I read this book directly after Carolyn Arnold's latest Amanda Steele murder mystery and I find it hard to believe that they were written by the same author. While the Det Steele story was exciting and fast paced, this book was plodding and long winded. The first quarter of the book didn't even have any bearing on the main storyline. I have to admit that I gave up around the 60% mark, I just couldn't force myself to read any more.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book

I really like the Amanda Steele series so I was looking forward to getting into a new series by Carolyn Arnold. This is the first read in the Sandra Vos series. It started strong but all of a sudden it felt a little like a ‘How To’ Manual to hostage negotiation which I know the listener may not know much about but it was a lot and it nearly lost me completely. The timeline was off when it came to dates etc. It felt like the storyline was missing Arnolds usual twists and turns and the urge to keep listening. For me I felt like I missed a huge chunk of the story. The characters are well developed and really likeable. Even if I didn’t really care for the storyline I’d still be up for reading other books in the series. Unfortunately this one just didn’t work for me.

2.5/5 🌟🌟/🌟

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review #SaveHerLife

This is the first book in the Sandra Vos series. What I love about these books is Carolyn's writing style. She has a way of keeping me engaged. It was fast paced and I loved it.

4.5 Stars: Save Her Life is the first book in a new series by Carolyn Arnold. Sandra Vos is an FBI hostage negotiator and one of the best. Her twin brother was killed in a kidnapping gone wrong, 30 years earlier, and was the reason she is in the role. After dropping her teenage daughter off at school, she gets a call about a hostage situation inside a pharmacy. She heads to the scene, ready to diffuse the situation and get all the hostages out alive. The head of the police team is ready to bring in the snipers, but Sandra is able to make contact and talk the man down. Before she leaves the scene, she gets word that her daughter has been taken and the person holding her has demands that must be met within 24 hours or she will die. Sandra doesn't trust anyone else to work the case, but her ex-husband shows up, and he is adamant to get involved, it is his daughter after all. Will they be able to rescue Olivia and meet the demands of the kidnapper?

With this being the first book in the series, we have to get to know the main characters. There was a bit more telling than normal in Carolyn Arnold's books, but I chalk it up to that. Sandra Vos is a great character. I liked the way she worked with the hostage taker at the pharmacy, her patience, gentle nature and intuition come into play. She is a great mom, and there is no way she will let her daughter die. The crime itself was a good one. It went back to her brother's murder and I enjoyed how the storyline twisted and turned. Sandra's husband is a "Rambo" type of agent, working around the world rescuing hostages, so has a very different approach to the crime. I hope we will see more of him in subsequent books as I would like to get to know him better. This story was very tense with Sandra breaking some of the rules to successfully bring the crime to an end. With an uncooperative prison official, a secret location she has to figure out, rules to follow and relatives that are reluctant to help, time ticks quickly and had me reading and listening at every opportunity. Doing a read/listen allowed me to finish this one in a day, and I am already looking for the next book in this series. Kathryn Akin is a narrator I don't believe I have listened to before, but I will not hesitate to listening to her work in the future. Her voices, tone, expression and pacing were spot on for this story. If you enjoy a crime thriller, then I recommend Save Her Life in whichever format you prefer.

The mood is set in the Prologue and then the feeling of danger lingers throughout the book. What a fantastic start to the new series! I can't wait for the next book!!! Highly recommended!

FBI negotiator Sandra Vos is called to a scene where there are people being held in a grocery store. She not only has to try and help the hostage taker, but she is also getting flak from the local police. Things get from bad to worse when her own daughter is kidnapped while she is trying to help at the hostage scene. A very intense story indeed! I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.

As a huge, huge fan of the Detective Amanda Steele series, I was super excited to see that the author had a new series.... sadly, with great hesitation admitting it, I just couldn't get into this one.

FBI negotiator Sandra Vos has to rely heavily on her skills when her own daughter is abducted. Her job gives cause for revenge from many people, is that why her daughter was the target?

Personally, I think I lost interest purely down to the first portion of the book. It was heavily about hostage negotiation and felt like I was reading a textbook on the subject. Whilst, obviously, the majority of us won't know the it's and outs of hostage situations and negotiations, it felt like it just went too deep.

