North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan in my opinion was an amazing book. I love a book that can pull me in from the first couple pages and have me turning the pages for more. This was a fast paced action thriller that you fell in love with some of the characters, and the others you completely detested. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

I received an ARC from NetGalley an the publisher, I am leaving my review voluntarily.

When I say this story was action packed, I mean it was FULL of action. This was a non stop fast paced novel and I was so here for it. I was hooked on the characters and their different pieces of the puzzle and how they all fit together. Each chapter is from a different viewpoint, which in some novels can be confusing but I found the way the author wrote each perspective was done so well and written together so seamlessly that I had no trouble picking up the story when I had to put it down.
This is absolutely a story I could see being on TV or in the movies.
Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest opinion.

I received an ARC of this book. Great story! I was pulled into the story from the first page and couldn't put it down until the last. Highly recommend!

This story, a high stakes chase involving some perilous situations in the middle of unforgivable Montana terrain, started off quite promising. It began getting a little muddled around the halfway point, and turned ridiculous by the climax, which by the way, was far longer than it should have been. The author gave her characters too many long, drawn out soliloquies to relay exposition and the whole thing just became too sappy and melodramatic.
Thanks to #netgalley and #minotaurbooks for this #arc of #northofnowhere in exchange for an honest review.

Allison Brennan did an excellent job with writing this thriller about two children who are hiding from their father because he is the head of a criminal family, but there is a plot twist that even I didn't see. I was shocked but it was an excellent story. We follow the teenagers as they hide out in the mountains of Montana to not be found by their father, as numerous parties search to find them to either keep them safe or to kidnap them.
This author and narrator kept my attention through out the whole book. I would definitely recommend this book to others. Hence my rating of 5 stars!

The book starts with siblings Kristen and Ryan having to go on the run--Troy, who helped them escape a crime family, is there to assist them. Someone is on the look out for them, bad people, who want to silence them forever. This is a thriller combined with an action-adventure novel. The pace keeps you turning the pages, wondering what's going to happen next!

I really enjoyed this book! It felt like more of a "man" thriller and it was a great change of pace from what I had been reading. I loved the setting and the character development. I was afraid that about half way through I would lose interest, but it kept me engaged the entire time.

Sixteen-year-old Kristen and her eleven-year-old brother Ryan are living a peaceful life in Montana with Tony, the man who helped them escape from a crime family. Then the day they feared came and they had to head out quickly. Into the woods amidst an oncoming blizzard. Looking for them are friends, family, and bad people from their past, some of whom want to find them and bring them back, and others want to ensure they never return. At the start of this book, I thought it would be formulaic, but nothing could be further from that. Author Allison Brennan writes a plot that takes off, grabs the reader, and doesn't let go. It's too often said that you won't put a book down, but in this case, you will not be able to put this down. Even though a few characters are not well developed or consistent, most of the characters are people I want to know and get attached to over the course of this book. This really was a fun ride. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so glad I ended up getting this ARC. I haven't read this author before and she didn't disappoint!

Ryan and Kristen are on the run from their mafia father in Montana. This book was packed full of action and I could practically see myself running with them. An atmospheric thriller that can't be missed!

There is a storm coming. Will they make it?

Thanks to netgalley and st martins Minotaur books for this thriller!!

This is a book that had a great set-up, but the execution wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be. The action starts immediately, and I loved the story's first half with Kristen and Ryan trying to escape from their Mafia father. The plane crash and the trials after that really worked for me. But once we started separating everyone and having multiple backstabs and twists... I lost interest. I felt that there were just too many possible bad guys and supporting characters in play. While it wasn't my favorite of Brennan's novels, it was still entertaining. I give this book 3/5 stars.

