Buried Secrets – Joseph Finder

A colleague first introduced me to Nick Heller shortly after the release of Vanished. I think it was one of the first books I purchased on the kindle. I’ve actually read it twice, and my wife has read it as well. Shortly after getting into the book scene on twitter, I found out that Joseph Finder is actually pretty active on twitter. Shortly after following him, I found out about Buried Secrets.

This novel follows Nick Heller after he has moved to Boston (Finder’s home town) to start up his own security agency. Business is a little slow, as Nick is pretty selective about his clients. It turns out that the daughter of a family friend has been kidnapped and is being held hostage. Unfortunately, the girl’s family isn’t telling Nick everything he knows about his daughter. Fortunately, for the reader, we get to meet Nick’s professional colleagues as he tracks down the girls.

As you know, I am anti-spoiler, but it has been pretty well publicized that the girl is being held hostage in a coffin buried underground. Apparently Joseph Finder actually was locked into a coffin to see what it felt like. The research experience worked, because his initial description of being locked in the coffin is seriously anxiety inducing. Other than that, Joseph Finder has a pretty interesting choice of weapon for the villain, the WASP knife, a knife that injects air forcefully into the victim after they have been stabbed. It makes for a few gruesome scenes.

One of the strongest points of this novel is the pacing. This book just never stops! I actually read the book in one day, while essentially locked in a room with no windows (it’s a work thing that I have to do about once a month). Especially freaky was when the power went out for five minutes and I was stuck in the dark, not really knowing where the door was! I also know the ladies are pretty big fans of Nick Heller in general, and there is a love story/subplot in the novel that will keep most people satisfied.

I am classifying this as a MUST READ for the summer. If you haven’t read VANISHED by Joseph Finder, I would recommend reading it first, although I would not consider it a requisite.

I am currently reading Superman: Red Son, and have also read a novella called Chasing Filthy Lucre. They are both pretty short, so I’m not sure if I will make two posts or not.