I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since 9/11. This book was told in a different way and it kept my interest from the very first page. It’s a thriller that focuses on a crime right before the twin towers were hit and they had to solve the crime. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Kensington Books and #NetGalley for my honest opinion. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

There’s a lot going on and it’s hard to put down. You’ll be shocked at the ending.

This was so freaking close to a five star. 4.5 stars for me but I'm going to round up! This book was pretty freaking good. The only qualm was one character that I just could not get on board with. However, since that's my own issue and has nothing to do with the story, I feel good about the rating!

Charlie Donlea does it again! This novel presents a years long mystery of a socialite accused of murder on the brink of 9/11, and her sister’s tireless quest to clear her name, no matter the cost to herself. A wonderful book exactly right for the cold season, for you won’t want to leave the house until you finish reading it!

Twenty Years Later is the latest book by Charlie Donlea. Mr Donlea's books keep getting better and better. In Twenty Years Later the reader is given two stories, a murder from twenty years ago and the location of a man who has been hiding for years from the FBI and justice. The stories merge because of the main character, who is a journalist. I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for an early copy to review.

Phenomenal book and I have loved all his previous books too! Part of this book deals with the September 2001 tragedy. But there is so much more. I was led not only down the garden path but through the trees into the forest. I expected one of the surprising events but not the others. Please Mr. Donlea, keep writing these fabulous books. Many thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Books and the Author for the privilege of reading and reviewing this book.

This is a great story with a lot of plot twists, but there are some details that distract from the intrigue of the story. I did not see the ending coming, but I was gripped with the character development and plot line. The inclusion of risque sexual deviance and foul language threw me off of the pleasure of reading this book, however. I would not recommend this book due to this inclusion that could have been left out of the story without affecting the content I think it would be offensive to the mainstream populace of our library.

I am a big fan of Charlie Donlea and was very excited to review his newest book. I found Twenty Years Later to be utterly fascinating. The plot is so intricately woven and unique, I don’t think I will read another book like this any time soon.

Avery Mason is the host of American Events, a news show that thrives on audience interest. She is chasing down a new story, a woman has been identified by a bone shard from the disaster of 9/11. Avery pitches this as a human interest story and travels to NY to research. She hides from her producers that she has a whole other very personal, very secret reason to be in New York.

Walt Jenkins is an ex FBI agent who was asked to retire early, he left the states and resides in Jamaica where he drowns his sorrows in rum. He gets called back to the big leagues however when the 9/11 victim is found to be Victoria Ford, a murder suspect in a case he was covering. It’s not long before he and Avery cross paths, both are trying to solve the murder for many different reasons.

I enjoyed this novel very much. The flashbacks from twenty years ago and the multiple points of view kept the plot moving quickly and built suspense. There are several different story threads to keep organized but I think that adds to the interest. Walt’s story is a bit thin, but I still enjoyed him and he added a foil to the larger-than -life Avery.

My own complaint is that this was not published closer to 9/11. The event is front and center of this book and I happen to read it on the anniversary. It helped me reflect on the day in a different way and I am thankful for that.

If you like thrillers with complex stories and larger than life characters, this is a novel for you! Thank you to #NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for a fair review.

Twenty years on, the destruction of the World Trade Centre on 9/11 still cast a long shadow over the world. But time has affected the way we perceive and consider those events. Fiction closer to the time – books like Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005) or Don DeLillo’s The Falling Man (2007) - was focussed on the event itself and the associated trauma. Crime writers have taken a different tack. Recently, in A Voice in the Night, Australian crime author Sarah Hawthorn built a current day thriller around a young woman who was in New York at the time whose lover (a client of her law firm) was killed in the attack. In Twenty Years Later Charlie Donlea also looks at events brought to a halt by the events of 9/11 but in this case it is a murder trial.
Avery Mason is the host of a popular TV Magazine show, on the track of a story to launch her second season. She hears of Victoria Ford, a victim of 9/11 who has been identified after twenty years through an advanced process of ongoing DNA testing of remains. When Avery goes to investigate the story she finds not only that at the time Victoria was about to be indicted for a high profile murder but that her sister has a recording from her from just before the North Tower collapse protesting her innocence. Avery sees more angles for her program but has skeletons of her own related to her fugitive father, wanted for financial crimes. The FBI leans on Waler Jenkins, the original investigator of the case who also used to work with FBI to both work with and surveil Avery. Walt, of course, has issues and secrets of his own to work.
As can be seen from the above, Twenty Years Later is literally dripping with plot and as a result it takes a while to get going. There is the cold case investigation, an exploration of the impacts of 9/11, Avery’s other reason for being in New York tied up with her father and Walt’s undercover mission and tragic backstory. Yet somehow Donlea manages to bring it all together. By keeping the focus firmly on Avery and Walt and their joint and individual journeys he keeps all the balls in the air. Not only that but he drops enough clues to let readers think they have worked everything out before they are revealed only to have the rug pulled out from under them a number of times, or for the information to be used in a way that they would not expect. And while the climax pivots on the solution of the murder mystery, that solution drives a completely different form of tension. And yes, it is all possible a little too coincidental and contrived but not in any way that will slow readers down.
Twenty Years Later exists in a ‘Donlea-verse’ so features a walk on role from a character from an earlier book (Livia Cutty from The Girl Who Was Taken), and even Avery’s position is tangentially connected with events in his previous novel The Suicide House. No knowledge of these previous books is required though to enjoy this volume. Donlea uses the story to shine a light on the ongoing trauma of 9/11 but also the herculean efforts being made to formally identify the victims. But aside from that context he delivers another page-turning, surprise-filled thriller anchored by engaging leads.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this, and read it in one sitting. I do hope further work is being done on the text though, to remove some of the repetition and correct the typos (e.g. creak/creek). There were also continual references to how Avery was trying to conceal the fact she was in New York (despite the fact that she was interviewing people right, left and centre) and we were told twice that she never used her credit card and twice that she swiped it in taxis...

