A Review of Snatched (Vanished Book 1) by Michael Arches

This is the first time I’m reading anything by Michael Arches. The book cover and the title immediately drew me in. So, let’s meet Athena Kazan, a former Cheyene federal prosecutor who was shot in the head when she came upon a cash exchange between Wyoming’s Attorney General and Dominique Santiago, the daughter of a drug cartel leader. Athena was maimed (wears a glass eye and walks with a limp) and is now in witness protection in Colorado because Dominique’s father has a huge bounty on her head to prevent her from testifying against his daughter.

Fast forward and Athena (now Christina Nielsen) gets embroiled in a dangerous situation. It all happened while she was waiting in line to use the bathroom at a discount gas station when Jackie, a pregnant woman slipped her an index card asking for help. Jackie was with her nurse, Mia and they both got whisked away by an armed man into a Chevy Suburban. Unable to get the feds to send help, Athena decides to follow them (I admired her spunk). But things get dicey when she is later kidnapped from her apartment and taken as a surrogate in the care of Misha Chekov, psychopathic boss on behalf of Mr. Langer, an insane New York billionaire.

Overall, this was an intense read. This book had me on the edge of my seat once the feds finally got involved and ramped up a rescue mission of the women and young girls who were trapped as surrogates and sex slaves. The subject matter (kidnapping) isn’t one that gets a lot of attention, so I think the author did a great job shining some light on it and giving the storyline a good resolution.

Nevertheless, I was a bit disappointed that Misha Chekov didn’t get a death deserving of his cruel treatment of these women. Also, I really wanted to know who the mole in the FBI was but everyone including Dr. Wu, the OB/GYN cut a deal to spill their guts about the surrogacy operation. Otherwise, this was a great read! Two thumbs up!

Rating: 4.5 stars

Some of my favorite lines:

Jackie uttered a quiet gasp, looked with pleading eyes at Athena and pressed an index card into her free hand. That done, Jackie hurried after Mia and Rico.

Athena froze. What the hell was going on?

But before figuring that out, she really had to relieve herself. She hurried into the bathroom and sat to do her business. Only then did she check out the three-by-five card.

In clear block print, it said: Over forty women and girls—mostly pregnant—held prisoner! Five dead already. About an hour east of Durango. Call the FBI. Sheriff’s office corrupt. PLEASE HELP US!

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