Adam Ramsdell is trying to come to terms with his past while living a secluded life in the town of Gothic. When he finds a woman whom he thinks is dead on the beach, his life starts to get complicated. The woman is not dead, but she suffered some sort of trauma as she awakens in Adams arms. The trouble is that the woman Elle, remembers her name but little else. As Elle’s memory starts to return, things only get dicier for Adam and Elle. Elle is carrying secrets that is putting not only her life, but the lives of Gothic in jeopardy. Will the killer find Elle before she can piece together her entire story?

Christina Dodd brings us a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters are complex and very well written. The characters of the town folk add a unique twist to the story which I really enjoyed. I did have a hard time getting into the story, but it did hold my interest to find out what really happened to Elle so that is why I rated it at three stars. Harper Collins graciously gifted me an advanced readers copy for which I am extremely thankful. My review is entirely my own and I reviewed it voluntarily. If you are looking for a story with a twisted mystery, this one is for you.

The previous works of the author that I’ve read were domestic suspense, so this was a change. We have Adam save Elle from the Pacific Ocean. He’s running from his past and she has no memory of hers. They are quite the team and I found myself rooting for them from the start. Set in a small beach side town with unique characters, I was drawn into all the secrets. Your side characters include a grumpy old man, a psychic and an actress. All of which you root to see more of.
You get a little bit of romance along with a lot of intrigue as you wind your way through the layers of this one. This one reminded me a little of the romantic suspense I used to read but with a much more complicated plot. As someone starts shooting at Adam and Elle, I liked that I was guessing about the reason in addition to who it was.
It looks like the start of a series and I can’t wait to return to Gothic.

POINT LAST SEEN (Last Seen in Gothic Book #1) by Christina Dodd is the first action-packed romantic suspense in this new series written with plenty of thrills and quirky inhabitants in the small Pacific coastal town of Gothic.

Adam Ramsdell has found the privacy he seeks in Gothic, CA as he works to turn salvaged metal into works of art and works as an armorer. When the local fortune teller tells Adam he must go the beach, he goes for the peace the ocean brings him but discovers a half-frozen body being tossed out onto the beach. He believes she is dead until he throws her over his shoulder to carry to his ATV and she revives as she brings up the sea water trapped in her lungs.

Elle has no memory of how she ended up on the beach, but she knows she has been strangled, beaten and is deathly afraid of a large dark shadow. As flashes of memory slowly return, she begins to endear herself to the people of Gothic and discover Adam’s secrets. She cannot remember much, but she knows she can trust Adam to protect her.

As Elle works to recover her memory, she doesn’t realize that those out to end her life are near and Adam has his own demons from his past that may well be out for revenge also. Will they be able to survive their pasts for a future together?

There are several plot threads throughout this romantic suspense that all come together to make a wonderful read. Adam is the tortured hero with the difficult past and his transformation from loner to lover was well paced and believable because the town already looked up to him even though he did not acknowledge it. Elle is a strong and determined heroine even without her memory, she asked for the help she needed it, but also stood up for herself. The town’s cast of characters were quirky and added some humor to the story as well as hiding secrets that I hope will be divulged in future books in this series. After the HEA, I assume each new book will have a new H/h and the town’s cast of characters and the location itself is what will be continued in this series. I will be looking forward to more.

This is a romantic suspense that will keep you reading until the very end.

