#BookReview – Cover Your Tracks by Daco S. Auffenorde

Get Ready For A Chilling Tale

Synopsis

Margo Fletcher, eight months pregnant, is traveling by train from Chicago to Spokane, her childhood home. While passing through an isolated portion of the Rockies in blizzard conditions, the train unexpectedly brakes. Up ahead, deadly snow from a massive avalanche plummets down the mountain. Despite the conductor’s order for the passengers to stay seated, former Army Ranger Nick Eliot insists that survival depends on moving to the back of the train. Only Margo believes him. They take refuge in the last train car, which Nick heroically uncouples in time to avoid the avalanche. The rest of the train is hurled down the mountainside and is soon lost forever in a blanket of snow. Margo and Nick, the sole survivors, are stranded in the snowstorm without food, water, or heat. Rescuers might not arrive for days.

When the weather turns violent again, the pair must flee the shelter of the passenger car and run for their lives into the wilderness. They must fend off the deadly cold as well as predatory wild animals foraging for food. Eventually, Nick leads Margo to shelter in a watchtower atop a mountain. There, we learn that both Margo and Nick have secrets that have brought them together and threaten to destroy them.

Details

• Title Cover Your Tracks
• Author Daco S. Auffenorde
• Publisher Turner Publishing Co / Keylight Books
• Publication Date October 20, 2020
• Pages 304

My Thoughts

The book was very good. The action started almost immediately and the suspense followed close behind. More than once I found myself wishing that I was a speed reader. Only by reading until the wee hours of the morning, and then remaining in bed the following morning…reading, of course, was I able to finish this so quickly.

If I keep locating such great books, I’m going to have to hire a housekeeper, and while I’m at it maybe a cook, too. So, keep the good books coming my way! I’ve never been opposed to . . . okay, so I’ll take a speed reading course!

I wish I had the words to express what a wonderful suspenseful, psychological thriller this is.

The nail-biter opens with a passenger train traveling through the Rocky Mountains. Margo is eight-and-a-half-months pregnant and headed from Chicago to Spokane. She has the okay from her physician to do this, but how could she have predicted that a blizzard would cause some major problems.

That’s when former Army Ranger Nick Eliot steps up and tries to warn people in the train car. But only one person listens to him: Margo.

The adventure is on! And all of this took only a few pages.

While you may be like me and think you’ve got this little tale figured out, trust me. You haven’t. And neither did I.

The story has flashbacks of both Nick and Margo’s past. This tends to lead the reader toward a conclusion, but Auffenorde will outsmart you every time.

If you like suspenseful stories, you’ve gotta pick up this book. But be prepared for the writing to quickly suck you in and demand your attention.

My thanks to Turner Publishing and the author for the ability to read this and freely post my opinion.

My Concerns

My concern was the repetitive use of certain words, such as belly. Also, over pushing certain facts and over describing began to bother me at times.

In Conclusion

While there was much that I liked about this story, things concerned me too, especially after finishing the story and rethinking certain things. I’d say, this is probably a story you will really like or it won’t really work for you.

Rating

Very Good!

About the Author

Born at the Naval hospital in Bethesda, Maryland and raised in Huntsville, Alabama—also known as Rocket City for its role in building the rocket that took astronauts into space—Daco holds a B.A. and M.A.S. from The University of Alabama in Huntsville and a J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law. She is a member of the International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, Alabama Writers’ Forum, Authors Guild, and Alabama State Bar. Picture © Turner Publishing Co.