A baby missing. A family in pieces. A shocking secret that can’t be told.
Landon and Jennifer Bartlett have everything—money, influence and a picture-perfect family. But it means nothing when their lives are torn apart the day someone breaks into their plush mansion and takes their newborn child right from his cot.
Sir, I have been doing this job for a few years now. Hunting down child abductors. you wouldn’t believe the number of times the abductor is a parent. Usually, a husband who disagrees with a judge’s decision over access, thinks they can take the law into their own hands. The kind of thing. It’s understandable in a way. Sympathetic. Every one of them had a reason, at least in their own heads. people are human and love makes them choose the bad option sometimes. But when I catch them, it’s twenty years inside. Minimum. No parole.
FBI Agent Max Carter investigates child abduction cases. He has a reputation for working all hours to find every missing child on his watch—after all, he was once one himself. When he visits the Bartletts’ sprawling home in an exclusive estate in the suburbs of Seattle, he’s immediately suspicious of Landon Bartlett and his brother Chase.
As Carter delves deeper into the lives of the brothers, he finds a web of dubious business deals and lies that could cost the Bartlett’s their entire family fortune. And it’s clear they will do anything to keep their secrets—but would they withhold vital information that could lead him to baby Ky’s kidnapper?
As Carter begins a cat-and-mouse game with the kidnapper, he receives some startling news from home, which stops him in his tracks. And when a young woman is spotted boarding a bus out of town with a baby fitting Ky’s description, he must decide whether to risk everything to find the missing child or save his own family.
Ed James is the author of multiple series of crime novels. The bestselling DI Simon Fenchurch series is set on the gritty streets of East London, with six books in the series.
The Scott Cullen series of Scottish police procedurals features a young Edinburgh Detective Constable investigating crimes from the bottom rung of the career ladder he’s desperate to climb. The first book, “Ghost in the Machine”, has been downloaded over 400,000 times, hitting both the Amazon UK & US top five.
Spinning off the Cullen books, the Craig Hunter books star a PTSD-suffering ex-squaddie now working as a cop investigating sexual abuse cases, with lots of slapstick and office banter. The first three books are out now.
He lives in the Scottish Borders, Scotland and writes full-time, but used to work in IT project management, where he filled his weekly commute to London by literally writing on planes, trains and automobiles.
Another great book by Ed James. This is the second in the Max Carter Series and follows on from the first, though can be read as a standalone. The book is told from a number of different perspectives and has a timeline (not that I ever seem to take note of it when reading!). Baby Ky Bartlett, 6 weeks old is taken from his parents, Jennifer and Landon while they are out, and the nanny is having a sneaky cigarette. FBI child protection agent, Max Carter is called in to investigate and ensure the safe return of Ky to his loving family.
This follows a good plot, there are many twists and turns throughout but this adds well to the story. This wasn’t the fastest-paced read for me, it starts a little slowly and the way the kidnapper manages to get into and out of the house is quite unbelievable. The story flows well though and the chapters are a good length.
The characters are well developed and while it could be confusing being told from different points of view, it all flowed seamlessly through each person. A lot of the characters are a little cold feeling, none of them has much warmth and the Bartlett’s, in particular, don’t appear to be that upset about losing their son, there’s a bit of a lack of emotion there. Through the twists and turns Landon’s brother, Chase becomes more involved and I found the names Chase and Carter (as he is mostly referred to) slightly confusing in parts, I would have liked it more if their names were more different.
Overall though I really enjoyed this, it held my attention well and I wouldn’t hesitate to read the next book in the series when it comes out, which I am assuming it will given the cliff hanger at the end!
Thank you to Net Galley, the Publisher and the Author for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
| Title | Gone in Seconds |
| Author | Ed James |
| Series | Detective Max Carter Series Book 2 |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 358 Pages |
| Genre | Crime Thrillers |
| Publisher | Bookouture |
| Release Date | 12th June 2020 |
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