Dodd’s latest series are almost always set along a wild and stunning Pacific coastline, usually with matching wild weather. Point Last Seen (Last Seen in Gothic #1) is no exception. Set in the peculiar little town of Gothic, The City of Lost Souls is found on Big Sur area of the California coast.
One day, despite desperately needing sleep after finishing his latest sculpture, Adam Ramsdell can not resist the siren call of the Pacific Ocean. Whether the dark waters are calling to him or a local seer’s prediction, he climbs down the cliffs to a local beach in search of something. His death, pieces of shipwrecks he uses in his sculptures, or peace from his demons?
On this day these particular beach currents oblige him by washing a dead woman onto the beach. When Adam slings the woman over his shoulder she revives, regurgitating half of the Pacific. The woman is hypothermic, grievously battered, and has deep strangulation marks.
The formerly dead woman can’t remember anything other than part of her name, Elle, and an overwhelming terror of a dark figure of the man who tried to kill her. It was the Pacific that finally succeeded in killing her, albeit for only a short time. Any time Elle falls asleep, the screams that were suppressed during her strangulation finally escape unnerving anyone who can hear them.
Elle has arrived at a busy time for Gothic; there is the upcoming Gothic Spring Psychic Festival which hopefully will draw large crowds of people. Gothic needs those people as the Pacific Coast Highway has once again been destroyed in the ancient collusion between mountains and ocean. Tourists have been few and far between with only one road into town.
Gothic needs those tourist bucks so badly that town leaders ask Adam to demonstrate his sword fighting skills with the mutual agreement that he stays ten feet away from all tourists. Oh, Dodd is so sneaky with her snark.
Dodd loves word play. Gothic’s business names are a great example; Firm Bun Bakery, Running With Scissors Needlework and Quilting, and Hair on Your Chest Coffee Shop. Not only does Dodd like clever word play, she likes to put words together for beauty’s sake.
In Point Last Seen, as in several of Dodd’s other books, the main characters are almost secondary to the secondary characters. I hope that makes sense. Not to forget Adam and Elle, as they both have interesting dark pasts or dark futures; but with continuation of this series one hopes that Madame Rune and the other denizens of Gothic will continue to have a strong and droll presence.
The same with her aforementioned settings, they matter; the settings will always help drive the story. Actually her narratives, characters, and settings all take turns at the wheel.
The several threads of Point Last Seen, all come to a head during the Psychic festival but she keeps the lines all clear and suspenseful. There is humor and beauty in Dodd’s writing, but make no mistake, there is a lot of darkness, both criminal and emotional.
This is a gripping, entertaining book; and will keep you wondering and guessing.
Originally posted on MysteryandSuspense.com

The story opens with a man finding a woman's body on the beach, just as he's contemplating how he might resolve his own tortuous past. Amazingly, he is able to revive the woman who he thought was dead, only to find she has amnesia. Her nightly screams of terror land her in his bed, and well you know how that's going to end.

But there's more to this story in the form of a fairly complex mystery or really sets of mysteries in this town of Gothic. The town really is the centerpiece of this story, with it's unique and diverse characters all who believe that Gothic is for lost souls.

At first, I wasn't really sure all of what was going on in this book. There are multiple characters who may be victims or targets of others, and at first I thought everyone in the town was hiding out from someone! I did like the quirky town quite a bit, especially their Psychic fair.

As Elle's memories return, she falls more in love with Adam her savior, but there are many dangers in the town of Gothic that can impact both Adam and Elle.

I definitely liked the cast of characters here, and the town, but I did find the pace of the story a bit slow for this reader. There was repetition as Elle recovers her memories and I just wished that things moved a bit faster in the story than they did.

I adored Elle and Adam and what they had to go through to get to their HEA. I always enjoy smart, capable women, and there are plenty in this book to like. Adam is unique in that he is a master sword maker and other things. He fits in as a lost soul in Gothic.

Overall, an interesting story and a entertaining mystery/ thriller. I will be looking for more from the town of Gothic in the future.

Adam Ramsdale pulls Elle from the water, and she has no memory of who she used to be. Taking refuge in his home, she soon gets flashes of the past. She carries secrets that could get her killed, and she doesn't know who to trust.

The story starts slowly, though the chapters are short. We're introduced to the residents of Gothic, California. Many of them have things they're hiding, including Adam, but they simply don't talk about it. Once Elle begins going around town, however, she talks with others and inspires them to tell their stories. Even Adam finally tells his, and the town soon bands together when danger arrives. The reader knows more than Elle or Adam, increasing the tension as we turn the pages. We grow closer to the residents, which of course means something to us when bullets literally start flying.

It's a slower build-up that allows us to care about the characters and eager to know their stories, rooting for them when danger comes. I sped through the story, trying to find out what happened next. The intensity of the threats ratcheted up, Adam and Elle grew closer, and the festival allows more strangers in. The brief glimpses we got from Elle's attacker was chilling and made this feel more like a thriller than a romance novel. The very end, however, got neatly tied in a bow like a romance novel. I did like that, even if it seemed a little contrived. All in all, a fun book I kept coming back to in spare moments.

Fun and compelling

I would like to thank Christina Dodd, Harlequin, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also thanks to Sophie James, who invited me on the blog tour.

Spoilers

Dodd’s recent books have made me leery of her: the Virtue Falls series was weird but had its moments, but I really hated how she told the story of the first Cape Charade book, so I didn’t read any of the others. I ignored Wrong Alibi. Then I received the invitation to the blog tour for Point Last Seen, saw it was the start of something new for Dodd, and decided to give her another shot.