I also felt there were a few discrepancies with dates. It mentioned a character that works in the corporate world, remotely working from home in 1990, but I'm pretty sure the Internet wasn't an everyday thing back then, let alone set up for working from home, as we do in today's world. Timelines and dates just didn't seem to match up, but maybe that's my brain getting muddled.

While this may not be a series I'll be revisiting, it definitely doesn't put me off the author in any way and I think I'll most definitely be in the minority with my review, but as honesty is asked for, that it what I have given.

With thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

Save Her Life is the exciting first installment in a fresh series by the incredibly talented author, Carolyn Arnold.

Meet Sandra Vos, a character familiar to readers of the Detective Amanda Steel series, found in book 13, Hidden Angel. Sandra is a single mother to her 16-year-old daughter, Liv, and is also the girlfriend of Eric, the adopted daughter of Margo, and the ex-partner of Nolan. Professionally, she works alongside Brice Sutton as a negotiator for the FBI.

The series kicks off with Sandra attending the parole hearing for the man who took her brother, Sam’s life, 33 years ago. Shortly after, she receives a call to a grocery store where negotiations are about to begin, and she does her utmost to ensure everyone’s safety. Tragically, following this event, she gets the worst news a mother could hear – Olivia has not arrived for her violin lesson. It soon becomes clear that Liv has been abducted; despite knowing she should step back, Sandra is determined to do everything within her power to rescue her daughter.

Wow! What a fantastic kickoff to this series! I’ve only experienced the Amanda Steel books, which are all incredible, but I was uncertain about what to expect with this new series. Carolyn has a remarkable talent for captivating the reader from the very start and maintaining that engagement until the final page! I adore the characters we’ve encountered so far, and I have no doubt there’s much more to discover from Agent Sandra Vos.

I’m thrilled to be sharing my thoughts on Save Her Life as part of the book tour hosted by Bookouture. My thanks to them for my spot on the tour and to @Netgalley for my choir of the book in and for my honest review.

MY REVIEW

I already enjoy reading Carolyn Arnold’s books so was looking forward to the new series with FBI Special Agent Vos who was introduced in Hidden Angels, the thirteenth book in Arnold’s Detective Amanda Steele series. The author’s writing style pulled me straight in and held my attention throughout.

I already liked Sandra Vos from the other series, but this new series based around her is off to a great start. Her partner Eric and daughter Olivia are fleshed out, credible, characters, and instantly likeable and the tension around Olivia’s disappearance was palpable. The story was chock full of tension and built the pace with twists and turns.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this read, one which am happy to recommend to readers of quality thrillers. I gave Save Her Life, by Carolyn Arnold, five stars and look forward to reading book 2.

Save Her Life by Carolyn Arnold is the first book in her new Sandra Vos series. We meet FBI Special Agent Sandra Vos, who is a long-tenured negotiator. On her way home from testifying at a parole hearing, Sandra gets a call to help at a store, where customers are being held hostage in a tense situation at a grocery store. Sandra is determined to convince the man holding them hostage to free them, but a few hostages were hurt. Sandra does all she can to get him to give up, but hours pass, until she finally gets him to give up.

While Sandra is back in the office filling out her paperwork, she discovers that someone has taken her daughter, Olivia. With help with the FBI team, they try to figure out who is behind the kidnapping. Sandra has a very little time to find a way to rescue Olivia, and when they narrow down the possible suspects, she recognizes who the kidnapper is. The man who she attended the parole, turns out to be one of his cronies, and he wants the gold that only the imprisoned person knows where it is. The kidnapper demands Sandra to find where the gold his, and if she doesn’t find it, he will kill her daughter.

Sandra knows she should let her team take over, but she is desperate and insists that she needs to trust only herself to bring Olivia home alive. Sandra finds herself trying to fill two roles as an investigator and a mother. The pressure rises, as he ex-husband, Nolan arrives to help; and the FBI team escalates as they get closer. She has to race against time to save Olivia, not losing sight of the ticking clock.

Safe Her Life was a tense, exciting, emotional story line, that kept me glued to my kindle. Sandra turned out to be a fantastic heroine, especially with her whole team cooperating and sympathizing with her. Her ex-husband nearer to the end, also helped to save Olivia. Safe Her Life was so very well written by Caroyln Arnold. I suggest you read Safe Her Life was a fantastic thriller.

