Snowbound by Blake Crouch

I loved this book.  So much so that I read it twice in fairly short order. Although I really love Blake Crouch's extreme horror in the Andrew Z. Thomas series, this reads more like Run which is probably my favorite Blake Crouch novel.  Snowbound pulls in one character from the Crouch/Konrath universe, Javier Estrada, who interacted with Luther Kite in a previous work.  But everything else is fresh meat, and what a great story.

In Snowbound, a lawyer/husband/dad, Will, is working late at home, preparing for a case the following day.  His daughter, Devlin, suffers from cystic fibrosis, and he tucks her into bed, as he waits for the return of his wife, Rachael, who is working late as well.  However, Rachael is about to run into some trouble on the way home, and be kidnapped by Javier.  Of course, the husband becomes the prime suspect in the case, and Will and Devlin flee the area quickly, to live their lives outside of the scrutiny of the local police force.

For five years, they are successful in hiding themselves away, until Kalyn Sharp appears on their doorstep.  A disgraced FBI agent, she lost her sister in a case similar to Rachael's and feels that she's getting close to finding who is responsible.  Will, Kalyn, and Devlin thwart the law and begin their own investigation to find their missing loved ones.  What starts a drive to Javier's home to ask some questions, turns into a flight to the wilds of Alaska in search of "The Lodge That Doesn't Exist."  Will they find the missing women?  Or will it be another dead end.

I found this book to be thrilling, and I was excited to read through it again to catch anything I may have missed the first time around.  Sure, some parts are a little extreme (a girl is trapped naked in the snow, but survives, wolves are somehow trained to attack only certain people) but with a slight suspension of reality, this book was a real trip.  I look forward to more of these types of stories from Crouch.