5 stars 
 What a thrill of a ride! From the shooting standoff at the beginning of the book dating back 1976 to the last page, this is a gripping story of deception, lies, and events that are all interconnected. 
 Dawson Scott is a journalist who just returned home from Afghanistan. Just as he was sent out to do a story on blind balloonists (that's right), his godfather (Gary Headly) called and asked him to cover another story, one that he believed had some connection to his case back in 1976. What unfolds is full of twists that I never expected. I had to read those paragraphs a few times to wrap my head around it. 
 My first book by Sandra Brown, Mean Streak, I reallyyyyy disliked Jeff. In this one, Carl Wingert made him look like a saint! Carl's selfish, egotistical, gutless, heartless, and very manipulative to the point of brainwashing. You can say he's good at gaining people's loyalty, but I call it brainwash! I really felt bad for Flora and even Jeremy towards the end. 
 The romance that developed between Dawson and Amelia was great. I loved his interaction with her boys, in fact, they provide the lighter laughing moments in the book. My mind is still blown from what Dawson disclosed. There's lots of depths to these characters, and the storytelling is top-notch. Miss Brown is fast becoming a favorite romantic-suspense writer for me.