This was a good read. Not boring and will keep you to the end. Lots of twists in here that you don't see coming.

The story line is quite interesting and move along logically, but I found there was to much meaningless dialogue between the characters that did nothing to build upon and felt as though they were trying to fill pages. A good read all in all but often left feeling, "get on with it already".

Brad Parks’ compulsively readable standalone crime thriller is nearly flawless. The author takes risks by making his protagonist a woman, a young white mother married to a black man. While he might make a misstep or two in how a woman might react to rape or a first-time mother might react to being wrongly accused of several crimes and then having her child taken by social services, he has a strong enough case that we keep reading to see how he will explain it all.

Technically, the book works well. We move between points of view easily, from accused, to police, to perp, to innocent victim. Our own opinions are in flux as we get pushed and pulled with every new development in the case against the mother. She is a victim several times over, and we can explain her reticence to spill her guts and tell all she knows to her attorney at first by considering her foster-care background.

The whole builds up to a situation in which good people can get hurt by other well-meaning people because everyone is being manipulated by normal human perceptions and reactions. Preet Bharara, former Chief Prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, recently wrote in his memoir that he learned in his time working at one of the most visible courts in the land that “[a]nyone is capable of anything.”

I read this book at first because the author is the son of one of my brother’s best friends, but I am pleased to be able to report that the skill, talent, and sheer dare-devil chutzpah of the author is on full display. Brad Parks takes risks but is able to pull off the heist.

How much bad luck can one person have? It seems that Melanie Barrick can not catch a break.
This was my first Brad Parks book, and I enjoyed reading this book. It had just enough twist and turns
to keep me engaged.

Brad Parks, best known for his six-novel series about New Jersey investigative reporter Carter Ross, chose to write most of Closer Than You Know in the first-person voice of his female protagonist, Melanie Barrick. Melanie is also a rape survivor and a new mom. This is tricky territory, but I think Parks did a wonderful job of making her a well-rounded, complex character you want to root for. And oh boy, if the reader wasn’t firmly in Melanie’s corner from the get-go, this book would not work at all, because she goes through some truly horrendous experiences.

Melanie discovered she was pregnant shortly after her rape, but until the baby was born, she wasn’t sure if the biological father was her rapist or her boyfriend Ben. No matter what happened, Ben vowed to raise the child as his own, and the two of them got married. Unfortunately, it was immediately obvious that pale-skinned baby Alex did not share any DNA with African-American Ben Barrick, but the couple worked to get past the trauma and immediately bonded with their newborn—until their nightmare began.

After going to pick up three-month-old Alex from day care after work, Melanie learns that he has been taken by social services. Thanks to a tip from an anonymous source, a large quantity of cocaine and drug paraphernalia were discovered in the Barricks’ home—in Alex’s nursery, no less. That turns out to be just the tip of the iceberg, though, as Melanie, who grew up in foster care and has few resources and little financial stability, gets caught in a Kafkaesque bureaucratic hellscape that seems to presume she’s guilty of all manner of horrible things.

Now, I have to admit that I was pretty certain that Melanie would ultimately be exonerated and get her baby back in the end—it would be too depressing otherwise—so I just kept turning the pages (I did not want to put this book down!), eager to find out what would happen. A couple times, I was pretty certain I had it all figured out, but I turned out to be mistaken. There are a lot of legitimately surprising twists, but none of them seemed gratuitous; if the Gone Girl-inspired domestic suspense craze eventually runs its course, I hope there will always be room on the bookstore shelves for thrillers like Closer Than You Know, which are written with heart and genuinely make you care about the fictional people within their pages.

Melanie Barrick is the ultimate survivor. She has defied the odds of growing up in a flawed foster care system to find love, happiness and a new baby. But all of that is taken away one day when Melanie goes to pick up her baby from daycare and is told that he has been taken away by the Department of Social Services, every parent's worst nightmare. What ensues is a nightmarish legal battle and the dredging up of a lot of unpleasant memories from Melanie's past.

This was the first book I’ve read by Parks and it was a delicious page-turner. I loved the legal aspect and the very real characters. Alternating chapters were done with ease and added to the overall, abundant suspense. I can't wait to read more from Parks. 5 stars!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dutton Books for providing a complimentary e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is another stand alone book from Brad Parks, who is most well-know for his Carter Ross series. Even though he has a well-written series to his credit, he’s no slouch when it comes to his other books. Since I’ve enjoyed all of Mr Parks' books, I admit I assumed I would enjoy this one as well. And, once again, I certainly did.