And I’m so glad I did! I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow; it could’ve used more action scenes and less talking and meal scenes—but I liked the characters, adored the town of Gothic, and had a great time trying to figure out whodunnit. And the twists! Twist after twist—If I had time, I’d read it again just to find out if I missed clues or if Dodd was that sneaky. Probably a combination.

There were minor inconsistencies that could have been fixed for the final: The timing in chapters 16 and 22 didn’t add up, plus it’s supposed to be February but the story’s told like it’s May/June; Adam insisted he didn’t have friends, then said things like “Dave’s a friend”; it said at the beginning that Elle was wearing a black rain poncho when Adam found her, but the poncho was never mentioned again, referred to only as “black plastic” later; Adam couldn’t find jack squat online on Elle’s mother but DeAnna had no trouble getting info on Elle; Adam claimed the Beards keep close watch, yet no one was around while the vet was checking on the goats. Things like that.

Something else that might bother some readers but that didn’t particularly bother me is that this is an adventure story without doing any of the actual adventuring. Adam’s entire arc and subplot revolves around a trek through the Amazon, and Elle’s entire arc and subplot is about a deep-sea shipwreck treasure hunt. Yet instead of doing either of those fascinating things, we get to watch them deal with their PTSD in a small, quirky town whose big annual event is a psychic festival. Dodd’s lucky her characters are so lovable and compelling, or I’d have said she told the wrong story . . . which I believe I’ve said of her before. Hmm. It’s like Dodd wants to write a big, dramatic adventure story but at the same time wants to write a small, intimate romance in a small, quirky town. I’m not sure it can be done, but I think this was a good solid try.

Tamalyn’s little subplot could have been cut, and I don’t believe we got much closure regarding the Arcturus and the fate of the scientists working onboard. It was also rather disappointing that we and Elle and Adam had so much fun in Gothic and fell in love with the residents—then they ditched ASAP. I expected they’d live in Peru, at least for a while, but it just came off as a rather cold thing for them to do, and made the whole story feel slightly pointless.

Overall, this book had its faults, but I enjoyed it. Especially the humor! More than I expected, and it was great.

• Elle: “The ocean burps up pieces of ships?”

• As Elle chewed, she moaned. Senor Alfonso and Ludwig beamed, overcome with joy.

“Is it really that good?” Clarice asked Elle.

“No. You shouldn’t eat any.” Elle pulled the trivet away from Clarice.

• Rune watched the food disappear into the cupboards and the refrigerator. “I never ate breakfast,” she said wistfully.

Adam: “Hey, Rune, want to stay for lunch?”

I started the book hoping that it would be Dodd's attempt at a real Gothic genre feel, but it soon turned into something else that defies a category. Some humor, some angst, a little romance, a little suspense. I loved the hero, Adam. He basically wants to be left alone by everyone, all tragic and broody. The heroine, Elle, is literally tossed into his lonely existence and really stirs things up. The quirky cast of supporting characters are wonderful. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love this book I didn't. The plot was great, the characters interesting but there just wasn't like anything about it I liked, except the first 20%. Then ending, great is spots, left a "is that all there is" feeling.

Gothic, California is a little town perched above the Pacific Ocean in Big Sur. It depends on the tourist trade to survive, but that has dwindled due to a landslide taking out Hwy 1, aka PCH, aka Pacific Coast Hwy. It's a place that Adam Ramsdell has come to hide from the world. He's not alone in this desire, lots of the town inhabitants have something to hide. Adam has been living here for five years, hiding from others and himself, holding his secret very close.

One morning after a stormy night of creating his metal art, art that reflects the torment in his soul, Adam discovers a woman washed up on the shore. She has no memory, but her first name, Elle. She also had the very vivid signs of being strangled. Adam offers her a refuge while she tries to recover both her memory and her strength. But her memories are dark and threatening and revel images of someone trying to kill her. Her greatest fear is that he will come after her to finish the job.

My thanks to HQN, Publisher, and Charitina Dodd, author, for providing a complimentary digital Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel via NetGalley. This is my fair, honest and personal review. All opinions are mine alone and were not biased in any way.

How is it possible that POINT LAST SEEN is the first book I’ve ever read by Christina Dodd? This story blew me away! Lies and secrets like nobody’s business! This was such a crazy ride! I was sitting there trying to figure out what was the deal with so many things hidden and who was telling the truth!

