COVER YOUR TRACKS Daco S. Auffenorde

 

  

A Suspense Magazine Best of 2020 for Thriller/Suspense

“If you enjoy survival stories as well as psychological thrillers, then you will want to add this book to your reading list. It was hard to put down and I didn’t really want it to end. I think you’ll feel the same.” —Manhattan Book Review

“Sensational– new, fresh, suspenseful, and lead character Margo Fletcher is to die for. I loved this book.” – Lee Child

Margo Fletcher, eight months pregnant, is traveling by train from Chicago to Spokane, her childhood home. While passing through an isolated portion of the Rockies in blizzard conditions, the train unexpectedly brakes. Up ahead, deadly snow from a massive avalanche plummets down the mountain. Despite the conductor’s order for the passengers to stay seated, former Army Ranger Nick Eliot insists that survival depends on moving to the back of the train. Only Margo believes him. They take refuge in the last train car, which Nick heroically uncouples in time to avoid the avalanche. The rest of the train is hurled down the mountainside and is soon lost forever in a blanket of snow. Margo and Nick, the sole survivors, are stranded in the snowstorm without food, water, or heat. Rescuers might not arrive for days.

When the weather turns violent again, the pair must flee the shelter of the passenger car and run for their lives into the wilderness. They must fend off the deadly cold as well as predatory wild animals foraging for food. Eventually, Nick leads Margo to shelter in a watchtower atop a mountain. There, we learn that both Margo and Nick have secrets that have brought them together and threaten to destroy them.

Cover Your Tracks is a chilling story of love and hate, the devastating power of nature, and the will to survive.

MY THOUGHTS: 

This was my first book by this author and also her debut novel. It was a gift that I truly appreciate.

This book was very good. It had a couple of things going on that I found unbelievable.

Margo is eight and a half months pregnant and an emergency room doctor. She's taking a train across the country to the wedding of her niece. She's been estranged from her family for six years and wants to make amends. For them to get to know her baby. But something is wrong.

Nick is an ex military man who is on the train also. He knows something is very wrong and wants only to help the other passengers. He convinces Margo to go with him to the last train car where they will be safe. They tried to get others to go but none would. Not a single one. You would have thought that at least one would have but none did.

What these two go through next is quite scary. From a blizzard that leaves them in much danger to wild animals they have to hide from. Nick is good and saving them and leading them to safety yet Margo decides that it's best for her to travel down the mountain alone to find someone to help her. This part threw me for a loop. Margo is a very intelligent woman who is scared to death and does not want to be alone yet she takes off down a mountain on her own? I did not buy that part. I just couldn't. Needless to say she ended up back with Nick and they made it to a watchtower where they were pretty much safe. 

Things start getting very tense from here on out though. This book starts out strong, hits a snag when Margo decides to take off down the mountain, then picks back up in the watchtower. They go through so much and the battles with the elements and each other are pretty intense. This part will keep you on the edge of your seat for sure. You won't know what to expect from one page to the next. 

This book goes back and forth between the train derailment and to both Margo and Nick's childhoods. To the things each went through that made them who they are now. To Margo's trip to Birmingham, AL to Nick's time in the military where he learned how to survive. How he fell in love and how it shaped him to be who he is now. Each has a backstory and they are both very interesting. A few hidden secrets in them also. 

I have to thank the author for this copy of this book. Daco S Auffenorde gifted me this copy and I am very thankful for that. This is my own review and it being a gift in no way hinders the truth.

I gave it 4/5 stars. One star lost because of the one part that I just didn't buy. I do highly recommend this book to everyone who loves a good edge of your seat thriller. It's very well written and you will like most of the characters. Not Margo's parents though. I detested both of them.