Fall from Trace (London League, Book 5)

Alex Sommerville, known in English spy circles as Trace, has been held captive and tortured for the past four and a half years.  His friends and co-workers all assume he’s dead. They witnessed his sacrifice to save them and heard him get stabbed for doing so.  His body and soul are scarred. When he regains concsiouness after yet another beating, he learns he's in the back of a cart being driven through Wales and uses the opportunity to escape so he can get home to the one person who has given him the will to survive.  Poppy Edgewood has mourned Alex every single day of these past years that he’s been ‘dead.’  Her family abandoned her, so she moved into a small farmhouse, refusing to leave the area where she and Alex were so happy.  Her life has been forever changed with Alex’s death.  She works hard and non-stop, and has fallen far from the pampered young lady she was in the past.

The evocative prose in this book is a joy to read!  The author paints beautiful word pictures that totally engross the reader.  Both nuanced and blunt descriptions evoke tears and heartbreak along with joy and hope.  Rarely are characters portrayed who have been through as much as both these protagonists have in their short adult lives.  The growth and acceptance of their lot in life is portrayed beautifully, as is the story arc that shows readers the trajectory from barely surviving to thriving.  The pacing increases steadily throughout, while the conflicts within these characters are beautifully defined.  This is a heartfelt and compelling story!

Carey Sullivan