And There He Kept Her
A Novel
-
-
4.1 • 103 Ratings
-
-
- $17.99
-
- $17.99
Publisher Description
"A dark and complex mystery that will consume you."—Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight
They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong.
When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he's been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he'll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.
Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff's deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.
Unrelentingly suspenseful and written with a piercing gaze into the dark depths of the human soul, And There He Kept Her is a thrilling page-turner that introduces readers to a complicated new hero and forces us to consider the true nature of evil.
Follow Acting Deputy Sheriff Ben Packard back into Minnesota's North Country August 15th with Where the Dead Sleep.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moehling trods well-traveled ground in his lackluster debut set in Sandy Lake, Minn. Teens Jesse Crawford and Jenny Wheeler hope to score prescription painkillers by burglarizing the home of an old man they expected to be unconscious at 4:30 a.m. But the man, Emmett Burr, catches them and guns down Jesse and seriously wounds Jenny. Burr, who has created a room in his basement to hold women he's abducted before, confines Jenny there. The girl's disappearance alarms her mother, who contacts a cousin of hers, Ben Packard, the acting county sheriff. The story alternates between Packard's investigation and Jenny's peril, as she's threatened both by a creepy partner of her captor who raped his previous abductees and looming insulin shock. Packard's backstory—his male lover, a fellow cop, was killed on the job—and his current efforts to find solace with another man don't add anything to the by-the-numbers plot, and the characters come across more as types than people. Other writers have done a better job with the same setup.
Customer Reviews
Entertaining.
This was an interesting enough read, and well-enough written, that I’ll likely explore more from this author.
I liked the small town vibe and the multiple POVs, particularly those of the vics and villains … while it takes the mystery out of the story, it’s still interesting to see how things play out.
This read was entertaining enough that I’d explore more from this author.
4 stars.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Audio:
This narrator was great, I’d listen to more from her in a heartbeat. 5-star performance.
Boring..
I found this book very slow & boring. The story was predictable. I wouldn’t pay for this book.
Good but…
There is so much to love about this book. The characters and setting were the best part. The actual plot was routine and we’ve seen it all before on an episode of Criminal Minds but much praise to the novelist for excelling in creating a world and a character I’d like to visit again. I will follow this writer to his next one!!!