cover image Cover Your Tracks

Cover Your Tracks

Daco Smalley Auffenorde. Turner, $16.99 trade paper (270p) ISBN 978-1-68442-550-1

This nail-biter from Auffenorde (The Libra Affair as Daco) opens aboard a passenger train bound from Chicago to Spokane, Wash., where eight-and-a-half-months pregnant Margo Fletcher plans to attend her niece’s wedding. In the Rocky Mountains, a blizzard strikes, and the train suddenly slows down. Former Army Ranger Nick Eliot, who’s in the same car as Margo, tells his fellow passengers that the train is headed into an avalanche. Only Margo heeds Nick’s warning to move to the last car, and she goes with him to the back of the train. Nick uncouples the car, and they watch the rest of the train continue toward its doom. A tale of survival follows, punctuated by flashbacks to the protagonists’ tragic childhoods. With each new glimpse into Nick’s and Margo’s pasts, readers must reassess the motives of the pair. Is Nick Margo’s savior, or is he intent on some sinister plan? And why would a heavily pregnant woman risk making such a trip in the first place? Well-crafted action sequences keep up the energy and tension. Thriller fans will want to see more from Auffenorde. (Oct.)