After growing up in the foster system and then struggling to make ends meet, Melanie Barrick finally has a family of her own. Her husband is loving and supportive and their son makes their lives complete. But, she always remembers what she was once told - that disaster is always closer than you know. In one afternoon her world comes crashing down. First, she discovers that her son has been removed by social services without any explanation. And, as Melanie tries to make sense of it all, it is revealed that drugs have been discovered hidden in her home. At the same time, while Melanie’s problems continue to mount, an assistant attorney is trying to deal with and solve a cold case that involves a serial rapist. As these two stories begin to collide, Melanie and her husband are desperate to regain custody of their son and clear Melanie of the charges against her.

Once again Brad Parks introduces characters that are both strong and sympathetic. The dialogue is crisp, the action is believable and the story is one that is compelling. As with most of his books, this one was hard to put down. Several plot twists only added to the enjoyment of the story and the end is very satisfying.

I highly recommend this book as well as Mr Park’s books in general.

Many thanks to Net Galley for providing a copy for me to review.

Melanie knows “the system” all too well having grown up in and out of foster homes. She’s made the perfect life for her son, Alex, knowing she never wants him to experience what she had to when she was growing up. So needless to say Melanie becomes frantic when she goes to pick up Alex from childcare only to learn he’s been picked up by Social Services…with no explanation. As she struggles to understand this situation she was thrown into, she learns that her home has been raided and a large amount of cocaine has been found, which she explains she knows nothing about. As sheriff’s and investigators gather evidence, it’s damning against Melanie, to say the least. Her story happens to intertwine with attorney Amy Kaye who has a cold case that includes Melanie. But it’s not what you may think. This story was so gripping and such a fast read for me because I kept trying to put the pieces together and was so intrigued by how the two cases intertwined. This was the first book I’ve read by Brad Parks and now I’m ready to read more.

Back in 2009, Brad Parks introduced his Carter Ross series…and somehow I totally missed them all. Then, in 2017, his standalone thriller Say Nothing came out. Somehow I stumbled on it and it was TERRIFIC. So I was happy to have the chance to write an honest review of his latest standalone novel, Closer Than You Know, thanks to Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley.

The two standalone novels both include plotlines related to children taken from their parents, and both demonstrate good understanding of the justice system. While the protagonist in Say Nothing was a judge being blackmailed to rule a certain way in order to get his children back, this time it is a young mother who is struggling to get her child back from the foster family he was placed with after the police found drugs and money hidden in her house. The young mother, Melanie Barrick, is completely dumbfounded but her years as a foster child herself have made her believe that “Disaster is always closer than you know.”

Melanie goes to pick up her baby from daycare and learns that Social Services staff have taken him. Soon she is in jail, and experiencing one crisis after another. It’s quite a ride. I appreciated the plotting, suspense, and dialogue (handled deftly despite the varying points of view and the fact that both primary characters are women – Parks has a good sense for the thought processes of both women, but does seem a bit fixated on breastfeeding). I’m terrible at figuring out mysteries, but had half of this one fairly early on – but not the whole thing. TBH, the last couple of chapters didn’t really work for me, and I wondered if it was possibly written with an eye to a film version of the story. That didn’t stop me from enjoying the book, just took off one star. Four stars, and I look forward to more from Mr. Parks.

This was just okay. Not great and not terrible. Requires a little more suspension of disbelief than I am willing to extend. Also I just don't know if I can believe a woman would be that focused on keeping up her milk supply while in jail and under that level of stress. Do you know how many ounces of breastmilk she would have to squeeze into a jail toilet in order to keep her supply up? She would have had to do it for hours. So that didn't make too much sense.

I really liked this book. It's the first Brad Parks that I have read but I will read more.

Melanie Barrick's son is taken into custody by Social Services. Her house is raided by the police and hundreds of kilo's of cocaine are found. She doesn't know why any of this is happening, she is not a drug dealer. Amy is a prosecutor who is assigned Melanie's case. She is aware that things are not adding up.

The story moves along at a brisk pace as Melanie, her husband and her brother try to figure out what is happening.

What I really liked is that Melanie and Amy are both smart. It doesn't take long for Melanie and her brother to realize it's a set up. It doesn't take Amy long to realize something isn't kosher here. I hate it when books drag an obvious situation out, in this book they know something is off and then work to fix it.

Highly recommended.

I was lost in the twisty, windy, rocky and muddy murky coulee with three of my Traveling Sisters reading Closer Than You Know hiding in the shelter of the trees from the disasters lurking closer than we think there are.

Closer Than You Know is a fast-paced, fun, entertaining domestic suspense thriller that had us starting off hiding in the coulee rolling our eyes in disbelief a bit from some disasters that we thought might be closer than we think with the story. A little high on the drama at times and we questioned a bit of the believability of the story. At times stalling the story for me and I started to look for a way out of the coulee, however, Brad Parks pulled me into the suspense to the story and I was back lost in the coulee with my TS turning the pages as fast as I could right to the end.

