Identity Crisis
By Jean Hackensmith
Print: $14.95
- ISBN-13: 978-1629010755
Cheyenne Chief of Police, Brian
Koski, is forced to resign his position as captain of the Sixth Precinct and goes
into business as a private detective. His partner? A mahogany-colored Belgian
Malinois named Sinbad. Brian's first clients are Jeff and Melody Patten. He's
an explosives expert for a local demolitions company; she's a stay-at-home mom.
Both are devoted parents to their young daughter, Angela. The problem comes when
Collin Lanaski, an ex-Air Force lieutenant and Angela's second grade teacher insists
that Angela is his daughter-the same daughter who died in a tragic car accident
four years earlier. What does Collin base this incredible revelation on? Dog
tags and car seats. Brian is convinced the man has suffered a psychotic break.
He's delusional and dangerous, and it’s Brian’s job to protect Angela from a
madman.
·
Print Length: 243 pages
·
Publisher: Inkwater Press (April 29, 2014)
My Review:
Beginning with a prolog in which Collin Lanaski returns to
overseas military service and must say good-bye to his family, Identity Crisis is
part mystery, part thriller, part crime novel.
This is book 2 of the B.K. Investigations series, and while
there were several allusions to the former story, I never felt like I couldn’t
keep up with the events of this sequel. Cheyenne WY’s police force apparently
has some deep-seated issues if the chief has to resort to murder to get
criminals bagged for good. Someone with a conscience finally spilled and Chief
Koski, who hadn’t made the right kind of friends on the force, is booted. He
takes out a shingle as a PI, but with the new chief making sure no one refers
any work his way, things are tough. His first clients are friends of friends,
and one scared young mom who’s afraid her daughter’s second-grade teacher has
flipped when he started insisting that her daughter Angela was really his own
little girl, whose mother was killed while he was overseas. Koski isn’t able to prevent her kidnapping and is the only one
still on the case months later, even after his retainer runs out, his other
cases start backing up, and no one else believes she’s still alive. No one, that is,
but a psychic who insists she sees the little girl.
Out of leads, Koski listens to the psychic,
gets his bearings and begins a search for the clues he’s given. As often
happens, the exact right circumstances line up and Koski finds Angela and
Lanaksy…only things don’t add up.
There was certainly much to like as the events unfolded in
this tale. The characters borderline unlikeable, but tough and gritty and
determined or as creepily evil as needed. There were a number of issues left
hanging, such as Lanasky’s impending divorce before the death of his wife, and
a few other things in Koski’s cases and personal life that teetered on the
suspension of disbelief line. I still turned pages faster and faster to find
out how things were going to come out in the end…though of course, the reader
must beware that Identity Crisis is part of a series. Told from Koski’s
perspective throughout, Identity Crisis is a contemporary every parent’s
nightmare tale that will leave the reader curious about the next installment.
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