If I had to summarize Present Danger in just a sentence, it would be that this book didn’t feel like the beginning of a series. Book One of the Rocky Mountain Courage series introduces us to a story that seems like it’s already in progress. The back cover blurb says it all “Former FBI Special Agent Jack Tanner is working a detective in Montana when…” Ok, so the story will probably be about how that downward job movement happened. Nope. “He’s committed to finding the killer, even if it means working alongside his old flame, US Forest Service Special Agent Terra Connors.” Ok, this will be about their backstory. Nope. 

 

Present Danger throws readers into what feels like already established characters which—okay—that’s how real life does it, but it the book it created a continual sense that the reader is missing something. There’s information in the background that’s not relevant or part of the story in any way, but through how it gets referenced makes the reader’s knowledge of the characters incomplete. 

 

The plot itself is reasonably serviceable. The twists are predictable, maybe owing to Goddard writing scenes from the perspective of one of the bad guys. I couldn’t help but think that many of the mysteries in this book could have been solved if only the characters had talked with each other. Mysteries aren’t resolved so much as they just unravel. Goddard maintains some mysteries by withholding from the reader information the character knows. It creates a false sense of suspense that frustrating more than it was page-turning. In the end, Goddard has a lot of good reviews and won a lot of awards—but if this is indicative of her style, then it’s not for me.