Brad Parks does a good job creating strong, interesting and complex female characters here with Melanie and Amy and we really liked their characters. We dodged a few disasters in the coulee as Brad Parks throws in a few twisty tornados at us here with Melanie. He brilliantly had us feeling empathy for Melanie and her situation that did keep the story moving forward for us.

Brad Parks does a good job rewarding us with the clever twists to this one that shocked some of us and left the rest of us feeling quite clever and pleased with ourselves for figuring some things out. The ending well some mixed feelings there from us but nothing that affected our enjoyment of this story. I recommend for thriller readers who like a little well drama to their thrillers.

Publication date March 6, 2018

Thank you, NetGalley, Penguin Group Dutton and Brad Parks for a copy to read and review.

All of our Traveling Sisters Reviews can be found on our sister blog:
https://twosisterslostinacoulee.com

Almost against my will I was dragged to an acceptance level I never could have predicted. That so many things, bad things, could be visited on one person seemed less than credible. Then I though of a few people I knew who have had more than their share of misfortune, so who am I too say it can't happen. Melanie is finally happy, after she and her brother were removed from their abusive homes, they were raised in the foster system. Now though she is married to Ben, they have a three month old infant, Alex and she has a job that pays the bills. Until one day.............well that is the story.

Melanie, is a great character, she is a fighter, never gives up though at times she comes close. Who is doing this to her and why? How does she prove she is not involved in any of these scenarios? There is also a side thread, a gentleman rapist who whispers. The attorney trying to find this person is another strong female lead.

So even though I questioned a few things, in the end this entertaining, fast paced read, with some great characters, won me over. The ending though pat, was acceptable after everything that came before. I had read somewhere that a good author can make you forget and accept the unbelievable. While I didn't forget, Parks did make me sccept this story. Plus, he sure does put together an entertaing read that kept me guessing.

ARC from Netgalley.

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader copy of this book. I enjoyed this stand alone Brad Parks book. He is an author I have recently discovered and am looking forward to seeing more from him.

I enjoy a good suspense novel but I'm sad to say this was not what I expected. The story moved along a bit slow for my liking. The characters are quite good and strong but unratable.

I found Brad Parks last year with his book, Say Nothing. I LOVED IT. Closer Than You Know, is also a winner in my book.

Let's talk about the characters for a moment.:There's a LOT going on in this book with Melanie's past, what's happening to her now, how they intersect and how the prosecuting attorney comes into play. I'm not a mother so I can't imagine how hard it would be to have your child ripped away from you with no warning whatsoever. I mean, Melanie's already been through enough - can't this woman get a break? Then to have drug charges put on top of that while still dealing with an aftermath of a rape from a while ago... WOAH. I really would've loved to have learned more about her husband - his part was too minor for the character he was given, but that's just my opinion. I really enjoyed the lawyers - both defending and prosecuting and while we learned quite a bit about Amy, I would've loved to have seen more of Mr. Honeywell - I have a very special place in my heart for him.

Ok, so let's get to the book. It's fast paced, easy to read and kept me glued to the pages all day today. I'll admit I had it all figured out pretty early on. Did this take away from the joy of the read? NOPE. Not at all. I feel like you need to suspend a bit of reality about the happenings in these story lines... but that really didn't make a difference to me. I mean, it's FICTION after all, right?

Brad Parks has a fan in me and I will be on the look out for his upcoming work. If you're looking for a part domestic suspense with a dash of legal thriller mixed in, I think it's safe to say you'll enjoy this read. Put this one on your TBR.

4.5 stars.

It only took a glance at the blurb of Closer Than You Know for me to realize how hard this book was going to be to read. Anytime a mother and a child are separated, for whatever reason, I know it’s going to be a heart-wrenching read.
Melanie Barrick goes to work one day, assuming everything in her life is fine - until she goes to her son’s daycare after work to pick him up only to find he’s been taken by Social Services. And with that, we’re thrown into Melanie’s shoes. Growing up in foster care, all she ever wanted was a stable home with a white picket fence, and Melanie thought she’d found it. I will say the fact that Melanie grew up in foster care herself and knows what it is like added another layer of heartbreak for me. It shredded her to know her son was going through the same thing - and for who knew how long? But this is just the beginning for Melanie; the hits keep on coming against his poor woman right until the very end of this book. I won’t say that parts weren’t predictable, but there were parts that I did not see coming, and no matter what was going on, I was invested in this story and could not put it down.
This story was told from multiple perspectives, all of which I found interesting, and I think that made the book just fly by for me. It was Amy Kaye’s perspective I enjoyed the most. She was working on another case alongside this one, and it was fascinating the way the cases wound together in more ways than one. There were a few standout characters in this book: Bobby Ray - I really enjoyed the progression of this acquaintanceship and the way Melanie and Bobby Ray found common ground (as devastating as it was,) and were able to work together despite their differences, a prison guard where Melanie was being held - I like how this person seemingly came out of nowhere and was there for Melanie when she had no one, and her lawyer - what a great about-face with that character.
There were a few inconsistencies in this story - for one, why did the police only focus in on Melanie and not her husband when the drugs are found in their home? Admittedly, I read this in another review on Goodreads, but it was a solid point and one that wouldn’t leave my mind once I read it. Also, Melanie held on to information that should have been tossed right out there, and I couldn’t understand why. And lastly, I would expect someone who finds their child has been taken to be much more frantic and persistent than Melanie was.
Despite those things, I loved his book. As sad as this story was, it was also heartwarming. Melanie had people in her corner that she had no idea about, and had I not been sneak-reading at work, I’m sure I would have been crying reading it.
This book built steadily toward its climax, but the end, the very end was such a simple, unimpressive moment in time for everyone but our main character. I won’t say anything for fear of spoiling, but it was just so perfect. It makes me think this is woman who will never take anything for granted.
It’s rare that I find a thriller I like so much, and before I was even done Closer Than You Know, I was on Goodreads to see if Brad Parks had a back list. Thankfully, he does. And you better believe I’ll be diving into it.