Christina Dodd has a talent for creating gripping plot lines and a book that practically demands to be read in one sitting and POINT LAST SEEN is no exception. I took my time with this amazing and mind blowing story as I wanted to make it last. Christina Dodd reels in her readers with quite a hook.

Christina Dodd starts by putting the reader on a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions! POINT LAST SEEN takes place in the quirky little town of Gothic. The City of Lost Souls is found in the Big Sur area of the California coast. While on the beach one day, Adam Ramsdell pulls Elle’s half-frozen body from the surf. Elle has no memory of what her full name is or how she got those bruises ringing her throat. So Adam has no choice but to bring her home and help her. So, Adam not only is her protector but he is also determined to find out who she is. Who is she and how did she wind up in the ocean? You are going to have to read POINT LAST SEEN to find out!

I was quickly caught up in the story-line and found it difficult to put down. This book just flew by! POINT LAST SEEN was such a thrilling ride for me! POINT LAST SEEN is a real page-turner. I couldn’t put it down until I knew what had happened. Fans of psychological mysteries will enjoy this one. This story is so well written, that even though it jumps back and forth between the present and the past, it is still easy to follow. POINT LAST SEEN is a suspenseful tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harlequin through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Point Last Seen by Christina Dodd is set in Big Sur in California, in an imaginary town that is close to a wild beach and mountainous terrain. It's an odd kind of town with a variety of inhabitants with many different quirks.

Adam Ramsdell lives there, he has come to hide, to recoup from wounds inflicted by others. He seems to be a loner but... many in the town like him and would most likely call him friend. He is now an artist working with metal.

Elle is rescued one day by Adam, from the sea. When she regains consciousness she has lost her memory. While she is healing Adam takes her in and watches over her. Rune the local psychic (with a back story of course) starts to work with her to help her recover her memory.

The book is very readable, I found myself chuckling and thinking well... what next! There are some shoot outs, fighting and really much skulduggery. The townsfolk are entertaining and provide a great cast of characters. At times as a reader I had to suspend belief, but with appreciation of the story.

There is action and romance with a satisfying conclusion with all the ins and outs neatly wrapped up. I'd almost call it cozy romantic suspense.

A town named Gothic. The California Coast. A secret scientific mission. A shipwreck. A fortune teller. A movie actress. A brooding hero with a past. A girl with amnesia. A castle with a tumbling tower. A small town where everyone knows everyone. A bad guy. Brain eating bacteria. A festival. A duel. This book covers a lot of ground. Throw in some twists about bad guys showing up and even family secrets. Overall, it makes for a fun, summer read.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2022/07/point-last-seen.html

Reviewed for NetGalley and a publisher’s blog tour.

She's done it again, delivered a gripping, edge-of-my-seat thriller that kept me compulsively flipping pages from the breath-stealing beginning to the heart-stopping end. Is it any wonder that each new book Christina Dodd releases goes straight to the top of my reading list?

Point Last Seen showcases Dodd's best assets. Her ability to set the stage creates an immersive, sensory experience. Her main characters are intriguing, a bit mysterious, fully developed, and never fail to engage my emotions. I was fully invested in both Elle and Adam and the outcome of the challenges in their paths. I loved their layers, the bits and pieces of themselves that were strategically revealed as the story progressed.

Then there's the supporting cast. I always enjoy the quirky characters who populate Dodd's books, helping to move the story forward while at the same time offering opportunities for pops of sly humor as well as the many twists waiting to surprise the reader around the next turn.

It doesn't matter how many of Dodd's books I read, those surprising twists never reveal themselves to me until the author deems it appropriate. It's that kind of writing that keeps me glued to the pages, has me gasping with surprise, that twists my emotions into a pretzel, surprises me with laughter in the midst of chaos, and guarantees that whenever she publishes a new book, I'll be first in line to snag a copy.

I highly recommend adding Point Last Seen to your summer book-buying list. It's one of my best reads this year.

Top Dish Review
ARC received for fair and unbiased review

It's a quite twisty, gripping, and entertaining romantic suspense.
It' kept me hooked and I love Gothic (nome omen ?) and the quirky characters.
The characters were interesting and the romance sweet.
It was the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I loved WRONG ALIBI by Christina Dodd, so when I was given the opportunity to read an early copy of her newest book, I was excited.

