Furious by T. R. Ragan, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Faith McMann, a fourth grade school teacher in the suburbs of Sacramento, walks into her home to find her husband and two children bound and gagged. "Where is it?" one of the three unknown men in the room ask her. Not understanding what they are referring to, one of the men slashes the throat of her husband, killing him. And before she can react, another does the same to her. As she lay dying, she sees her two children taken out of their home, in Furious, the first book in this suspense trilogy by T. R. Ragan.

A neighbor, hearing a commotion, had called 9-1-1 and rushed over to see what was going on. She finds Faith dying, and manages to staunch the flow of blood long enough for paramedics to arrive and safe her. Her house had been torn apart; clearly the men who killed her husband and kidnapped her children were looking for something. But she couldn't imagine what it might be. Though the Sacramento police and local FBI investigate, days turn into weeks with no leads. In frustration, she assaults a police officer with a keyboard. In lieu of jail time, she's required to attend anger management classes where she meets up with other parents, who have had their children kidnapped. Two, in particular, offer their assistance in finding Faith's children. Code-named "Beast" and "Rage" — their real identities not revealed — Faith takes on the code-name "Furious" and the three of them begin a new journey in their lives, one in which Faith is determined to find her children and return them to their home.

Furious is a very intense novel. Faith and her new-found friends find themselves caught up in the world of human, and more specifically, child trafficking, the details of which are shocking and horrifying. But the lead characters themselves, most particularly Faith, are so engaging that it's hard not to get caught up in their mission and follow along with them in their efforts to stop this most atrocious activity. They have some success, which is rewarding to see, but that does not including finding her children. (In this way, the book can be considered to end with a cliffhanger, though the storyline specific to this book does come to a close.) Rippling with tension throughout, this powerful novel of suspense is highly recommended.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Furious.

Furious

The Faith McMann Trilogy by T. R. Ragan