Brandt Dodson's Seventy Times Seven ~ Reviewed

Seventy Times Seven
by Brandt Dodson
Published by Harvest House Publishers
ISBN-10: 0736918108

Fired by the FBI, former agent Colton Parker becomes a private investigator to earn an income. This widower also struggles to be a good dad to his teenage daughter, Callie. Her grief over her mother's death has driven her to attempt suicide once, and he's afraid she'll try again, soon. But bills must still be paid and finding the time Callie needs is difficult with his PI job. At least, he can use the skills he'd learned working for the FBI.

His latest client is social outcast Lester Cheek, "Cheek the Geek" to his high school classmates thirty some years ago. But Lester has done well, very well for himself. He made his fortune building a chain of pottery stores across the Midwest. But he didn't find true happiness until he married Claudia five years ago. Now she is missing and Lester is desperate to find out what's happened to the only thing that ever mattered in his life. He hires Colton when the Indianapolis police can't find her. They assume she's run off with someone else.

Colton thinks the same things. In the days before her disappearance, Claudia pulled out large sums of money from various ATMs and purchased a travel voucher at one of the local travel agencies. People he interviews have nothing but praise for Claudia Cheek and all of her charity work. People aren't so generous with her husband; Colton discovers the mild-mannered Lester is anything but in the business world. On his climb to the top, he's accumulated a list of enemies.

But Colton's lean toward a runaway wife evaporates when her bloody car is discovered abandoned along a highway. What started as a missing spouse investigation quickly escalates into a case of murder and betrayal, with Colton caught in the murderer's crosshairs.

Seventy Times Seven is the second Colton Parker Mystery. Written in first person, author Brandt Dodson brings his main character to life through the tight, snappy dialogue and fast-paced action. Well-worth reading.

Reviewed by Cheryl Russell
www.unseenworlds.blogspot.com