As a U.S. Intelligence officer, Jordan Weiss has seen her share of death and violence. However, the one death that has always haunted her is the drowning of her college boyfriend, Jared Short, at Cambridge years before. Devastated by the sudden loss, Jordan left England and has never returned -- until now. After receiving a letter from her friend Sarah, who is seriously ill and lives in London, Jordan puts her own pain aside. She takes an assignment to assist the British government and heads across the Atlantic, determined to face the ghosts of her past.

One of those ghosts turns out to be the very-much-alive Chris Bannister, who was a good friend of Jared's and Jordan's. Although Jared's death was generally thought to be an accident, Chris now believes Jared was killed because of something he had discovered in his doctorate research. He wants Jordan, with her experience and connections, to help him find out what really happened. Jordan reluctantly agrees, although she's also been assigned a complicated case as part of her new job responsibilities: tracing possible corporate ties to the Albanian mob. As she delves into both investigations, Jordan discovers some bizarre connections and coincidences. Strange as it seems, she starts to wonder if Jared's death is somehow linked to her current case. If so, it would indeed appear that he was murdered for something he knew.

Getting to the truth takes on even greater urgency after a key person in the investigation vanishes and then Sarah is attacked. With her own life in danger, no longer sure who she can trust, Jordan digs through the long-buried pain in her past in a desperate search for answers -- hoping to bring criminals to justice and to finally put her personal demons to rest...if she can stay alive long enough, that is.

This book pulled me in from the start and never let go. The details about Cambridge and London bring those locations to vibrant life and the tension ratchets a little higher with each chapter. I enjoyed following Jordan's and Jared's relationship via college flashbacks as much as I enjoyed navigating through the twists and turns of the modern-day investigation. Like Jordan, I found myself constantly wondering just who the "good guys" were. With intrigue, romance and action, this book is a thrill ride from start to finish.

Book Summary

A RICH AND STARTLING NOVEL ABOUT A WOMAN WHO MUST FACE A PAST SHE’D RATHER FORGET IN ORDER TO UNCOVER A DANGEROUS LEGACY THAT THREATENS HER FUTURE

Ten years ago, U.S. State Department intelligence officer Jordan Weiss’s idyllic experience as a graduate student at Cambridge was shattered when her boyfriend Jared drowned in the River Cam. She swore she’d never go back—until a terminally ill friend asks her to return. Jordan attempts to settle into her new life, taking on an urgent mission beside rakish agent Sebastian Hodges. Just when she thinks there’s hope for a fresh start, a former college classmate tells her that Jared’s death was not an accident—he was murdered.

Jordan quickly learns that Jared’s research into World War II had uncovered a shameful secret, but powerful forces with everything to lose will stop at nothing to keep the past buried. Soon, Jordan finds herself in grave peril as she struggles to find the answers that lie treacherously close to home, the truth that threatens to change her life forever, and the love that makes it all worth fighting for. Fast-paced and impossible to put down, Almost Home establishes Pam Jenoff as one of the best new writers in the genre.