Unspoken - A Review

Publisher - Bethany House, October 2013

Author - Dee Henderson

Title - Unspoken

Format - paper, hardcover, ebook, audio

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Kidnapped as a child, Charlotte Graham has never spoken of the years she was held captive. A very independent woman, she seeks privacy and avoids the media spotlight at all costs - even to the point of having her twin sister speak out. Yet when Charlotte inherits a massive estate from her grandfather that requires liquidation, she realizes that her sheltered life may soon be over. As part of the estate, there are millions of dollars of coins that she seeks to move. Bryce Bishop owns a very successful coin shop in Chicago. A phone call from the head of the Chicago FBI begins his relationship with Charlotte. Bryce agrees to buy the coins from her. As he gets to know her, he's more and more fascinated by this very private woman. But he's concerned that her past will hold her back. Will she find the way to at least speak of those events from when she was kidnapped?

I've read every one of Dee Henderson's books, and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. With this one, the back of the book leads the reader to expect something other than what this book is actually about. While I found the first half of the book to be very tedious and boring, the second half reminded me of what I came to expect from a Dee Henderson book.

 In the first half of the book, the reader gets a very deep education on the ins and outs of trading rare coins. I feel that that section and the massive amounts of detail on the coins could have been cut by 75-100 pages and the story would have moved along nicely. As it was, I struggled quite a lot to wade through those pages and chapters. Sure, it was interesting - for the first several pages, but after that, I felt that it was tedious and caused the story to drag. While I'll admit that I found the detail of the coins fascinating, at first, because of my father's coin collection, I really did have to struggle to get past all of the details and what seemed to be repetition. She has coins. He buys them. He sells them. Repeat many times over.

The second half of the book felt much more like what I've come to expect from a Dee Henderson book. The action was fast paced and storylines collided into a dramatic conclusion. There was also the aspect of Charlotte finally speaking about the events that happened to her while she was kidnapped. For me, that provided a closure that she definitely needed.

Still, the book was good. Just hang in there through the first half which deals with the coins in extreme detail. Also, ignore the back cover as it implies that the reporter's story about the kidnapping is very important to the story - it's not. This was different than Dee's other books because of the relationship depth she develops between Charlotte and Bryce. It's not the best one Henderson has written by any means. And I'd also not recommend starting with this book unless you've already read some of her other works.

I read this book for pure pleasure. My thoughts and opinions are my own.


Recommended to fans of romantic suspense, Dee Henderson, Irene Hannon, Lynette Eason

Rating - 3.5 stars - It would be a 4 star rating if the part involving the coins was not so tedious.