LOST HOURS - Paige Shelton
Alaska Wild #5
Minotaur Books
ISBN: 9781250846617
December 2023
Fiction

Benedict, Alaska - Present Day

A year after moving to Alaska to escape the memory of her kidnapping, Beth Rivers is finally getting into the groove of feeling comfortable in her new surroundings. Oddly enough, she's even getting used to the fact that her father, who deserted Beth and her mother years ago, has shown up in Benedict, and she's not averse to forgiving him, sort of. The nightmare of the days she spent as Travis Walker's prisoner is ever so slowly fading. Able to get back to writing the thriller novels she is noted for, Beth hopes for a full return to her former reality. 

Finally comfortable enough to venture out, Beth and her friend (not boyfriend, but...) Tex board a local tour boat to visit the glaciers. But the trip is cut short when, as the boat passes an island, they see a woman frantically waving and calling for help on the shore. As the captain brings the boat in closer, Tex and others on board get off to help the woman. She is brought on board, bloodied and hysterical, telling everyone that she'd been kidnapped and that the man who took her has been eaten by a bear! Tex and the others head out to look for the body but cannot find anything.

Back in Benedict, Beth helps get the woman, who calls herself Sadie, to Benedict House, a former inn, where Beth lives. Sadie has revealed to her that she is in the witness protection program, although she didn't tell anyone else who interviewed her. Viola, the woman who runs Benedict House is as suspicious as Beth is about Sadie, but both are determined to help her after her ordeal. The more information that comes out, the more curious Beth is about Sadie's history. After discussing the story with the local police chief, Gril, and the librarian, Orin, Beth starts to wonder if Sadie is being upfront with them. But when there is another kidnapping in Benedict, will it be connected to Sadie's, or is it just a coincidence? 

LOST HOURS is a page-turning, emotionally charged tale that takes Beth well past her comfort zone. But she is stronger than she thinks, and, with the help from the locals who have taken her under their wings, can she discover just what happened on that island? And can she and the Benedict citizens find the other kidnapped person? 

Jani Brooks