A Terrifying Evening Gets Worse

Melanie is late again picking up her baby, Alex. The babysitter is a stickler for punctuality. Worried, she pounds on the babysitter’s door, only to be told that Social Services has taken the baby. How can that be? She was only two minutes late.

When she arrives home, it gets worse. Crime scene tape is stung across the porch and inside her house is a shambles, raided by the sheriff’s deputies. They found cocaine. Melanie knows she’s clean, but the evidence is stacked against her. She could lose Alex and go to jail for years.

Amy Kaye, the assistant commonwealth’s attorney, is assigned to Melanie’s case. She’s working the cold case of a serial rapist who has been operating in the county for years. Shockingly, Melanie was one of his victims. Amy can’t get cooperation on the rapist case. She feels that Melanie’s case is more complex than it appears, perhaps related to the rape, but again she gets little cooperation.

Two women from different perspectives battle law enforcement. The book is skillfully written. You can feel Melanie’s desperation and Amy’s frustration. The pace is fast with hardly any breathing room. All the characters are well defined. People you can connect with. I enjoyed the fact that chapters were written from both Amy’s and Melanie’s point of view.

This is book is so closely written that taking in all the problems Melanie is facing can sometimes seem overwhelming. It’s also a good reminder that law enforcement people are not without their own issues. It makes you hope that you never get caught in the kind of trap Melanie is in.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

Closer Than You Know starts with every parent's worst nightmare and doesn't let up. The story moves at a fast pace, the characters are interesting, and there are plenty of twists along the way. All of these things combined should've made this a four or even five star read, but my problems lay with the completely implausible events scattered throughout this tale. The reasons for what was happening to Melanie were obvious very early on, if not the identity of the person behind it all. However, that became pretty clear to me about half-way through, despite a ringer thrown into the mix. Without going into too much detail, so as not to give spoilers, I found it hard to believe that no one around the antagonist would have any idea of things going in their personal life, especially given who it is. So, by the time I reached the big reveal and conclusion, I was left with a couple of choices - either the big baddie is a brilliant criminal mastermind, which is a big stretch given what we're told, or everyone around them is an idiot. Either way, the story had potential, but came up a bit lacking in the delivery for me. I realize that this is fiction, so a certain amount of leeway can be given, but everything combined was just a little too much, making this just an okay read.

Part domestic suspend and part legal thriller, Closer Than You Know brought some of my worst fears as a parent to life. Imagine going to pick up your baby from the babysitter only to be told they were taken by Social Services earlier that day. Things get even worse when you go home and find your house has been raided and a substantial amount of cocaine has been found. To top it all off, you or your husband don’t do drugs and never would, this whole thing is a set up and you are utterly powerless. Your life is in shambles and you have no choices, no hope. How do you prove your innocence in a seemingly slam dunk case? It’s impossible and that’s what terrifies me.

I kept picturing myself in Melanie’s situation and couldn’t even imagine her fear and desperation. Parks did an amazing job at accurately portraying her emotional state, I could feel her pain and anguish, it broke my heart. The characterization is outstanding, besides Melanie her husband Ben is well developed and you also see things from the perspective of Amy, the lawyer working the case. I loved her and found her to be a sharp, astute woman bound by justice who’s willing to take chances in order to do what’s right.

This was relentlessly paced, there was always something going on, a new development full of twists and turns making it really hard for me to put down when real life was calling. There was enough legal excitement to keep things interesting but not so much that I was bored, this was always exciting and engaging and after two back to back amazing reads from Parks, I’ll be backing him as an author no matter what he writes next.

Closer Than You Know in three words: Complex, Thrilling and Compelling.