One Got Away by S.A. Lelchuk

 

First Line from Prologue: The U-Haul truck was parked alone at the back corner of the big lot.

 

When Nikki Griffin isn't running her bookshop, The Brimstone Magpie, she's a private investigator who specializes in abuse cases. When a wealthy San Francisco family hires her to track down the con man who's been defrauding its octogenarian matriarch, Nikki is on a mission. She isn't a fan of men who hurt women, and that secret mission of hers-- born of revenge and trauma-- is to do everything she can to remove women from dangerous situations... and to punish the men responsible.

However, it doesn't take Nikki long to realize that no one is telling her the whole truth. This case soon overlaps with another in which she's trying to protect a woman in trouble, and Nikki finds herself in danger. She's going to have to make some difficult decisions about who to save and how to keep herself alive.

~

After reading S.A. Lelchuk's first Nikki Griffin novel, Save Me From Dangerous Men, I knew I'd be back for more because I fell in love with Nikki Griffin's voice. Also, there's just something about a character who risks her own life to protect the vulnerable, isn't there?

 

I have to admit that the story in One Got Away didn't hook me nearly as tight as the first book did, but I think that has more to do with me than the book itself. With my recent fiction and non-fiction reading, I'm beginning to wonder seriously if there are any decent wealthy families to be found... or are they all degenerate slimeballs? The book also deals with ruthless gangsters and the ways they love to earn their money.

 

While Lelchuk kept leading me into temptation with a parade of bad guys that made me want to help Nikki level the playing field, he also led me to some marvelous characters. The man mountain (AKA Butch) made a good menacing sidekick for Nikki, and there were other characters I enjoyed, but my favorite was young Mason, a little boy with a troubled home life and a heart filled with hope. A little boy who knows how to come prepared with a Hermione Granger-like backpack. I really wish we could see him in future books because Mason completely and utterly charmed me.

 

There were two things that kept me reading One Got Away even though I'm sick to death of degenerate rich white folks. One was the characters. The second was January LaVoy, the narrator. She was perfect, both as Nikki's voice and as the voice of all the characters. Male, female, young, old, it didn't make a difference. LaVoy gave a masterful performance, and I'll certainly be looking for her name in future audiobooks.  

I'll also be looking for Nikki Griffin's next adventure. I like being her companion as she protects the vulnerable.

One Got Away by S.A. Lelchuk

Narrated by January LaVoy

ASIN: B08GCZ3KRD

Macmillan Audio © 2021

Audiobook. 10 hours, 46 minutes.

 

Private Investigator, #2 Nikki Griffin mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased from Audible.

Save Me from Dangerous Men by S.A. Lelchuk

First Line: The bar was over in West Oakland.

Oakland, California's Nikki Griffin wears many hats. She owns The Brimstone Magpie Bookstore, and she's also a private investigator. But there's another hat she wears. A more clandestine one. She tracks down dangerous men who have hurt the women they claim to love. Once found, Nikki teaches these men what it feels like to be hurt and helpless so that their victims are safe from them forever.

When Nikki is hired by a tech company to follow an employee who's allegedly selling secrets, she has to break cover and intervene when the woman's life is threatened. Karen tells Nikki that there are dangerous men after her and that she'll tell Nikki what's really going on. But then something goes wrong. Now Nikki is no longer just solving a case-- she's fighting to stay alive.

When I read a synopsis of Save Me from Dangerous Men that said Nikki Griffin likes to teach abusive men a lesson, I was reminded of Sophie Littlefield's award-winning Stella Hardesty series about a 50-year-old domestic violence survivor who helps other abused women. That synopsis also compared Nikki to Lisbeth Salander, Jack Reacher, and Jessica Jones. Once I started reading the book, I felt those comparisons were a bit tenuous, but I saw another one. Anyone out there watched the film The Blind Side? I think Nikki Griffin scored just as high in "protective instincts" as Michael Oher. She simply cannot stand the thought of anyone getting hurt on her watch, and she will go to extraordinary lengths to prevent it.

From all these comparisons, you might think that Save Me from Dangerous Men is a copycat, riding on the coattails of books that have gone before. If you get right down to it, most books are. The ideas may be the same, but it's what authors do with those ideas that make the difference, and S.A. Lelchuk has created a strong, interesting main character. (Besides, most comparisons in the world of publishing are attempts to buttonhole a book in order to get readers to buy, buy, buy.)

I would have been happy with Nikki just because she has a fabulous used bookstore, The Brimstone Magpie, the name of which is a reference to Charles Dickens' Bleak House. Then there's the ZEBRAS reading group whose stated purpose is the "Solving of Crimes, Reading of Mysteries, and Nitpicking of Everything." (And may I just say here that I wish there'd been a bit more of the ZEBRAS in the book.) But there's more to Nikki than her bookstore. Her voice drew me right into the story and kept me in. For the first time, she's met a special fellow and actually wants the relationship to work. Plus... she doesn't own a cell phone, and she has some ninja skills that will make you sit up and take notice.

The story is a strong one, and I loved the twist at the end. What I did tire of from time to time is Nikki's propensity to get into violent situations. I think it must be the stage of life I'm in because I would really love to have characters get out of situations by using their brains instead of violence. However-- and it's a big however-- the violent situations in this book are not gratuitous, they are not bloody or gory, many of them are not carried out to their conclusions, and all of them serve to illustrate Nikki's character.

Save Me from Dangerous Men has a fast-paced story and a kickass main character. I look forward to reading the next Nikki Griffin mystery.

Save Me from Dangerous Men by S.A. Lelchuk

eISBN: 9781250170255

Flatiron Books © 2019

eBook, 336 pages

Private Investigator, #1 Nikki Griffin mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.