Against Their Will

But we can't flinch when it becomes necessary to proceed in a manner that is beyond the normal, accepted limits.  we cannot lose sight of our goals."    -- Charles, Against Their Will.

Against Their Will by Nancy Livingstone
Media Source: Paperback
Rating 3 out of 5

Recommendation:  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller, medical or not.  It is a good read and will keep you interested  until the very end

In this medical thriller by Nancy Livingstone, Matt Grayson and Lynn McCane find themselves searching for answers and running for their lives.  Matt, Hollywood's hottest new talent, and Lynn, report for the Houston Chronicle, find themselves the only survivors when their plane is struck by lightening and crashes in East Texas.   Lynn is severely injured and goes into shock while Matt tries to save both their lives.  They are aided by a local farmer and his wife, but when Matt awakens in the hospital he is informed that he is the sole survivor, all others died on impact. Matt is not convinced of this and believes Lynn is still alive.  When he has an interview with a reporter from the LA Times, his thoughts are validated.  He tries to convince the reporter she is Lynn, even though she insists her name in Linda McGowen.  After a brush with the FBI and several unmarked vehicles, Linda begins to believe the circumstances of her car accident do not add up.  Soon Linda/Lynn and Matt discover a secret organization performing medical experiments on people against their will, Lynn being one of them.  The pair work together to find a way to expose the organization and obtain the answers they are desperately seeking.

When I found this book on Book Reading Club List, I couldn't resist wanting to read it.  I admit I normally do not read medical thrillers, mostly psychological thrillers, but this one caught my eye.  I loved stepping out of my comfort zone and reading this novel.  It was well written and it is evident that the author: Nancy Livingstone understood the material before writing the novel.   Some of the characters are well rounded such as Lynn/Linda.  We have so much of a background for her, but when it comes to Matt, there is little background other than him being a Hollywood hopeful.  So much was built up for Lynn that it seems Matt was left hanging.

While there were surprising twists in the novel, there were things that were pretty predictable.  One thing would happen then "oh surprise" this is also a thing:  for example the organization began experiments on a town in the 1940's, surprise they used those people to harvest organs.  Lynn uncovers the organization before her memories are erased, surprise she has a disease she wanted cured.  There were also a lot of questions that were left unanswered such as why was Lynn different than the other subjects, why did the farmer acquire special powers whereas no one else did.  The novel is filled with a variety of different things happening from the plane crash to the pair finding out about the organization and each other, to farmer revealing information (I don't want to give anything away), to even a romance between Lynn/Linda and Matt.  It is understandable for a lot of novels to try and include a romance between two characters.  In this case it is not needed, the story stands on it's own without the romance element.  It seems a little misplaced with everything else happening in the story.

Against Their Will is a very well written novel.  You can imagine every scene happening from the way she describes things.  Nancy includes similes that just make you giggle for example "they stayed on him like bubble gum on a flip flop."  That sentence is a great way to describe someone tailgating.  Throughout the novel there are elements such as the previously mentioned simile that makes the story enjoyable; they are things that catch the reader off guard.  I am glad I took a shot on a book that is outside my normal.  I think I need to do that more often

Check out the author interview here.
Want more from Nancy visit her site here.

**I was provided a copy of this book for an honest review**