Tony had no choice but to take the children from their father and now he knows that he can’t protect them any longe. He hoped that he would have more time with them. Kristen & Ryan knew that this day was coming and they have no choice but to run. But will they be able to get away from their father before it is too late? Kristen will do anything to protect her younger deal brother. Is she strong enough to beat her father and to get them safely away?
Ruby knew that this day would come and she has no choice but to save the children from their evil father. She loved her brother but she wouldn’t allow him to take them back to the family home. She knows that will happen to them but will she be able to find them in the middle of nowhere?
A good fast paced read. Great characters. Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for the copy. This is my voluntary review.

I have very mixed feelings about this one - it started out action packed from chapter 1, and I was really into it. (It was giving me Ozark vibes, which I loved!) But 300 pages in still running around from a bunch of big scary dudes (that I couldn’t even keep straight) in a blizzard I just got kind of bored. Also, to be fair I could only read a little of this each day, it might have been better to sit down and read big chunks at a time.

“Is this what Maggie wanted? For Tony to steal their children and bring them north of nowhere to live in squalor?”

This book was just ok for me. I started out with high hopes because one of the main characters shares my name, and it’s even spelled correctly! But besides the two kids (Kristen and Ryan) I didn’t care about any of the characters. And there were a lot to keep track of. The family members were awful people and I couldn’t understand how they actually got that way.

I did like that there was Deaf representation and many references to ASL, but that wasn’t enough to make me really want to keep reading.

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
Deaf representation
Lots of unlikeable characters
A Montana setting

exhilarating and gripping thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The McIntyre siblings, Kristen and Ryan, find themselves in a life-threatening situation when their murderous father tracks them down. With the help of their guardian and a determined Army veteran, they flee into the treacherous Montana wilderness. As the storm rages on, the stakes rise with each passing moment. Brennan expertly weaves together a tale of suspense, family bonds, and the relentless pursuit of survival. With well-developed characters and a fast-paced plot

Pub date: 8/8/23
Genre: thriller
Quick summary: Kristen and Ryan have been in hiding from their father Boyd and the criminal empire he represents. When Boyd finds them in Montana, they end up in the snowy wilderness, with multiple people racing to find them.

I enjoyed THE SORORITY MURDER by Brennan, so I was excited to try another book by her. I really liked her depiction of the setting - I could feel the cold Montana winter and the desperation of Kristen and Ryan as they fought to survive. Unfortunately, the book was just too over the top for me. There were so many characters - I could not keep them all straight, and I didn't feel like the henchmen contributed much to the narrative. The bad guys felt really stereotypical, and I struggled to stay engaged with the narrative. I think I might have connected more with the book had it been pared down in terms of length and number of characters. The narrator did an okay job with all the perspectives, but she couldn't rescue the book for me.

If you enjoy wilderness popcorn thrillers, you may like this one more than I did!

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for providing an e-ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Author, Allison Brennan, takes off at a sprint’s pace with this entertaining, multi-narrative, & well written book.

The reader is able to quickly identify with, relate to, and sympathize with all characters, as you are thrown into the storyline right from the start.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to review "North of Nowhere” prior to publication. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

North of Nowhere by Allison Brennan is a psychological thriller about two kids trying to escape from their crime family.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books (and in particular Stephen Erickson for sending me a widget), and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Kristin (16) and her hearing-impaired brother Ryan (11) have been living with Tom for the last 5 years in a remote Montana town, hiding from their father, Boyd McIntyre, part of an LA crime family.  Now, it looks like they've been found.   Boyd wants his kids back, and he wants Tom dead for his betrayal.  He is determined to take them back to their grandmother, who will do whatever it takes to keep them in line.

Gunfire hits the small plane they are using to escape, but Kristen and her brother hike deep into the woods to escape the people who are following them.  But it's hard to know who to trust.  Boyd and his henchmen are on their trail, as is a police officer.   Nick Lorenzo and his son Jason, who own the ranch that they are renting, and the owner of the plane, are also in pursuit.  Then there is Boyd's sister Ruby, ex-military, and the children's aunt, who is determined to save them.  She knows better than anyone what awaits the children if Boyd takes them home.

But the approaching storm may not even be the worst of their problems.