There were other things that seemed unlikely to me - despite the fact that Avery's real name was there for anyone looking to find out, it hadn't made it into the press despite her being a famous TV personality. There was an awful lot going on too - sub-plots kept cropping up, even towards the end.

Having said all that, I found it a page-turner. I liked Avery and Walt, her ex-FBI love-interest/the man who was helping her/investigating her, and just went along for the ride.

Recommended.

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea. I'll admit to being somewhat confused at the beginning of the book and it took awhile to get into. Then the action started and it was nonstop till the end. Avery and Walt made a good team once they were honest with one another. There were some gritty details about the murder of the famous novelist. Several elements were interwoven but were unraveled in the end. Interesting read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

TWENTY YEARS LATER
BY CHARLIE DONLEA

I am a huge fan of Charlie Donlea's crime novels and I was absolutely looking forward to enjoying this one as well. To be honest, while I enjoyed this it was going in too many different directions for my giving it the five stars that other reviewer's have assigned to it already. In other words my gut instincts after finishing it felt like it was trying to hard to be too many things at the same time which made the conclusion not as appealing. It had a perfectly great premise and I would have enjoyed it more if it didn't veer off and get as complicated as it did.

The beginning starts out with a murder staged to look like a suicide. You have the slightly gratuitous use of the backdrop of 911, which is sacred history and I felt it in poor taste to use in a crime novel. A woman is visiting her high profile defense attorney who tells her she is likely to be indicted. Then the first plane hits the North tower. It is believed that the accused named Virginia has died a victim of 911. Twenty years later new DNA technology has identified Virginia's remains from a tooth.

Her sister has pleaded with the female host of the nation's most viewed commentator of a television news magazine to clear Virginia's name. She plays the taped message left on the answering machine from Virginia to her sister begging her sister to clear her name. The popular host is trying to negotiate millions more in order for her to secure for herself a lucrative contract. Twenty year's earlier the investigator who collected Virginia's blood, urine, fingerprints and rope found in Virginia's home is called out of early retirement from the FBI.. Does she sound guilty to you?

This manuscript would have received five stars from me if it stuck to the television commentator trying to clear Virginia's name with the help of the retired FBI agent sharing his files and the teamwork of the two of them working together in the name of justice. One has to suspend belief to think that he would aid and abet the case that he was pulled out of retirement from his career with the FBI. Sparks fly between famous host and the FBI agent Walt Jenkins. They have just only met so why would he help her by what I am pretty sure is at the very least obstruction of justice. All for this host who not only has her own secrets but she and Walt barely know one another and I am pretty sure obstructing justice carries a potential prison term. Yet, again the plot changes directions. He has been assigned to watch the television commentator as the FBI is watching and expecting her to assist her father who schemed billions out of citizens in his crooked investments. It veers off again as he goes off script entrusted to keep the television commentator under surveillance when he at a minimum he could be prosecuted. To think that the two of them sail off in the sunset after his crime and hers. Really? How can this be reconciled as being realistic.?


The narrative gets a lot more complicated as it goes on. It simply has too many threads and each one of them would have made a compelling novel. My verdict is that there is no doubt that Charlie Donlea is a gifted storyteller. He just picked too many angles and for me it just didn't work. Not withstanding using 911 as a backdrop seems wrong. Too many different things going on. Maybe if I read this novel again--but why should that be necessary when I had a perfectly good grasp on the multifaceted plot. Maybe it is phenomenal. My honest takeaway was that I was enjoying it as it was and found that I was disappointed that the plot twisted into the land of realism that was compromised. It was interesting enough without adding actions that just seemed too far fetched. Charlie, you are a great writer whom I have enjoyed all of your previous books. Please don't substitute straight forward believable crime fiction into trying to put useless twisty unbelievable behaviors that just don't ring true. Still, I have to award this *incredulous* novel a solid Four stars and I am grateful that I read it because it entertained me.

