Review: Tracefinder: Changes by Kaje Harper

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Title: Tracefinder: Changes (Tracefinder: Book Two

Author: Kaje Harper

Publisher: Self-Published

Length: 469 Pages (Kindle)

Category: Paranormal, Action/Thriller

At a Glance: Kaje Harper delivers an exciting story rife with incredibly well drawn characters and a tightly constructed plot that has more than its fair share of action, drama and heart-stopping moments.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: Brian can Find a lost child or a wanted criminal, but when his secret gets out, even Nick’s skills and connections may not be enough to keep them safe.

Brian Kerr is now free of his dangerous boss and his domineering brother. He’s eager to start using his psychic Finding talent to help people, if he can figure out how to do that safely. His dyslexia, and his tendency to act simpleminded under stress, make building his new life a daunting challenge. And while his not-quite-boyfriend, Nick, is willing to support him, in bed and out of it, Brian doesn’t want to lean on Nick. If their relationship is going anywhere, he has to be a full partner and handle his own problems.

Nick Rugo’s walking a tightrope instead of settling into the ordinary cop’s life he’d hoped for. He’s hiding too many things from too many people. He has told professional and unprofessional lies that will come back to haunt him. Now, with Brian determined to start Finding again, he’s not sure he can protect the man he cares for. If all that wasn’t enough to make him start punching walls, he also has a suspicion that Brian’s brother Damon and sister Lori may be out there, lurking, ready to complicate their lives.

Warning: Some Series Spoilers Ahead

Review: When author Kaje Harper released the first novel in her Tracefinder series, I will admit I fell in love with her characters Brian and Nick–such an odd pairing that was just somehow so very right, and a slow building relationship that I was unsure would ever come to be, but amazingly was! We were left hanging at the end of Contact, wondering where these two guys would go from there, with so many potential relational pitfalls looming as well as the threat of interference, or worse, from Brian’s less than savory siblings. Well, I can happily say the wait is over for fans of that first installment with the release of Tracefinder: Changes. I dare say that the challenge for me now will be to find enough superlatives to laud this delightfully angsty and fast paced gem of a story. This is also the best time to tell you that if you have not read Tracefinder: Contact, you need to do so before reading any further, as this review will be one big spoiler for those not familiar with the series’ beginnings.

Picking up directly from where the prior one left off, we are handed front row seats to the ever frustrating, but oh so fascinating, Nick Rugo and his ongoing struggle to walk the fine line between his duty as a law enforcement officer and his growing attraction for a young man who has been on the wrong side of the law for way too long. Recognizing again that Brian was not to blame for his help in finding those his brother was hired to kill, Nick wants only to protect Brian, help him unravel the confusion he has between who he really is (Brian) and who he has played at being (Bry) for most of his life. Plagued by dyslexia, which has left him unable to read even simple texts, Brian struggles to be the adult he knows Nick must see in order for their relationship to grow at all. The problem he faces is that it’s just so easy to tune out, become that sweet simpleton Bry has always been, and hide in the safety of that persona–particularly when the stress of daily living becomes overwhelming for him.

Making the decision to be who he really is goes hand-in-hand with using his gift for “finding” for a good cause, as opposed to the criminal way he’d been forced into doing when under the thumb of Mr. Marston. Brian is determined to begin making decisions for himself, and that means using his abilities to find those who are in need—those he can feel good about helping. The problem is that once he begins down that road, it will expose him to everyone—including the bad guys, one of which is his own brother. Meanwhile, Nick walks a tightrope of his own, primarily due to the lies he has told concerning how Brian escaped, Marston died, and Lori and Damon disappeared before the police could capture them. All this comes to bear in this second novel, creating a tension that will remain taut and provoke Nick into doing things he would never have considered before meeting Brian. So many dice are thrown in this novel in the hopes of coming up with snake eyes and winning the game, only to discover that dice will indeed fall where they may, and no one will walk away the same.

Spoiler Warning

Suffice it to say that those characters we have come to both loath and love survive this action-packed sequel, but how they manage it and in what shape they come to be by novel’s end is something you will have to discover on your own. What I can tell you is that author Kaje Harper does what she excels at by delving deeply into her characters, exposing their flaws, their foibles and their gold-lined hearts. Through storytelling that exceeds your every expectation, she draws you into her imaginative world that smacks of such realism you hardly dare breathe for fear of what peril may be around the next corner. Nick and Brian, along with a new character, Charlie (an old police buddy of Nick’s), wrap around your heart, and their travels and trials keep you on the edge of your seat, at times fearing the worst may befall them. Never fear, though; Ms. Harper draws you back from the edge time and time again and gives you a short-lived breathing spell until she tosses her boys back into the fray. Tracefinder: Changes offers up a plethora of action including murder, kidnapping, mayhem and danger all rolled into one amazing story that leaves you begging for more at novel’s end. On top of all that, there is a hard won growing love story that will leave you with all the warm feelings you can handle after such a roller coaster ride.

I think I may have run out of superlatives at last, so let me simply sum up this review by saying that once again Kaje Harper delivers an exciting story rife with incredibly well drawn characters and a tightly constructed plot that has more than its fair share of action, drama and heart-stopping moments. Tracefinder: Changes is not to be missed, and I highly recommend it to you.

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You can buy Tracefinder: Changes here:
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