Without a Trace

Rating:
Summary: Good reading ...
Review: Attempting to put her own demons to rest, Jane has made it her life's work to help put away those who prey on the weak. Working as a police sketch artist, she has had incredible results with the victims. Yet, haunted by her own past, she failed once, and that failure let a killer go free. Now, she may have a chance to atone; if she can be persuaded to return to her calling. Despite burnout, she tries again. Working with a handsome fellow officer, she races time to save a child from a monster.

*** Romance takes a backseat to procdure in this detailed mystery. Jane presents a fascinating psychological portrait of someone both helped and hindered by her own past. As she faces her family, readers may feel a kinship with the difficulties of relatives. Though lighter in tone than Johansen or Cornwall, readers of those books will find this a welcome addition to their library. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.

Rating:
Summary: A Perfect 10
Review: Completely captivating, WITHOUT A TRACE is one of the best books I have read this year. Jane's insecurity in her ability to help the victims of these horrific crimes is heart wrenching, as she struggles with her inner demons to help each witness/victim remember the minutest detail of a memory they just want to erase. Ray, tortured by his own nightmares, is a true doubting Thomas, but is perfectly portrayed as the dark, brooding hero needed for a romantic suspense.

Secondary characters round out the story nicely, and Ms. Erickson's creativity allows evil to exude when the murdering rapist plays center stage. Once I picked up WITHOUT A TRACE, I never put it down until the last word was read. Strong, earthy characters, vivid imagery, and a suspense-filled plot, weld together to make WITHOUT A TRACE a top contender for best book of the year, and I am pleased to award it Romance Review Today's Perfect 10.

Catherine McHenry

Rating:
Summary: AWSOME
Review: I read this book in record time. I picked it up and before I knew it all I wanted to do was read it. I was sincerenly amazed. I usually am a picky reader and I picked this book up for the hell of it. It was GREAT.

Jane Russo is an artist. Not just any artist, she sketches killers face from a victims memory. Naturally is great at it. She has a knack of getting inside of victims heads. But not this time. A new case has Jane really stumped. The new case she is working on hits too close to home. She is working on a rape case. And along with that she no longer has the support of her friend lover Alan instead she has Ray. Rayhas been hurt too, very deeply and he refuses to heal. Him fueled with anger on the case, and Jane compassion they click.

Read the book and enjoy while Janes own rape case iz unraveled and HER vicTIM is brought out, while Ray and Jane face new and old demons of both their pasts.

YOU WILL ENJOY THIS BOOK. IT WAS GREAT!!

Rating:
Summary: solid police procedural romance
Review: In Denver police sketch artist Jane Russo needs to get away from the pressure of failure that could mean the death of an innocent. Her last case has destroyed her psyche as she has failed to obtain a drawing of a serial rapist-killer from the survivors. Jane does not follow the book and is usually able to coax the information so that she can sketch a portrait, but this time she has failed though the culprit has struck several times.

FBI Special Agent Caroline Deutch and survivor rights advocate Alan Gallagher pressure Jane to try one more time. The rapist abducted twelve-year old Aspen resident Kirsten Lemke from the Snowmass slopes. Reluctantly, Jane works with skeptic Ray Vanover to save the life of Kirsten and bring a nasty felon to justice. As they struggle with the case and Jane with Aspen being the home of her somewhat estranged family, they fall in love, but the preadolescent's safety comes first.

Fans of police procedural romances will enjoy WITHOUT A TRACE, a solid suspense thriller. The story line is action-packed in a low key level as Jane and Ray interview witnesses in an attempt to save a life. The estrangement with her mother seems off kilter especially when Jane is easily coaxed into dinner. Her sister's cavalier attitude towards Jane's work feels too selfish for a mom. Still the investigation is top rate and the romance as good.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: solid police procedural romance
Review: In Denver police sketch artist Jane Russo needs to get away from the pressure of failure that could mean the death of an innocent. Her last case has destroyed her psyche as she has failed to obtain a drawing of a serial rapist-killer from the survivors. Jane does not follow the book and is usually able to coax the information so that she can sketch a portrait, but this time she has failed though the culprit has struck several times.

