“Severed Threads”
Author: Kaylin McFarren
“Severed Threads” by new author Kaylin McFarren definitely lives up to its “Romantic Suspense” genre listing. At two hundred and eighty-three pages it’s a fairly quick read and I found it to be interesting and well-written. I would also hazard a guess and say that McFarren holds some level of scuba certification as her underwater scenes are portrayed both accurately and knowledgeably.
As I began reading my copy of “Severed Threads” I was happy to find that the first chapter was an adventuresome “prequel” of sorts. Personally, I always enjoy when authors provide their readers with an earlier stage of the tale they are about to share.
In “Severed Threads” Rachel Lyons, the book’s main female character, lost her father Sam in a diving accident four years ago. It seems that she has never been able to completely close that chapter of her life and it doesn’t help that the coroner could never provide a specific reason for Sam’s untimely demise. Ultimately Rachel feels responsible for his death and, not knowing how to properly cope with his loss, she has removed herself from the beauty of the underwater world; settling instead for a desk job at a foundation office.
Unfortunately for Rachel, museum director Dr. Ying and…old friend of her father’s schedules a meeting with her to discuss his grant request; the grant request focused on finding the mythical Chinese merchant ship the Wanlii II; the same ship that cost her father his life. Needless to say Rachel wants nothing to do with this obviously cockamamie and crazy endeavor especially since there isn’t any hard proof to substantiate the wreck’s supposed final resting place. During Rachel’s logical attempt to explain this to Dr. Ying she is stopped short when Chase Cohen, her old boyfriend and the man who was her father’s dive buddy that fateful day four years ago, walks through the door. What follows is an intriguing tale of mystery, deception and murder…
In summary, “Severed Threads” was a well-written compilation of convoluted plots, intrigue, and paranormal; I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys any of the above genres.