrested for a minor infraction, but instead of being sentenced to do community service, the judge required that I read the "Eve/Quinn/Bonnie" trilogy.
Where to start? Two discs into the first book "Eve", I was already quite disappointed. Out of curiosity, I logged on at Amazon and started to read reviews. To be sure, I wasn't the only one who felt let down by an author that I have personally largely ignored in my literary career. I have read a couple of her books in the distant past and don't remember being particularly impressed.

First, the narrative style. It is simplistic and lacks both depth and perception; it is hindered by a redundant vocabulary and a lack of imagination in the author's descriptive powers. Her characters stiffen, draw their breath in sharply and pause (when talking - I assume, so they have time to reflect on what they'll say next). That is the extent of their expressions. They inhale sharply. They pause. And they stiffen. So much so that the trilogy should really have been called "The Stiffening".

Second, the dialogs. It would appear that Iris Johansen narrates for the benefit of her readers through her dialogs. It makes for very strange dialogs. Characters who have known each other for a long time, sometimes years, talk to each other as if the other person doesn't know what he/she is talking about. Or sometimes, a character will comment about the other person's feelings as if that person was unaware of their own feelings. As I said, it makes for very strange dialogs. Listening to the generally asinine dialogs, I had to roll my eyes on more than one occasion.

Third, character development. Character development is glaringly absent. Eve and Catherine are easily interchangeable as well as Quinn and Gallo. In fact, Quinn and Gallo are so alike that it's hard to distinguish between the two. Both men are physically imposing, ex-military experts and, of course, master lovers. Gallo, the supposedly unstable ex-POW, is ever so polite and considerate except when he is making threats towards his perceived enemies. Quinn never gets annoyed with Eve despite her giving him the slip on numerous occasions. Quinn also tends to make threats of a physical nature, and like Gallo, hardly ever delivers. Among all main characters, there is far more bravado than action. Eve, I found hard to relate to or even sympathize with as she is so unlike any real-life woman. I found her approach to life unrealistic, her handling of Bonnie's kidnapping (described in more detail in the second book "Quinn") bordering on the casual, and her relationship to Quinn predictable. As for Gallo and their supposedly passionate, but purely physical, affair when she was 16 and he 19 - well, let's just say that I found it hard to swallow. Truth be told, Eve talks and reacts then very much as the adult Eve does, with no consideration by the author for Eve's young age, her experience or lack of. During the early weeks of Bonnie's disappearance, upon meeting Quinn, Eve checks his background as his good looks make her doubtful that he, Quinn, an FBI agent, could keep his focus on the investigation. Mostly, when reading, I thought of the parents of abducted children and knew that no parents would act and talk as Eve Duncan does, with such casualness and self-control. Where is the devastation, the tearing of the heart, the pain felt at every-single-moment-of-the-day? There would be no occasion to comment about Quinn's good looks, his physical appeal, there would be rage and despair and anguish, and nothing else, and that never comes across the pages. Never.
And finally Bonnie. Bonnie, 7-year-old little ghost who talks to her mother from the other side as no 7 year old would ever talk, who has the vocabulary and the sensibility of an adult. Johansen explains this by saying that "something happened on the other side" to make Bonnie more mature. It made for awkward dialogs between mother and daughter, with Bonnie pontificating on the nature of Eve's distress at her disappearance.

Fourth: story line. I have not read enough of Johansen previous novels featuring Eve Duncan to really judge the trilogy in its context, but it appears Johansen fills in the blanks when she describes how Eve met both Gallo (in exquisite detail) and Quinn. There is a lot of repetition throughout the 3 novels with some chapters being entirely repeated in Book 2 and 3 (some fillers!). If Johansen had summed up the entire affair between Eve and Gallo in the few lines it deserved, edited her dialogs, deleted all the bluster, limited allusions to hardening, stiffening, inhaling and pausing, if she had avoided copying and pasting entire portions of her books into the next volumes, she could have fitted the whole story in one book to the eternal gratitude of her readers and their pocket books.
This is very poor fiction and a sham on all readers.

More About the Author

Iris Johansen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Pandora's Daughter, Stalemate, Killer Dreams, On the Run, and many more. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#28 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#30 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#40 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#42 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#57 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#28 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#30 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers

#40 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers

#42 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

#57 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery