Review: Out Of Nowhere

As an avid reader there are times that a book might not be firing on all cylinders for me that I can see a few cracks or have a few quibbles. I can recognize the book isn't perfect and yet? I don't really care. Something about it sucks me in, quibbles and all. My flippant response to the phenomenon is usually, "I knew I was in the hands of a pro."  That's how I felt while I was inhaling Out of Nowhere by Sandra Brown.  Is this book perfect? No. Did I still lose an entire Saturday reading it? Yes.

Content Warnings: Mass shooting, murdered toddler

It's a rare night out of the house for single mom and children's book author, Elle Portman. She and her two-year-old son, Charlie, are at the county fair.  Her BFF, Glenda, has just peeled off to catch the concert of a local up-and-coming country singer, and Elle is trying to maneuver Charlie's bulky stroller through the exit gates and battling the crowds coming in for the festivities that evening. 

Calder Hudson is a consultant who has just finished a job and has a big fat paycheck in his pocket to prove it. He's all set to celebrate with his TV news reporter girlfriend, Shauna - except he forgot she's at the county fair to interview a country singer and she's now put out that he's not rushing over there to support her. He, quite frankly, doesn't want to go - but he also wants to get laid. Shauna's petulant nose getting out of joint won't get him laid and Calder wants to celebrate his success.  He's making his way through the gates of the county fair when he bumps into a woman wrestling with a ridiculous stroller. He's knocking his way past her when he hears it. The pop, pop, pop of gunfire. Calder knows guns and he knows what gunfire sounds like.

It's mass confusion. A melee. The kindly old man next to Elle is the first to drop. Charlie's stroller is knocked away, Elle frantic to reach him, and that's when the man in the well-tailored suit steps in to grab at Charlie's stroller.  Then...the world goes black.

Calder wakes up in the hospital with a gunshot wound in his shoulder and the mother of all headaches thanks to a concussion.  He's being hailed a hero. His instinctive reactions once the shooting started saved some lives - just not Charlie Portman's. The precious two-year-old boy is dead.

Elle is physically fine. She knocked the hell out of her elbow, but did no permanent damage. But her son, her beautiful baby boy, the love of her life, is gone. 

This is a story of how two very different people, who would likely have never had reason to cross paths in their normal everyday lives, are brought together by a horrible tragedy. Elle is protected from the jump by her pitbull of a friend Glenda. Calder's support system is limited to Shauna, whose ambitions hit hyperdrive since she was on the scene when the shooting started. She's very much of the If It Bleeds It Leads school and she's a real piece of work. For that matter, so is Calder. To call this guy a son of a bitch prior to the shooting is underselling it. This is not a good guy. But then the shooting happens and the tragedy connects him to Elle - a woman he is gobsmacked by. 

It all gets very complicated when the cops realize that the guy they think did it, the guy they thought was a suicide - turns out to be another casualty.  They're caught with their pants down. The shooter is still at large and the scene is a logistical nightmare. As the story unfolds Calder and Elle get sucked further into danger. 

Right out of the gate let's start with the very tough subject matter. Charlie's death is on page, but not described with too much horrific detail. Although honestly, how much detail do you need for a two-year-old's murder to be horrifying? The author keeps the story in third person and does head hop, primarily between Elle and Calder, which helps with character development and understanding how each of them is processing their grief and trauma. The romance doesn't play off quite so well however. Even with a two month jump ahead in the timeline, it still feels a little fast - especially where Calder is concerned. He's drawn to Elle immediately and the whole thing comes off very Insta-Love. For her part, Elle is much more reticent when it comes to her attraction to Calder, but I also fully understood her falling into a bout of frenzied sex with him when she did. Take comfort where you can find it girl and there's Calder standing right there looking all hot and smoldering. 

Ultimately though, at the end of the final chapter, I'm not sure what is holding these two people together outside of their shared trauma. Not just the shooting, but the events that unfold after the shooting before the killer is brought to justice. The romance is further complicated by Calder's pre-shooting life and the fact that he's not a good guy. The trauma he's experienced from the shooting changes him, humanizes him, but there's ugly bits lurking under rocks that will eventually show up to complicate matters (as if they weren't complicated enough already).

As for suspense angle, the stops and starts of the police investigation, I thought, were handled well. The couple of instances of being inside the killer's mind I frankly could have done without, as well as our bad guy tipping the scales towards unhinged at the end.

Is it perfect? No. Did I care? Not in the least. Y'all I forgot how great stand-alone romantic suspense novels could be. I haven't been reading lately. Not much has been holding my attention or capturing my interest. This book did. I lost a Saturday reading it. I lolly-gagged in bed, inhaled every word, and barely came up for air.  No, it's not perfect, but I'm marking it as one for the win column.

Final Grade = B