The Distance (Charlotte Alton #1)

Helen Giltrow

Charlotte Alton is an elegant socialite. But behind the locked doors of her sleek, high-security apartment in London's Docklands, she becomes Karla. Karla's business is information. Specifically, making it disappear. She's the unseen figure who, for a commanding price, will cover a criminal's tracks. A perfectionist, she's only made one slip in her career—several years ago she revealed her face to a man named Simon Johanssen, an ex-special forces sniper turned killer-for-hire. After a mob hit went horrifically wrong, Johanssen needed to disappear, and Karla helped him. He became a regular client, and then, one day, she stepped out of the shadows for reasons unclear to even herself. Now, after a long absence, Johanssen has resurfaced with a job, and he needs Karla's help again. The job is to take out an inmate—a woman—inside an experimental prison colony. But there's no record the target ever existed. That's not the only problem: the criminal boss from whom Johanssen has been hiding is incarcerated there. That doesn't stop him. It's Karla's job to get him out alive, and to do that she must uncover the truth. Who is this woman? Who wants her dead? Is the job a trap for Johanssen or for her? But every door she opens is a false one, and she's getting desperate to protect a man—a killer—to whom she's inexplicably drawn. Written in stylish, sophisticated prose, The Distance is a tense and satisfying debut in which every character, both criminal and law-abiding, wears two faces, and everyone is playing a double game. (from Netgalley)

My Thoughts

Charlotte Alton wears many different masks as she works to hide peoples pasts. When she gets too involved with a client, the job starts to unravel. Who will make it out alive?

Not for the faint of heart! There were a few gruesome parts at the beginning of this book that almost made me put it down. Fortunately I decided to continue reading and I am very glad I did. Ms. Giltrow really has a talent for building suspense. She creates very strong characters that you will either like or dislike. The story became quite the page turner with lots of plot twists. I thought this was an excellent debut. Certainly an author to check out if you like action packed thrillers. It will be interesting to see where she takes this character in future books.

I’d like to thank Doubleday, via Netgalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.