Nikki Griffin, defender of abuse victims from S.A. Lelchuk's explosive Save Me from Dangerous Men, returns in the unpredictable One Got Away with a case involving a family that's not exactly helpless--the billionaire Johannessens of San Francisco.
Martin Johannessen hires Nikki to intervene in the relationship between his 80-something mother and a much younger man, Geoffrey Coombs, who seems to be separating the family matriarch from her money at a rapid clip. Not long after Nikki starts following him, Coombs takes flight, with Nikki giving chase. Then she discovers Martin hasn't told her everything. Coombs isn't the only problem; the Johannessens have much more dangerous and deadly adversaries. And one of the bad guys could be part of the family.
Nikki is still a badass but this time operates more like a traditional private investigator, which she's licensed to do. She has a boyfriend who wants to move in with her but the idea gives her serious pause. There is a triangle of sorts between her and two men, but neither feels like the right fit for her. She is most riveting when not pondering about the men in her life but protecting people who need help, like the hyper-literate and lonely boy she encounters while hunting Coombs. Nikki also owns a bookstore, and fans will appreciate how she sees the world in a literary way, such as observing that a building "looked like some German pillbox in an Alistair MacLean novel." A woman of action who's also a book nerd? Don't let this one get away. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, blogger at Pop Culture Nerd