Having never read a book by Arnold before, what better way to start than the first in a promising new series featuring the FBI's Special Agent Vos.

I do love a book with a strong female lead. Sandra ticked all the boxes for that...she's works for the FBI for starters! Calm, collected and the memory of an elephant, she has it all!

She comes with a great cast of side characters and we get to know her on a personal level too with glimpses into her personal life and relationship with Eric. I'm invested already!

An enjoyable, engaging read.

A complete rush from the very beginning to the thrilling end!! Special Agent Sandra Vos, one of the most successful negotiators for the FBI, is called to a hostage situation. A man is holding approximately forty people in a pharmacy demanding the medication that his daughter needs. Having to contend with a lieutenant who wants to have SWAT rush the building, will she finally resolve the situation with a minimum loss of life? Finally able to leave the scene, she has an appointment with the parole review board in regards to the man who killed her twin brother in a hostage situation years ago. She is determined that others not suffer her brother’s fate. Later, trying to contact her daughter, Olivia, she is unable to reach her. As she continues to worry, her team searches video feeds near where Liv was last seen, Sandra realizes that her daughter has been kidnapped, but by who and why? Her team researches her previous cases for someone who has expressed a grudge against her and the hunt begins. Finally, contacted by the kidnapper will set her on a course as a negotiator for the most personal case she will ever handle. This is her daughter and she won’t rest until she is free, even if it she must sacrifice her own life! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

Save Her Life kicks off Carolyn Arnold’s brand-new series featuring Sandra Vos, an FBI negotiator and single mom doing her best to protect lives—both on the job and at home.

From page one, this gripping thriller doesn’t let go. Sandra Vos, a top FBI negotiator and single mom, takes the lead in Carolyn Arnold’s newest series. When a hostage crisis hits close to home, Sandra is forced to make impossible choices—not just as an agent, but as a mother. This isn’t just another case... it’s a fight for everything she holds dear.

What starts as a seemingly standard hostage negotiation suddenly turns into something way more personal for Sandra. One minute she’s handling a crisis at a local grocery store, and the next, one phone call turns her entire world upside-down. The stakes are high, and as the pressure mounts readers experience it right along with her.

Arnold delivers the perfect balance of action and emotion. You’ve got mounting deadlines, tense standoffs, and all the high-stakes drama you’d expect from an FBI investigation—but there’s also a deep personal layer that pulls you in even more. Sandra may be a top negotiator, but she’s a mom first. And when that part of her life gets dragged into the chaos, you can’t help but keep turning the pages to see how she holds it all together. It’s not just about solving the case—it’s about seeing how far a mother will go when everything’s on the line.

Amid the chaos, readers are given intimate glimpses into Sandra’s personal life—her past and present—adding emotional weight to every decision she makes. Seeing aspects of the story unfold through the antagonist’s eyes adds an extra layer of suspense, making every twist feel even more dangerous. 

Save Her Life is not just a gripping crime fiction—it’s a tale of personal sacrifice, maternal instinct, and unshakable resolve. Carolyn Arnold has crafted a compelling series debut that blends heart-pounding tension with emotional depth. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Save Her Life by Carolyn Arnold is the 1st book in the new FBI Special Agent Sandra Vos. and I loved it. It was a completely addictive and gripping FBI mystery thriller and my earphones in all day listening to it to the very end. Great start to a new series and I loved FBI Special Agent Sandra Vos, character especially as she was mentioned in Book 13 in the brilliant Detective Amanda Steele series - which I enjoyed reading. So, I was very happy Carolyn the author started a series about her! Well Done. . .

First installment in a new mystery thriller series.

Special Agent Sandra Vos is a hostage negotiator for the FBI. She’s divorced and has a teenaged daughter, Olivia, and an ex who works for the Hostage Rescue team against counterterrorism. The beginning of the week finds Sandra trying to talk down a man who has holed up with a bunch of customers in a pharmacy. Then she has to attend a parole hearing for a man who killed her twin brother 30 years ago. The week gets worse when 16-year-old Olivia is kidnapped.

I had a hard time with this book. I feel like there’s no way Sandra would have been so involved in a case involving her own daughter. There were many parts of the book where I felt like I was reading a primer on negotiation and many parts of the story got bogged down by dialogue that didn’t advance the plot. I never got attached to any of the characters who were all very one dimensional. The action proceeded as expected and the ending was predictable. I don’t think I will read any further installments in this new series.