FBI Special Agent Caroline Deutch and survivor rights advocate Alan Gallagher pressure Jane to try one more time. The rapist abducted twelve-year old Aspen resident Kirsten Lemke from the Snowmass slopes. Reluctantly, Jane works with skeptic Ray Vanover to save the life of Kirsten and bring a nasty felon to justice. As they struggle with the case and Jane with Aspen being the home of her somewhat estranged family, they fall in love, but the preadolescent's safety comes first.

Fans of police procedural romances will enjoy WITHOUT A TRACE, a solid suspense thriller. The story line is action-packed in a low key level as Jane and Ray interview witnesses in an attempt to save a life. The estrangement with her mother seems off kilter especially when Jane is easily coaxed into dinner. Her sister's cavalier attitude towards Jane's work feels too selfish for a mom. Still the investigation is top rate and the romance as good.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: "Fast-paced, well-written, excellent mystery."
Review: Jane Russo has a gift. However, recently, this much-touted gift has seemingly deserted her. A free-lance criminal artist for the FBI and other governmental organizations, Jane has just ended the first month of her six-month sabbatical. Because of her own personal past horror as a young girl, she's developed a block that's preventing her from releasing the identity of a multiple-rapist.
Despite the block and despite the sabbatical, Jane is forced to go back on duty when another girl is taken. She's accompanied by a scarred FBI agent, who can take just enough time from the job and his own traumas to consider Jane a fool whose job is a joke.
This is an excellent mystery. Jane's emotions are well- written and her dedication to her job is admirable. The fast-paced writing style makes one eager to read Ms. Erickson's other books.
Reviewed by Vicky Gilpin
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted October 29, 2003

Rating:
Summary: WOW! I loved it!
Review: This is my first Lynn Erickson. It will not be my last. From the first page to the last page she had my attention.

Jane Russo is a freelance sketch artist for various police and federal agencies. She was raped at 16. Her family has never believed her. She has stayed away from them and their friends because she thinks one of them did it. Now at 32 she is trying to come out of her shell.

Jane is called in when a serial rapist strikes again, in her own home town. She has not been able to help the last 3 times he struck. But some people believe she is their only hope.

Ray Vanover is the FBI agent in charge. He is scarred inside and out by a bomb, a militant group placed in his car. The woman he thought he loved, another FBI agent, died in the explosion.

Jane has an empathy with victims, and she is able to get them to relax enough for her to get a sketch of their attackers.

However, because of her rape she is blocked when she tries to sketch this rapist.

I enjoyed the police procedures, the insights, and the romance that developes between these two characters.

If you are looking for a deep, heavy read, this is not it.
If you are looking for a nice, quiet, comfortable read this is it. This is entertainment. Just what I needed.

I really enjoyed it after some of the stuff I've read lately.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good book
Review: This was not a good book, despite the positive reviews it has received. As with Erickson's other books the dialogue is painful. The dialogue is filled with "Um." "Huh." and "Uh-huh." and those fillers are used as complete thoughts and sentences. Obviously the characters have very little sucbstance if that can be the extent of each exchange. Is it so hard for two writers to come together and create a fluid sentence?? I guess so, because these 2 women are hopeless writers. This was the second book I was given by Erickson, and both books suffered from the Um and Huh problem. I cannot understand how writing like that is deemed interesting or engaging by other readers. In any case, the plot is about a woman who was once raped but cannot remember the face of her rapist. She is now a police sketch artist and is called in to assist on a case similar to her own, and it drudges up memories about her own rape. The authors did manage to keep the suspense going (not about the lead character Jane's rape) about the current case she was working on. However, there were a lot of shortcuts taken with this book. The relationship between Jane and Ray (the lead detective) was forced and very rushed at the end, leading to a unrealistic and unbelievable conclusion. The relationship Jane had with her family wasn't well developed and the character interaction was weak at best. The story could have been lengthened to explain the relationship more between Jane and her family, Jane and Ray, Jane and Alan, and even Ray and Kathleen. The authors cramed the story into just over 100 pages and left too much unsaid and undeveloped. The story was just that, a story, with no genuine substance or anything that will leave you wanting more from this/these authors. I am so glad to be done forever with Erickson books. NOT recommended.