Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is beginning her new, probationary position with the Interagency Major Crimes Unit when a case pops up that appears eerily similar to Gwen’s past in Carrie Stuart Parks’ “Portrait of Vengeance.”
When a young girl is kidnapped after her parents are murdered on the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho, Gwen clamors to take the case to see if it could be related to an event … and people … in her own past. As more and more similarities pop us and she gets deeper into the case, her own life repeatedly becomes in danger.
Relying on the help of her best friend, Beth, and her canine best friend Winston, she becomes more and more convinced the case from her past is related to today’s case, while searching for answers to her own story.
“Portrait of Vengeance” is a fast-paced, twisty suspense thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. Parks does an excellent job of throwing in just enough clues, yet withholding just enough, to keep the ending a surprise. She also does a great job of creating very real, very relatable characters. Gwen, who battled breast cancer, deals with many insecurities, all while fighting with her ex-husband for custody of their daughter.
Although “Portrait of Vengeance” doesn’t contain much spiritual content, it does offer some lessons beyond the suspense aspect. It challenges us that we shouldn’t settle for the “shoulda-woulda-coulda” in life and shouldn’t just take the easy way out. It reminds us that we don’t need to borrow trouble, and to trust that all will work out in the end.
Even though this is the fourth novel in the series, it definitely can be read as a standalone. The author does a fantastic job of providing just enough background information where the reader doesn’t feel lost.
I’d love to see another story from the life of our favorite forensic artist! Here’s hoping!
Five stars out of five.
Thomas Nelson provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.