North of Nowhere is my first Allison Brennan book and the premise sounded good, with two kids who may or may not have actually been kidnapped running from their father and some bad guys into a snow storm. The book started out strong with an exciting escape in a "borrowed" plane that crashes after being shot at on takeoff, unfortunately then I felt that it lost its way a bit with too many characters with unknown motivations. I think my biggest problem was that if you're going to bring in a bad-ass aunt who escaped the crime family and literally parachutes into the action, she should have far more to do in the story. Thank you to St Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the early listen in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you for allowing me to read this book as an ARC.
What a spellbinding fast paced thriller!!! Each page is packed with action, there is never a dull moment i could not put this book down. I kept reading and reading because I had to find out what is happening next.
I had not read anything by this author prior but will most definitely be looking for her other books!
All the characters in the story also fall perfectly into place and I could easily picture each one of them and how they fit into the storyline. The way Ithe reader can visualize everyone and also the landscape and scenery takes a special talent. This author surely nailed it.
Great book and a solid 5 🌟 imo.

Allison Brennan was a new-to-me author with The Wrong Victim, but she quickly became someone whose books I knew I had to keep reading. With North of Nowhere, she brings a fast-paced wilderness thriller to life. I enjoyed the plot (enough that I stayed up entirely too late to finish the book), but I did feel as if the large cast of secondary (sometimes extraneous) characters could have been pared down to make it less confusing to the reader. I also would have loved a deeper dive into Ruby’s backstory with her brother and Tony, perhaps as a duet rather than one longer novel. After reading the author’s acknowledgments, I realized she intended to focus on Kristen primarily, so maybe that could have been the idea for a duet: the McIntyre women who made it out and how they did it despite Kristen never really knowing Ruby’s story.

All in all, it’s a very good read that will have you hooked and transfixed from the outset. However, if you’re looking for any romantic elements, you may be disappointed as there is only the hint of a possible romance between the younger characters. North of Nowhere helped cement my desire to continue reading more of this author’s work—definitely a strong four-star read.

NICUnurse’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lots of intrigue propels this story forward at breakneck pace! Kristen and Ryan, ages 16 and 11, live in Montana with Tony, the man they call dad. Their real father Boyd is a mob boss in Los Angeles who Kristen saw kill a man when she was only 10. Tony managed to get them away after their mom was killed, and taught them kids survival skills. But then Boyd finds them, and it's time to flee.
Now they're on the run in the Montana wilderness, with a posse of killers after them, and a winter storm causing whiteout conditions. And…Action!

This book was a little bit of a struggle for me. I really enjoyed that this book was nonstop action packed. Winter storm, lost in the woods, with gang involvement. The snowy atmosphere and the brutality of the family really makes it feel hopeless for escape. The problem for me was the story got a little repetive and long.
2..75 stars

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy

North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan is a book that takes you into rugged, remote Montana in the middle of a blizzard.

"Tony has been protecting Kristin and Ryan from their father, Boyd, for five years. Boyd is part of a crime family with a large criminal enterprise. Not the best environment for the kids. It looks like they've been discovered living in Montana. Tony borrows a plane to escape but is shot down and crashes miles from the airstrip. Kristin and Ryan manage to free themselves from the wreckage and try to run to a cabin Tony set-up as a safehouse. To get there they must fight the weather and avoid Boyd and his goons as well as an unknown someone who also shot at the plane. Tony's boss, Nick, and Nick's son, head out hoping to find them. Their Aunt Ruby also drops in to help.
Who will find them first?"

Feels like the first two-thirds of this are setup for the ending. There are a lot of moving pieces. It's almost overwhelming at times. But the ending makes up for it when all of the characters come together. Some will make it - many will not. I like the big curveball that Brennan throws in the plot - one I should have expected. The story doesn't move the way you might think.

Great bad guy in Frankie - a truly terrifying character.

A good story overall from Brennan.

