Review: The Witness by John Ryder

The Witness

by John Ryder

Publisher: Bookouture

Pages: 327

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  “I need you to find and protect my daughter. I can’t even tell you where she is. All I can say is that I’ve been told she’ll be dead by noon tomorrow.”

Kyle Roche is a man who people hire to fix problems. But this time he’s been hired to protect a woman who doesn’t officially exist anymore. And he’s the only man who can find her and keep her safe in less than twenty-four hours…

The daughter’s name is Savannah Nicholls. She had to go into Witness Protection because of a tragic mistake. She moved to the small town of Pagosa Springs nine days ago but even hidden as she is, she’s in mortal danger. Savannah’s mother says her daughter is just a nice girl, from a good family, that she’s never gotten in trouble in her life.

But she also says someone knows where she is. And they want to kill her. Within minutes of making contact with Savannah, as Roche feels a bullet whistle by his ear, he knows instinctively that she’s right.

But who is after Savannah? And how can Roche protect her when he isn’t allowed to know anything about who she is—or who her enemies are?

Kritters Thoughts:  Kyle Roche is a man who is hired to take care of things who need big things fixed.  A mother of a child who is in the Witness Protection Program needs his help as her daughter's life has been threatened and these bad people know where she is and how to get here which means there are bigger fish to fry - within the government and the program.  So Kyle is off to first fine the target and then to find the real problem within.  

This was an interesting book as it was not just a story about rescuing the damsel in distress, but also trying to find the leak within.  For me these two parts of the book were great as it was a lot of cat and mouse and chasing and outsmarting, but the book went south for me when the hunted became the hunter.  I don't want to share too much and spoil the book, but Savannah's storyline itself just didn't fit for me in the book.  It felt as though too much was revealed too late in the game and I wish the reader knew more earlier in the book to understand her decisions and her motives.  

This was my first John Ryder read and while I didn't love all the details in this book, I did enjoy the overall plot and storyline, so I would be intrigued to try his other series and see if I enjoy those a bit more than this one.

Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more

Ebook 2021 Challenge: 88 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Bookouture.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.