North of Nowhere is a taut thriller that peters out in its last quarter but remains tense enough to earn a recommendation. Its characters are compelling and its action intriguing enough to keep the audience enthralled.

Sixteen-year-old Kristin and ten-year-old Ryan McIntire-Reed have been hiding from their brutal crime family – headed by their father, Boyd McIntire – for quite a while. Kristin witnessed Boyd kill a rival, and now there are a lot of people who’d like her to die in turn. The kids have been custody of Boyd’s best friend and former second-in-command, Tony Reed, for just that reason. Tony’s been keeping an eye on the kids on his ranch in Big Sky, Montana, for five years. But now their luck has run out, and Boyd’s men have found them. Boyd’s plan is to kidnap them back.

In the ensuing mêlée, Tony is shot and he and the kids get away in a private plane. He encourages Kristin to call her aunt Ruby, who abandoned the family years ago to enlist the army and cut off contact with the kids, fearing Boyd would trace his way back to them through her. One of Boyd’s men manages to strafe their fuel line; they crash in the Montana wilderness. Tony desperately sends Kristin and Ryan ahead into the woods for help – and, unwittingly, directly into the crosshairs of an upcoming storm.

Three groups of people are immediately on the kids’ trail – one headed by Ruby, who immediately goes into action when she learns her niece and nephew are in danger; one is headed by a tracker hired by Boyd; the final party is Nick Lorenzo – a local rancher who hears about the crash and seeks to save the kids without knowing anything about their situation – his son Jason, and their forewoman, Millie. None of them know that Frankie McIntire – the kids’ grandmother – looms large over the picture.

I had a single, big problem with North of Nowhere: the way the author chooses to whitewash the actions of one of the book’s main characters, blaming nearly everything they do wrong on the actions of their monster mother.

But I had to love Kristen in particular – she’s one tough, smart kid. She probably gets it from her aunt, and I also grew a soft spot for Ruby. The book’s PoV is split in multiple directions, and Brenan does a good job balancing all of these characters, even though it felt like there were too many perspectives. There’s plenty of character evolution, which is handled pretty well.

The adventure and suspense are perfectly written, and despite the small reservations I’ve expressed, I’d definitely recommend North of Nowhere to anyone looking for a thrilling adventure story.