Review - - Forget What You Know

Forget What You Know

by Christina Dodd

Publisher: HQN

Release Date: March 7, 2023

Reviewed by PJ

A submerged car is pulled from the bottom of the lake, and in an interesting twist, the driver has been shot in the back of the head. No other bodies are found; only the legendary Dragon's Heart remains inside, and as it rises to the surface, greedy collectors from around the world gather. They'll stop at nothing to gain possession of the priceless artifact, and only flower-breeder Zoey Phoenix, the unknowing heir, stands in their way.

Zoey remembers nothing about her early childhood; her mother's desire to leave those years behind never worried her...until she's almost killed in a hit and run and, days later, her mother disappears. Now Zoey fears her family secrets won't stay buried long.  She has no idea who almost killed her or why, but she's determined to unravel the dangerous truths of her past—before they claim her future.

Forget what you know...yet the past remembers.

PJ's Thoughts:

Well, she's done it again, crafted an intensely compelling thriller that kept me reading into the wee hours of the night. With intriguing characters, edge-of-the-seat suspense, impeccably placed humor, emotional depth, and more twists than a two-lane mountain road, there was no way I was going to be able to put this one down until I turned the final page. 

I'm pretty good at figuring out mysteries but Dodd is a master of the surprise twist, a skill she continues to fine tune with each book she writes. Just when I think I've figured things out she throws in a "wow, I didn't see that coming" and sends me off in an entirely new direction. This book is littered with those moments, adding new dimensions to the story and keeping me on my toes from beginning to end.

Another area where Dodd excels is in developing characters and character relationships. In Forget What You Know, we have parent-child relationships, friendships, marriages, second-chance romances, and more with each relationship being given the care and attention it deserves. 

As for the individual characters, each of them, whether primary or secondary, is well developed and integral to the story. Some of them touched my heart, others had me shivering and looking over my shoulder, while more still left me laughing out loud. That's another skill this author uses with great effectiveness: humor. Her sly wit frequently catches me off guard, taking me from breath-stealing intensity to snort laughing in a heartbeat. Keep an eye out for Zoey's former mother-in-law in this book. She's the purveyor of some of the best lines and, frankly, steals just about every scene she's in. 

When a book keeps you glued to the pages until you finally reach the conclusion around 3:00 AM and then all you want to do is go back to the beginning and start all over again, that's a must-read novel. I can't wait to discover what Dodd has in store for readers next. 

If you enjoy twisty suspense, action, heart-tugging romance, quirky characters, and unexpected laughter, add this book to your reading list. Forget What You Know, the newest suspense thriller by Christina Dodd has my highest recommendation.