As a fan of a few of Ms. Brennan's series, I looked forward to this stand alone. And I liked it, a lot!! There is sure a lot packed into this singular story of 2 children on the run from their crime family. The hunt takes place in the middle of a snowstorm on the mountains of Montana. While I understand how a storm can help and hinder a game of hide and seek like this, I did struggle a little trying to place everyone running around on the mountain and how they did or did not run into each other. But, I loved how the reader was able to read the characters internal thoughts and how each tried to decipher whom to trust or not trust. I think there was one small plot that never got resolved, or I missed it as I was reading as fast as possible to find out how the story was going to conclude. I would suggest starting this book when you know you have a lot of time to keep reading because it is one of those "oh just one more chapter" kind of reads.

North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan is a tense, race against time to find two siblings who are being hunted by their criminal father in the Montana wilderness. Kristen and Ryan have been living in Montana with their “father,” Tony, who is hiding them from their criminal family. The McIntyre’s have been hunting high and low for the kids for five years and Tony and Kristen have been preparing exit plans the whole time. One morning, Tony notices strangers in their small town and knows that their time is up. Tony and the kids take off, but plans go out the window when their small plane goes down and a storm is on the way. Now, the kids are being hunted by their father and his goons, local law enforcement, the man and his son who they have befriended in their new life, their estranged aunt, and a stranger who wants to kill them. Who will get to them first? Not only is it a race against dangerous people, but it’s also a race against the weather.

This book has a lot of twists and turns and tense action! I enjoyed all the different plot lines and different characters with different motives. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat until the end!

This book is a thriller with a heavy dose of man vs nature and deadly family drama. I don’t usually like bad guy POV in these kinds of books, as it’s often a lot of whining about what a victim the bad guy is and everyone’s out to get them – and this one’s no different, but Boyd’s POV does add something valuable to the story. There was something that I think was supposed to be a twist that I saw coming from a mile away, but overall the plot was pretty compelling and the ending was satisfying.

Representation: deaf character

TW: suicidal ideation, nonconsensual drugging of a minor, gaslighting

The action begins quickly in North of Nowhere, with Tony rousing his two kids early in the morning to flee from Boyd, their real father. I thought for quite a while that this must be a sequel, but it is in fact a stand-alone novel set in Montana during a blizzard. A good chilling, non- stop action read for a hot summer day, complete with the worst Irish Granny character you are apt to find in a modern thriller. Don’t drink her tea! 3.5 stars rounded up.

I read this story in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down. From the very first page it becomes a gripping and entertaining drama. The characters are top notch and the plot is intriguing. A family ripped apart due to its violent background. The new people who become involved because they care. There is violence and death as well as redemption for some characters. It is told from the present and the past in a way that draws the reader in. Readers will fall in love for Kristin and Ryan and root for them all the way to the end.

This story sounded like it would keep me on the edge of my seat with excitement, and some parts did, but others didn't. As much as I cared about the kids in the story, most of the rest I couldn't find myself connecting to enough to care about the outcome. That feeling made it difficult to get through because my brain would zone out in boredom.

I loved the premise of this book and enjoyed the first several chapters but found myself skimming the paragraphs. I felt that there were too many names and characters that I had to stop and think about.

I put the book down a few times and kept trying to read it but I sadly did not finish.

How could they have found us after five years...we were well hidden.

Tony knew it was time to run when he saw two strangers at the bottom of his driveway.

Boyd had found them.

Boyd was the father of Kristen and Ryan.

Tony took them from him because of the business Boyd was in.

Tony didn't want them growing up in that family.

NORTH OF NOWHERE takes us on a chase to find Kristen and Ryan with both the good guys and the bad guys in pursuit.

A lot of obstacles get in everyone's way - specifically the snow storm.

Was Tony right in taking the children in the first place? Boyd doesn't think so.

Who will get to the children first?

Will everyone survive?

