A. F. Carter’s The Hostage is a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end! I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book full of suspense, intrigue, and mystery. Great read!

Fast and Gritty read!
Delia is captain of the police force. She’s trying to clean up crime in her town. When the daughter of the lead bidder on project. It’s up to Delia to bring her home safe. The FBI get called in but they want to pay the ransom.

Fast paced!

3. 5 ⭐️‘s
When the town of Baxter has a promising opportunity of a Nissan Plant locating in their small town, suddenly there’s hope for many. Unfortunately, that hope just might be shattered when the plant manager moves to town and his daughter is abducted. When the local police are called off and the FBI take over, nothing seems to be happening with the case. The FBI know who has her, but just want to family to pay the ransom. Captain Delia Mariola has been busy cleaning up the drug crime in Baxter, but when her teenaged son and the missing girls brother get involved in the kidnapping case, she decides to do a bit of investigating on her own. This was a quick read and the characters are well drawn, an enjoyable read. Thank you to Mysterious Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

When a young very wealthy girl is kidnapped in a rust belt town that is promising renewal. A police Captain is cleaning the town up. A high performance kidnapping ring. All combined effortlessly by. A F Carter seemingly a master crime writer making it look easy. Must read. I have no idea who Carter is but I am hooked. Great novel.

The Hostage

📖 Book Review 📖
Rating: 3.5 ⭐️
Publish Date: September 30, 2022
Author: A.F. Carter
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
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Includes:
🖋 Fantastic Writing
📖 Easy Read
👮🏻 Police Investigating
👧🏻 Mulitple Point of Views
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This book draws you in from the beginning and I enjoy Carter’s straight to the point writing style.
For me, the protagonist stayed emotionless through the entire story, however I still enjoyed her character. It was smart giving her confident, stern, leadership skills that I believe was vital characteristics regarding her career field. I think it stayed true to being a Police Captain, in that she was more involved in her work rather than family life.
I didn’t quite connect with the young girl protagonist. I think some situations she was put it and her choices were a little unbelievable. The author did claim her as being intelligent for her age, but it still felt her decisions as being unrealistic.
I really enjoyed the side characters sprinkled in throughout as well.
Towards the middle of the book, I wished the pace would pick up in areas it didn’t. Some of the investigating dragged a bit or didn’t even fit into the story at all.
Overall, I would read another book by the author and thought the storyline was pretty interesting.



Many thanks to A.F. Carter and Penzler Publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy. Expected release date of September 2022

The Hostage is a mystery as well as look into a rust belt town trying to pull itself back up when a new factory comes to town.
As a new auto plant is being built, the daughter of one of the wealthy investors is kidnapped. Although she is only 15, she is smart and things fast on her feet. The kidnappers appear to be professionals but they are not even ready for this young woman.
The factory and the money it will bring to the region seems to be coming at a most unwelcome cost.

Finding a book that offers a glimpse into social issues while following a strong female protagonist in a good mystery is not to be missed.

3.5⭐

Captain Delia Merola of the Baxter Police Department has a lot on her plate. With the new Nissan Car Company plant promising to boost the economy of the small town of Baxter, she is in charge of cleaning up the local drug trade, making Baxter a safer place to live and work. She spends her days busting meth labs and arresting dealers and pushers while balancing her role as a single mom to her fourteen-year-old son Danny. When the fifteen-year-old daughter of a rich family, who also happens to be the highest bidder on the construction contract of the new plant, Delia is instructed by her boss to let the FBI handle the case. When the FBI advises the family to pay the ransom and wait for Elizabeth’s release, the family reaches out to Delia and asks her to run a parallel investigation- one that does not involve sitting and waiting.

Elizabeth Bradford was born with a golden spoon in her mouth. She is a smart teenager two years ahead of her peers in school, aware of the privileges of her family background but realistic in her observations of the world around her. When she is kidnapped, she is aware of the potential peril that awaits her despite her kidnapper’s assurance that she will be released once the ransom is paid. She trusts no one and though she appears to be the perfectly meek hostage, her mind is working in ways her captor would never guess.

Narrated by both Delia and Elizabeth in the first person, The Hostage by A.F. Carter is atmospheric, gritty and exciting. The procedural aspects and the dynamics in an understaffed police department were very well executed as were Elizabeth’s moment in captivity. The author does a great job of describing the setting of a struggling, crime-infested small town. Delia’s personal life and her dynamic with colleagues and friends form an integral part of the narrative. Both Delia and Elizabeth are two strong and smart protagonists who manage to keep the reader engaged. The emphasis on local crime fighting often overshadows the kidnapping case , which at times dampened the thrill for me. Though the narrative did drag a little towards the end, I was happy with the way the story was resolved. I would be interested in more stories featuring the fearless Delia Merola in the future.

Thank you to Penzler Publishers and NetGalley for providing a digital review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

I pushed through 100 pages of this before I decided I could not continue. While the premise sounds intriguing, I felt bogged down in too many details that did not seem relevant to the story. The first chapter with Elizabeth was promising, and then the story turned for the next 80 pages and had nothing to do with her kidnapping other the Chief of Police mentioning it to our other main character Delia. I did not like Delia much, her character seemed very flat and not well developed. From the beginning it seemed as though the writing was telling instead of showing, and I felt like I was listening to someone tell the story rather than experiencing it along with the characters. I think that if the writing flowed a bit more, the book would read easier. While I have put this book down for now, I have not given up on the author completely.

I would like to ask the author a favor. Can we please have another novel with Delia? And soon?

I loved this. It’s a perfectly gritty crime drama with two utterly unique main characters.

Delia is awesome. She’s tough as can be, yet still has so much heart. I’m so curious about her backstory and I loved reading her.

Our victim, Elizabeth, is arrogant, bright, and odd. She’s this weird mix of hard to like and easy to love.

And our crime? While it seems much like a standard kidnapping, it really isn’t – and the tension is palpable.

While this is my first book from this author, it definitely won’t be my last!

*ARC via Net Galley

Good book! Wow the young female character in this book was awesome! What a brave character! This book had suspense, intrigue and great police work! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my kindle! I truly enjoyed reading this one! I will definitely recommend reading this book! Its well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!