I should preface this by saying I'm not a big mystery reader. I haven't read much in the genre, and I don't have a lot of experience with this type of story. But, the description on the back of SIX YEARS sounded intriguing enough that I decided to step outside my normal preferences to give this one a shot. 
 Basically, this is the story of a man, Jake, who fell in love with a beautiful, mysterious artist, Natalie, six years ago at a creative retreat. The relationship was quick and intense, and Jake was sure that he had finally found the woman of his dreams... except, Natalie married another man soon after the retreat and made Jake promise that he would keep his distance and never try to interfere in her new life. 
 And, Jake kept that promise for six years -- that is, until the day he found an obituary for Natalie's husband. Now, he decides, he is free to find Natalie and offer his consolation -- and perhaps, down the road, he will have an opportunity to rekindle an old flame. 
 Except, once Jake manages to sneak into the funeral of Natalie's husband, he finds that the grieving wife is not the beloved woman of his past. She claims that she and her husband have been together for far more than six years, and she knows nothing about this woman Natalie that Jake is insistent upon finding. In fact, none of Natalie's old friends, family, or even the people at the old retreat have any idea were she lives now -- it's as if she literally never existed. 
 More determined than ever to track down his first love, Jake finds himself in more danger than he ever expected. Looking for Natalie becomes a literal quest of life and death. Can Jake track down his love from six years ago, or was the very idea of Natalie nothing more than an idealized scam? 
 I had really mixed feelings about SIX YEARS while I was reading the novel. Part of me thought it to be romantic for Jake to be so infatuated with tracking down the love of his life -- from six years ago -- but the other part of me really found him to be overly brooding, obsessive, and a bit stalkerish at times. Six years is a LONG time to mourn what sounded to be little more than a whirlwind relationship -- especially one that allegedly ended in marriage to another man. 
 Things got a bit bogged down with all of the bank robberies, mob references, and comical beat downs, but I did enjoy the academic setting immensely. The story pieced together perhaps a bit too nicely, but it was fulfilling in the end and I was pleased to have a satisfying ending after spending nearly a week reading this book. 
 The ending was a bit more picture-perfect and sappy sweet than what I would have expected, but it seemed pretty fitting for Jake's character. I'm not sure that I would run out to read another book by this author, but I did enjoy SIX YEARS very much and I'm glad I finally got my turn on the hold list for this title at my library.