Book Review: And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

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And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

Synopsis.

They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong. When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he’s been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he’ll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector. Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff’s deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.

The Review

AND THERE HE KEPT HER by Joshua Moehling Don’t let the narrator fool you- this is a very rugged, masculine thriller. Most of it feels like spending the day with your local small-town sheriff. A bit like living in his head and be forewarned, he has a lot of strong opinions. In one pov we’re following Ben as he continues through his day as a sheriff deputy which includes a very personal missing persons case-his cousin and her boyfriend. In the other pov we’re following Emmett who has more to hide than most. And he’d do anything to keep his secrets buried. The interweaving of the two stories was intriguing and I wanted to keep listening to get back to the storyline I was most interested in. Sometimes this back and forth works but unfortunately it was pretty lopsided in this book. Most of the action was in Emmets pov. I wish we could have lived in that pov more. I also had a lukewarm feeling towards all of the characters. I neither wanted to know more about them and also didn’t really dislike who I was supposed to. This mixed action and lack of caring led to tepid results and I ended at ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for AND THERE HE KEPT HER. Thanks to Netgalley and Poised Pen Press, Dreamscape Media for the advanced copies!