Final Approach [Hardcover]

Rachel Brady (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2009

Sometimes clues just fall from the sky. Four years ago, Emily Locke's life was shattered when her infant daughter and husband were lost in an inexplicable accident. She has nearly rebuilt her fragile mental health when a disgraced former police detective, now working as a P.I., resurfaces to ask for help-reconnaissance at a Texas skydiving establishment over a thousand miles away. Emily knows better than to work with Richard Cole again, but can't refuse when she learns it's about a missing boy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Some smart dialogue and the novelty of a skydiving protagonist lift Brady's less than assured debut. PI Richard Cole gets in touch with Emily Locke, who was inadvertently involved in a missing-child case four years earlier, because he believes her jumping skills would be useful in another missing-child case. At Richard's urging, Emily travels from Ohio to Houston, where she immerses herself in the cozy environment of Gulf Coast Skydiving, an establishment that's somehow linked to the disappearance of an 11-month-old boy whose divorced parents share custody. Emily's willingness to drop her daily life and rush off to Houston is one of several slightly flimsy plot points. At Gulf Coast, Emily meets a handsome guitar-playing cowboy, Vince, who's so clearly meant to be Emily's love interest that the reader may be hoping that he turns out bad. On the other hand, Emily's best friend, Jeannie, is a charming smart-aleck who brightens the pages. (Oct.)
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About the Author

Rachel Brady enjoys a career in biomedical engineering in addition to the time she spends writing mystery and suspense fiction.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; First Edition edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590586557
• ISBN-13: 978-1590586556
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A graduate of Wright State University and The Ohio State University, Rachel works as a biomedical engineer when she's not writing mystery and suspense fiction. Her interests include health and fitness, acoustic guitar, and books of all kinds. She lives outside of Houston, Texas, with her family. Visit Rachel on-line at www.rachelbrady.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, New Mystery, August 25, 2009

By 

A. E. Beyer (South Riding, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Final Approach (Hardcover)

Final Approach is a fun, witty, and easy read that will keep you turning the pages. The first test of any book for me is that first 20 pages -- this book immediately hooked me in with just enough suspense to make me wonder ... hey, what's this all about. I was rewarded with an interesting slew of characters - from the heroine, Emily, who has fun banter in her head to her smart-alec BFF, Jeannie who is a riot! The most surprising element that I found enjoyable was the skydiving setting. I was a little hesitant to this as I am not a skydiver nor have I ever had any interest in the sport. However, Brady's descriptions & sport "characters" constantly entertained and educated. I'm still not ready to jump out of a plane, but enjoyed reading the mystery that surrounded this setting. I'm looking forward to Emily Locke's next adventure!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Suspenseful Read, September 6, 2009

By 

L. McClellan (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Final Approach (Hardcover)

I won my pre-release copy of this book after a blog-comment exchange with its author, Rachel Brady. Brady hooked me with the first chapter, with a writing style that engages you quickly and keeps you turning pages just to find out what happens next in this suspenseful story of a woman struggling to overcome a devastating loss and move forward with her life. Brady's characters are believable; the dialog is realistic (but better than "real"), sharp, and often funny; the skydiving world provided an interesting backdrop to the mystery; and Brady parcels out clues at a perfect pace to keep you reading to the end.

This is Brady's debut novel, but I predict a successful career for her as a novelist. I look forward to her next book, and I recommend this one highly for mystery lovers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sky Diving into Danger, August 1, 2010

By 

carl brookins "Carl Brookins" (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Final Approach (Hardcover)

A fine debut novel with an unusual plot line. Emily Locke is recovering from the loss of her husband and infant daughter. It is clear from the get-go there is something askew in that whole incident. Now four years later, the detective who was disgraced and dismissed from the local police department as fall-out from that calamity, is back in Emily's life. He wants her help on a case he's working on. A leap of faith is required of readers here. Is she the only person in the country the detective can count on to infiltrate a questionable sky-diving club located over a thousand miles away?
And why is Emily so available? After all she has a full-time job and is still pretty fragile from the loss of her daughter and husband. Still, the detective, not her favorite person, presses the right buttons and off she goes to Texas.
What follows is a tension-filled emotional novel of exquisite detail about sky-diving in all the right places, introduction of necessary and useful characters and enough action to satisfy the most ardent thriller aficionado. Emily is strong and distressed at all the right places, there are no real down sections of the novel.
This is a fast read and although some of the danger Emily faces doesn't reach my punch level, Emily is an interesting woman and the sky-diving is an unusual platform on which to build a crime novel. One of the more interesting aspects of Final Approach is that readers will, from the beginning, feel as though they have been brought into an ongoing story. There is occasionally a feeling of the need to catch up with background as a way to evaluate current happenings. It's a style that adds to the tension and pace. A satisfying novel with a fine twist at the end.