My Opinions:
This was a great adventure, and the setting of Montana during a snow-storm made it that much more exciting.  Tension built throughout.   Be prepared for a lot of gun-fire and death....and blood.  Also be prepared that the book is about vengeance and retribution.  However, the story was basically about family ties...the good and the bad, good vs evil.  It is about second chances, forgiveness, and grief.

I'm not usually a fan of books about crime families, but this was different.  There was very little time discussing the crime syndicate.  It was basically about two children who were "kidnapped' from the family.

The characters (and there were a lot of them) were deep, and whether you loved them or hated them, they were captivating.  Nature, itself, became an important character in this book.

The plot was good, and although there were a number of somewhat predictable events, I was entertained from start to finish.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

Allison Brennan's newest novel has a LOT of action. It is a life and death action thriller that will have you rooting for the good guys, and the bad guys who are trying to be good. Tony taught Kristen and Ryan how to survive for the last five years as they ran from their criminal father, and worse, an evil grandmother. Unfortunately, their luck ran out on the run. Their father found them and wanted them back. Lots of action in the wilderness as Kristen and Ryan try their hand at survival skills in order to get to safety. With a storm coming, and their aunt searching for them to help them to safety, keeping the bad guys away when you really do not know who are the bad guys. I hope to see Ruby, Ryan, and Kristen in another book one day to get an update on how they are doing. If you like action, this one will definitely check the box.

A 16 year old girl and her hearing impaired 10 year old brother are using their survival skills in the mountains of Montana as they try to escape from danger. This book drops us into the action from the first paragraph and the novel doesn't let up in the pacing as we accompany Kristin and her brother Ryan as they try to find shelter and avoid some very dangerous people. Kristin and Ryan are the children of a crime boss named Boyd McIntyre and even more dangerous than Boyd is his mother Frankie, an evil woman who thinks nothing of drugging children into submission or worse. Five years earlier Kristin and Ryan were kidnapped by Tony, a man who used to work with Boyd and has been hiding out with the kids on a desolate ranch. When Tony gets word that Boyd has found them, he borrows a small plane from his employer and tries to escape only to have the plane shot down by an unknown person. Thee children don't want to be brought back to Boyd and his crime family, especially after Kristin witnessed the killing of her mother.

There are a lot of characters in this book and I found it difficult to keep track of all of them. There is Boyd and the hitmen he has brought with him, Nick and Jason, the father son team that owned the ranch where Tony and the kids lived, Ruby, the estranged aunt of the kids, the local sheriff, a cop from LA and many more. If we would have had less people to keep track of, I think the book would have been more exciting. Instead, I felt slowed down every time it switched to yet another person wandering around in the near blizzard conditions and I kept wanted to go back to Kristin and Ryan. I liked how strong Kristin and Ryan turned out to be and I liked the positive representation of disabilities. Some of the characters seemed kind of like stock stereotypes, but others like Nick and Jason were well thought out as people who knew the dangers of getting lost in the mountains. Good ending and overall I enjoyed the book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a ARC in exchange for a review.

The beautiful cover is what drew me initially to NORTH OF NOWHERE by New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan, but this sensational standalone thriller did not disappoint. Brennan centers the story on two young people: 16-year-old Kristen and her 10-year-old deaf brother Ryan. On the run for the last five years, they have been living with Tony Reed near a ranch in Montana and the suspense-filled adventures largely take place in the wilderness area near Lost Lake as a storm approaches. The siblings are being hunted by their biological father, Boyd McIntyre; he's deeply involved in organized crime so he is joined by several of his henchmen and a local guide while searching the woods. And that group is being trailed by Tony's employer, Nick Lorenzo, a local rancher concerned about the kids. Nick has alerted their ex-Army aunt named Ruby and she runs into a cop who has been on Tony's trail for years. Yes, it's complicated, full of twists and fatal encounters, but also very exhilarating as the tension mounts and characters, particularly Kristen, draw on inner resources to avoid being captured. Family dynamics are key to this fast-paced mystery which will keep readers up at night. Enjoy!