I loved the fictional town that Dodd created in POINT LAST SEEN. And I loved the variety of characters. But too many elements of this story were forced, especially the romance between the main characters. There were multiple instances where the romance was vulgar and other spots where it was too immaturely described. I also found myself extremely frustrated trying to guess how old the characters were. The first mention of Elle's age was literally halfway through the book, and she was identified as 24, but then later in the book, she's 28. Elle only ever guesses at Adam's age - somewhere in his thirties.

I seriously tried so hard to love this book, because I loved the last one I read by Dodd, but the plot here dragged on and on. Maybe my opinion is in the minority. Maybe my expectations were too high. But this story didn't quite live up to its potential.



[I received an early copy from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way influenced my opinion.]

What's it about (in a nutshell):
Point Last Seen by Christina Dood is a thriller about a woman who washes up in Gothic, CA, the man who rescues her, and how the past influences the present.

Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
This is my second book by Christina Dodd, and I absolutely loved the first book I read by her – Wrong Alibi. Wrong Alibi was full of lies and deceptions, so that's my first thought regarding my expectations for this book. The cover has a woman walking along the coast, and I see a rocky area in the distance, making me think of the west coast of the US. So, the cover seems to be telling me a bit about the setting, but I'm not sure what it's telling me about the plot. The blurb on the back compares the novel to some much-loved thriller writers of mine, which makes me expect a lot of twists and turns and a fast pace, and the description confirms this expectation. So, all-in-all, I hope for a delightfully intense thrill ride.

Actual Reading Experience:
My actual reading experience was a mixed bag of thoughts and feelings. Some things I absolutely loved and other aspects brought up strong reactions in me that fell much to the other side of the spectrum.

First, I adored Gothic, CA, and its quirky inhabitants with the traumatic baggage they carry. Are the characters a bit over-the-top? Sure they are but if you look at any town – really look – I bet you'll find a whole host of people who are as quirky if not more so. Gothic is on the coast, which is my favorite setting – making it the place I'd love to live in. It's coastal and holds a psychic festival – enough said in my thinking

The story is told in 3rd person focused POV and Adam is the character focused on through most of the novel. Since the character is very reserved and private, I found I was not being pulled into his world – I stayed firmly on the outside looking in. Some things that were challenging for me with this narration style and the person it's done through is that the romance focused more on what Elle's physical attributes were causing in Adam's pants. I find this a very uncomfortable and unromantic aspect to focus on. But there really wasn't a lot of that going on. Also, at times Adam and Elle's dialogue read very awkwardly to me, and I'm not sure exactly why that was. But it read in a way that reminded me of a bad actor delivering lines in a play.

Lastly, I loved the twists, turns, and shocking revelations that occurred in the last 25% of the story. Just when I thought the story was done, another twist would happen, and another thread became instantly fascinating. It's that last 25% that held most of the thrills that I expected based on the author comparisons and the blurb, and they did not disappoint me in the least. The pace fluctuated but stayed relatively fast throughout the entire story. Of course, for that last 25%, the pages were flipping rapidly, which I loved.

Characters:
The characters are all unique and intriguing, especially the town inhabitants. They are also reasonably well-developed, and you learn a great deal about backstories, which helps you understand them. Still, I'm not sure I got to the point where I could predict their actions in any given situation.

The villain of the story is a bit too cartoonish for my taste. I imagine him as the type to tie a woman to the train tracks and twirl his mustache while laughing maniacally as he waits for the train to run her over.

To Read or Not to Read:
If you like a highly suspenseful story with so many secrets, your head will spin. Point Last Seen is one you won't want to miss!

Thank you Netgalley and HQN for the chance to read an advance copy of Point last seen by Christina Dodd. This is a new series by the author, Last seen in Gothic appears to be a stand alone series as the quirky town of Gothic appears to be focal point of the series and is known as The city of Lost Souls. I thought this was a fun romantic suspense. It was fast paced, the characters were quirky, and I enjoyed the connection between Elle and Adam. I loved it. I think this makes a great summer read.

