Kiss Her Goodbye
Robert Gregory Browne
ATF Agent Jack Donovan has two ambitions in life – take down cult leader Alex Gunderson after years of violent mayhem, and reconnect with his daughter Jessie, who has somehow managed to slip from his life.
Unfortunately for Jack, none of his experience as a stellar cop or an absent father has prepared him for the unthinkable way these two parts of his life are about to collide.
In a desperate act of revenge, Gunderson kidnaps Jessie and buries her alive. But just as Jack’s team is closing in, Gunderson is shot dead and the secret to Jessie’s location is lost with him. With only a few precious hours of oxygen to sustain her, and with not a single clue pointing in her direction, Jessie is sure to die unless Jack can somehow find her.
One-note debut thriller purporting to be a study in evil.Pony-tailed Chicago arms-trafficker Alex Gunderson is the head of the fanatical anti-government group called Socialist Amerikan Reconstruction Army-SARA for short, in honor of his adored pregnant wife. His longtime nemesis is 39-year-old Jack Donovan, special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Jack’s estranged 15-year-old daughter Jessie, staying with him for the first time since the divorce, makes it quite clear that she resents him for never being around while she was growing up. When Gunderson stages a blowout heist at the Northland First & Trust bank, Donovan is there to foil it. Sara, a major player in the stickup despite her big belly (she’s as much a sociopath as her husband), is gravely wounded during the subsequent car chase, leaving Gunderson bent on avenging himself on Donovan. While Sara lies in a coma in a hospital, Gunderson kidnaps Jessie and buries her alive-but she’ll stay that way, he tells Donovan, only as long as the oxygen tanks last. The rest of the story unfolds as a cat-and-mouse game between two desperate men. Donovan arrests oily ex-con Bobby Nemo, witnessed taking part in Gunderson’s bank robbery, then releases him in hopes of following Bobby to his leader. With Jessie buried and barely breathing, Donovan runs a nerve-wracking race against time to save his daughter and prove his fatherly love, aided by girlfriend and ATF colleague Rachel, formerly a battered wife. (Browne’s characterizations run to guys-and-dolls cliches.) The personal vendetta begins to take its toll on both hero and villain, while the reader remains unmoved and unenlightened.Gutter-mouthed characters and graphic violence-the usual. (Kirkus Reviews)
