Book Review: "Face of Betrayal" by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

While home on Christmas holiday, a seventeen-year-old Senate page takes her dog out for a walk and never returns. Reporter Cassidy Shaw is the first to break the story. The media firestorm that ensues quickly ensnares Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce and FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedge ... who just happen to be Cassidy's best friends. It appears the young page was romantically involved with a senator-a senator now under suspicion for her disappearance. As time begins to run out for the missing girl, Cassidy, Allison, and Nicole fight to locate her before its too late, even while each fights her own personal battles-a stalker, single-motherhood, and an abusive relationship.

This book was another surprising read of the year. I was really amazed at how into the book I got and found it to be an intense all night page turner. I don't watch Fox News so I honestly didn't know who Lis Wiehl was when picking up this book. Other than the Bill O'Reilly endorsement on the front, I had no idea this was a book by a newscaster. It all makes sense now though because this is a story that could be ripped straight from the headlines. It was really interesting to see the story from three different angles - the lawyer, the investigator and the reporter. What I found unique is that usually the reporter tends to have problems with everyone else because their first thoughts are to promote themselves with the story. In this book, however, the reporter allows the clues to come to her and doesn't go out hunting for them. This could be due to the fact that she respects her friends and their feelings even though she is trying to climb the career ladder as well. I really enjoyed reading the mystery about what happened to Katie and I felt the suspense building up throughout the entire book.

Katie's blog entries were well written and did sound convincingly like an actual teen would have written then. Although I'm not too sure that she would have used a MySpace page to blog her thoughts, as I think by now most teens have moved onto Facebook. It was a little difficult reading the entries at first because the story went from third person to first person abruptly but this qualm was erased after you got used to it. The ending was one I didn't see coming and it also raised questions about spousal abuse from a different perspective. I felt the book was extremely well written and it gave an insider's look to what goes on during a crime investigation. The women are likable and I'm eager to read more about them in future books. The story is not preachy, faith is a topic brought up, but it is not in your face. This was a great thriller and a must read suspense book. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the Triple Threat series.

Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl with April Henry is published by Thomas Nelson (2009)