I listened to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book, both provided by the publishers. The narrator, Kathryn Akin, did an OK job but most of the voices sounded way too much alike. This could have benefited with a larger cast or at least a male voice as there were many male characters.

A new series for Carolyn Arnold. I was excited to pick this one up. Those of you that have been awhile know how much I love female law enforcement books.

Yes, this book is about the hostages and the kidnapping of Olivia, Sandra’s daughter. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if Olivia would get home safely. But it’s so much more than that. Carolyn makes Sandra such a relatable character. We see her as she deals with the recurring trauma of losing her brother at a young age. We see her as a daughter to a mother with dementia. We see her as a single mom, and divorcee. And we see her as an FBI Special Agent. There are so many layers to Sandra.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my copies of this book.

Arnold has done it again - a gripping tale with high stakes, and a mother’s dilemma that will have your heart in your throat. Sandra is an amazing woman, and in her shoes, I can honestly say I’d find it difficult to step aside as well if my daughter was taken. Getting to see things from the opposition’s side of view only heightened the tension we feel, and really tightened that twisting feeling in your gut, and got your heart racing even faster. The story moves along at a quick pace, and you’ll find it very hard to stop reading once you start, so make sure you set aside time to read this before diving in! With unforgettable characters and an opening that grabs you from the start, this is one thriller you don’t want to miss!

Save Her Life by Carolyn Arnold introduces a new character, Sandra Vos, who is an FBI agent specializing in hostage negotiation. We meet her as she is testifying against the parole of the man who killed her twin brother, years earlier when they were fourteen. A hostage situation gone bad. On her way back to town she was called back to relieve a negotiator who had been working all day. She always tried to resolve things with no one getting hurt. Not everyone at the scene shared that desire, but she was able to end it peacefully. She returned to the office to write it up and got a phone call from her daughter’s violin teacher. Olivia had not arrived. That kicked Sandra into overdrive and her partner, as well. That was to follow was several sleepless nights and a lot of panic as they raced to get to Olivia before the nut job that had her lost his patience.

Excellent police procedural. With the full force of the FBI behind her, Sandra looked at the video of her being snatched and recognized the culprit, who was not at all who she thought it was. They jut had to find him, now. To do that she had to speak to her brother’s murderer, but she would do anything for Olivia. She called her ex-husband, who was in Turkey, despite the fact she worried how he would respond. He tended to go off half-cocked. Sandra had a supportive boyfriend, Eric, who was a police detective. They kept their relationship quiet because of their related jobs. He was always there and helped where he could. It was a stressful time and Arnold got on the stress to the page. She also gave us some interesting characters for the future. Vos is going to be a good character. I am looking forward to more.

I was invited to read Save Her Life by Bookoutre. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Bookoutre #CarolynArnold #SaveHerLife

Special Agent Sandra Vos is an exceptional FBI agent known for her professionalism. She also has a strong bond with her daughter, Olivia. When Olivia goes missing, Sandra is determined to find her, putting aside her professionalism, often letting her emotional side take over.

Readers first met Sandra in the exceptional Amanda Steele series, and now she has her own series. Readers will likely be equally intrigued by this new series.

Sandra is certain that she will find Olivia. Her determination is fueled by the strong feeling that her daughter is not just missing but has been taken. Olivia’s safety is Sandra’s top priority, a relatable concern for any mother. However, as Sandra is one who has witnessed the worst that society has to offer feels utterly helpless with Olivia missing, the urgency and intensity of the book rise exponentially.

Listening to the expertly narrated audiobook was captivating. The side stories and their connections to the present were intriguing. I also enjoyed the setup of the Sandra Vos series and the character development. The alternating points of view from the kidnappers’ perspective added to the urgency of this compelling read by Carolyn Arnold.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

2⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy of Save Her Life.

Sandra Vos is a FBI hostage negotiator and she is testifying in a parole hearing for the man who killed her twin brother. She makes sure he will stay behind bars. But when her teenage daughter Olivia is abducted she vows to do whatever it takes to get her back.

I liked certain aspects of this book but there was a lot going on and it was very overly descriptive which made the story drag.