Publication Date: December 28, 2021

Thank you to Net Galley, Charlie Donlea and Kensington Books for providing me with my Arc in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#TwentyYearsLater #CharlieDonlea #KensingtonBooks #NetGalley

Wow….a lot going on in this book. And all of it pulled together in a perfect ending. Where I thought this story was going was not at all where it ended.
Avery is an up and coming news star, but is also hiding her families past. A new lead on a story takes her back home, but is that really her reason for going? And why is the FBI so interested in her?
I’m not going to say much more, because of all the twists and turns. Brilliant mystery!

Thank you Kensington Books, NetGalley and Author for this advance ebook copy in return for an honest review!

After reading The Suicide House by Charlie Donlea I had to read his upcoming novel Twenty Years Later.
And y'all this book is freaking phenomenal.
This was one of those books I couldn’t wait to finish because I had to know how it ended, but I was also devastated because I wanted to keep reading. Like a ride that you didn't want to get off of!
Quick and entertaining read, that once you start, you won’t be able to tear yourself away from. Expertly plotted and perfectly written, Charlie has delivered another addictive and enjoyable read. Amazing!

Thanks again NetGalley, Publisher and Author for the chance to read and review this amazing book!
I'll post to my Social media platforms closer to pub date!

Kensington Books I seriously love y'all!

Let me start out by saying, I did not expect this. I have never read a Charlie Donlea novel but after concluding Twenty Years Later, I want to start at the very beginning and buy them all. Twenty Years Later, has easily become one of my favorite books of this year. Bravo!

This novel quickly grabs you and the pace is set. You follow along with Avery, A news broadcaster who sets out to uncover the truth about a murder that happened 20 years ago. The murder case was abandoned in the aftermath of 9/11.

Coming up on the 20 year anniversary of 9/11 I love how this was incorporated into the novel. This novel has all the sex and betrayal you are looking for ! I was certainly intrigued.

To say I could not put this book down, would be an understatement. I found myself traveling through my halls with the ipad in my hand because I just could not get enough! This novel has all of the key components of a standout thriller that will instantly become a hit! Murder, mystery, plot twists! You name it, Twenty Years Later, has it! If you have not yet read a Charlie Donlea novel, I recommend you do so now and make sure to Add Twenty Years Later, to your pre-order list!

You know that rare book you read that when it ends you just can't pick up another one from your giant stack of TBR's because you just didn't want it to end? This is one of those books! Charlie Donlea has done it again! He has become one of those go-to authors where each book is consistently better than the last. It began years ago with Summit Lake and each one after that is just that much greater, if possible. Twenty Years Later is a standalone. I loved how 9/11 was a plot point. It was not used as the main part of the story, just a reminder in the background. Victoria is accused of murdering her married lover, then dying in the Twin Towers on 9/11 without ever going to trial. Twenty years later, Avery Mason, a TV journalist stumbles upon the case at the urging of Victoria's sister and goes forth to prove her innocence. Everything that follows is a big , exciting rollercoaster that I did not want to get off of! Sure, there were some implausible parts but did it detract from the fun ride of the story? NEVER!! So many crazy twists and turns, I couldn't keep with them all! It was almost impossible to put this one down and I kept thinking about it when I was forced to! I can't recommend this one enough and look forward to more from Mr. Donlea!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Charlie Donlea and Kensington Books for this much appreciated ARC!

Wow what a rush! I could not put this down! This one started a little slow for me and I was a little worried but I love this author and know the books are usually great. And true to form it picked up the pace and the separate perspectives meshed and it was a wild ride. I read while I ate dinner, I literally could not put it down. I adored the main characters. The story line was phenomenal and holy smokes the ending was literally jaw dropping. I’m still sitting here stunned. Five glowing stars.

Hard to believe that it’s been two decades since 9-11, but it always brings back memories. The author uses that as the background to add a variety of interesting characters to create an interesting story.

Avery Mason hosts a reality show that exposes some of the seedier, more sensational stories in the news. Her newest show revolves around the first DNA identification of a 9/11 victim in years. That’s a big enough story already, but it turns out that the victim, Victoria Ford was accused of murdering her married lover. Victoria’s sister, Emma has never given up hope that her sister would be found, and now that she has, Emma intends to prove that Victoria didn’t kill anyone. Emma is hoping that Avery, with all her connections will be able to help. But Avery’s main goal is to improve her ratings and Emma has no idea how far down the rabbit hole she’ll have to go to get answers.