Lots of characters to keep straight in this thriller with quite a bit of violence and a book that took a few chapters to get me interested.

But...it is worth the read. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

North of Nowhere is filled with love, connection, and unbreakable bonds. Brennan’s style puts you in the story, on the trail, running from both the storm and the danger lurking right on your heels.

The narration brings out the strong emotion. You can’t help but root for Kristen and Ryan. The storyline captured me from page one and held me to the end.

Another great read by Allison Brennan.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in two days.

It's a story about survival. It's a family drama, a suspense novel and an adventure novel in one.

I really liked the characters and the story and I was sucked right in.

The problem I had was that the "chase" in the snowstorm seemed to go on a long time.. I may or may not have skimmed parts of it *innocent look* . I enjoyed it, I just thought that part dragged on a bit too long.

But for what this book is, it was really enjoyable.

This is the sixth Allison Brennan book that I’ve read. I like Brennan’s work; she’s a good writer and storyteller. Brennan starts the story in one of my fave ways to start a story, adrenaline pumping, at the edge of my seat, with some nail-biting feats. Yeah, scenes like that will beat any slow burn story EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

The book summary lays out the first 20% of the primary story and introduces the MC’s. What the book summary doesn’t mention is the secondary storyline of the evil grandmother, Frankie, also tracking them down, through her mob family henchmen. There are a boatload of characters that the story flips back and forth with. We have Kristen, and her aunt, Ruby. There is also Nick and his son, Jason. There is Frankie’s son, Boyd, who is Kristen & Ryan’s father, and then there is the local Sheriff, Kate Paxton.

From pretty early in the story, the two kids, Kristen & Ryan (16 & 10), are on their own and hiking their way through the mountains to a town that is a day away. There is a storm on the way so getting search and rescue out looking for them is impossible. To make matters worse, there is a boatload of people looking for them, some good, some not. Most of the story revolves around getting off the mountain alive. However, the danger for the kids doesn’t end there and there is a whole other danger waiting for them. There are some adrenaline pumping, intense scenes where it’s not clear who will make it out of this mess alive.

This was a fast-paced, action-packed story that had me invested from the get-go. I don’t want to say too much because I truly do not want to reveal any spoilers. I want to thank NetGalley and Minotaur Books for sending me this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #Minotaur Books #NorthofNowhere

A mafia-type family run by a matriarch grandmother. “Bad” characters turned “good.” Kidnapped children. A Montana blizzard. Plenty of twists and turns. Who could ask for a better backdrop for a thriller? This was definitely an exciting read, one with plenty of action that should keep you flipping pages as fast as you can. Yes, there are quite a few characters to keep track of, but once the reader is immersed in the fascinating plot, any problem of keeping track of who is who seems to melt away. All in all, this was a very good standalone with a somewhat unique premise that made for an overall captivating read.

ARC received via Netgalley for an honest review

It has been an age since I have read Allison Brennan (way back in the days of the Seven Deadly Sins series - man I wish we got the whole of that series!)

North To Nowhere was a great jump back into the Brennan-verse.

It was a bit of a slow start, but once it got going, it really got going in a Bournesque hunt through the mountains of Big Sky. This Aussie was in Big Sky and Bozeman last October, so I could picture where all this was happening.

Family is not only blood, it is who you choose to be in your life, those that love you no matter what, and that is what Kristen and Ryan have in their lives, if they can get right away from blood family.

It was kept on the edge of my lounge as I was reading, needing to make sure everyone got out of this situation,, and boy did it get the heart pumping.

I really look forward to seeing what Brennan brings us in the future

This thriller is a story of survival as well as a well-orchestrated game of cat and mouse. Children running from their crime boss father and a snowstorm are just part of this heart-pounding rollercoaster ride. This had me on the edge of my seat and gasping for air. To say this story is action-packed is an understatement. Entertaining, suspenseful, and intense describe this family-oriented thriller. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my copy.