This book has a wild plot that is somewhat unbelievable, wild characters that range from the heroine whose life is in danger to the reclusive hero and even to a perhaps trans psychic, and a really wild setting that is not helped by the out-of-control weather on the Pacific Coast. All of that being said, the book is a 3.5 for me, with the believability factor rating it down and the quirkiness of the setting being enticing. It is a dark novel with crime and violence lurking under the surface and a lot of hints about more to come. The village of Gothic makes the story since it is a one of a kind type of place where the castaways of life seem to have gathered, started a new life there and support each other. Adam Ramsdell is a sculptor of sorts (large, metal and not displayed in galleries) who is hiding from his disturbing past. Elle is running from her past but she doesn’t know why because when Adam finds her on the beach, she is half-drowned, suffering from hypothermia and has amnesia. All of this boggled my mind and stretched the bounds of realism, but it did contribute to the story. I enjoyed the story itself but not all of the constant drama. I especially enjoyed the developing relationship between Adam and Elle and how they learn to trust and depend on each other. Sex is a part of the story and it is rated a hard PG with some rather vivid descriptions that I tended to skim over rapidly since I did not think they added to the story itself. The entire book requires an active imagination but did not require me to remember all of the nitty little details about Adam and Elle’s past lives since these details were revealed slowly and methodically, in a definite teasing manner. I did not like the character of Rune, perhaps a trans, but not well portrayed, a psychiatrist who is now a psychic. That was over the top for me and just put there to appease the current trends. Rune’s advice and insight could have very well been given by her in her role as a psychiatrist; the psychic thing was not necessary and did not add to the development of the plot nor the entertainment value of the story, in my opinion. All in all, those who enjoy quirky thrillers will enjoy their trip to Gothic, but the emphasis is definitely on strange.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harlequin via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Point Last Seen is a romantic thriller that balances both genres well. I was questioning myself on what was going to happen next, many times. Every character, even secondary ones are well fleshed out and as this is number 1 in a series, I’m hoping we will get to see more of them. The town itself was its own character and I loved how unique it was. I wouldn’t want to visit since I don’t want to die but I loved reading about it.

This is a really interesting setup for a romantic suspense series. Everyone in the small town of Gothic has a backstory that's not exactly pleasant and there's always the chance it will catch up to them. It also seems to be a place that people end up when they are trying to escape said past.

Adam definitely has some baggage and has kept himself from getting close to most of the residents until he pulls a woman out of the ocean who seems to be dead but when she comes to doesn't even remember her name. There's a lot to unpack in this series. There's how the town was setup in the first place and the backstory of a side character or two. As well, we have to get to know Adam and Elle and what drove Adam to end up in Gothic and Elle to end up in the icy Pacific Ocean battered and bruised.

The mystery surrounding Elle was interesting and at times brutal. Adam is haunted by ghosts that he never actually harmed but can't bring himself to believe it. Elle is able to help Adam make a little peace with his past and Adam is able to make Elle feel safe. It's an interesting pairing that works which isn't always the case when one of the main characters is a bit on the surly side.

My main issue is that there is SOOO much in this book that it slowed the pacing down quite a bit. While I never wanted to abandon the book it wasn't one I necessarily flew through because there were subplots on top of subplots. This isn't a must read for me but it was enjoyable and the beginning of a series I'll be interested to see more of in the future.

Christina Dodd's new series, Last Seen in Gothic starts off with a bang. Gothic is a small town on the coast of California, where there are many people who come to heal, Adam Ramsdell being one of them. Adam is hiding out and healing after a mission he went on resulting in some deaths and he is blaming himself. He has been working in steal making some dangerous sculptures, specifically steal that washes up on the beaches or is found in shallow waters from shipwrecks. When he is walking the beach, he finds a dead body, at least one he thought was dead. It turns out to be a young woman, Elle, who was dead from hypothermia, but when Adam throws her over his shoulder, she vomits up water and is revived. She has lost her memory and stays with Adam while she heals and tries to regain her memory. As memories return, Elle realizes that she is still in danger, and perhaps so is Adam.

This as a quick listen that I really enjoyed. First, I absolutely loved the setting. Gothic overlooks the Pacific Coast in an isolated area. The town itself is full of quirky and eccentric residents, the one I loved the most being Madame Rune, the transgendered psychic who seems to know more than she should. There is more than one thread to this story. We have Elle, and her story; Adam and who might be trying to end his life; and then the story of the psychic fail that is going on in the story with all the characters and activities that it entails. All these storylines mesh well and come together in a wonderful conclusion. There are secrets, lies, some craziness, snark, and interesting characters that kept me interested and looking forward to the next story set in Gothic. I sure hope that Madame Rune will be a constant character in this series. I recommend it to those who like a thriller with some suspense and even a bit of humor.