Countdown


Young Adult - Mystery
34 Pages
Reviewed on 04/26/2014
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite

Countdown by Ashley Michael will have you squirming the entire time that you are reading it. When Scott and Kate Hagan decided to replace some furniture in their upscale home, they were surprised to receive two boxes instead of just one. After making calls to straighten out the mistake, Kate received an email informing her that she would be receiving information for return shipping within a few weeks. Two weeks after they received their furniture, Kate and her sister discover a box that apparently had housed a stowaway. As authorities investigate the case at the Hagan home, they begin to see that there have been a number of similar things happening in several other locations in the South. As agents Russell and Smith move forward with the investigation, they notice that events are somehow connected to a former employer of Kate's. Is Kate's former employer somehow wrapped up in what seems to be developing into a major terrorist plot? Is Kate somehow connected as well?

The mystery only deepens as you continue to read Countdown. Each layer that Ashley Michael unravels seems to add more questions rather than answers in this frighteningly realistic mystery. The possibility of something so simple as making an online purchase is turned into something so sinister that it will send chills up your spine, because it hits just a little bit too close to home for most Americans. Suspenseful, intriguing and captivating, Countdown will make it impossible for you to stop turning pages in order to uncover what is really behind the stowaway in Kate's empty furniture box.

Samantha Gregory

Countdown: The Reckoning by Ashley Michael is the story of Scott and Kate, a middle class couple who order some chairs from a company. When two crates are accidentally sent instead of one, they believe it is an honest mistake. When Kate and her sister Terry are in the garage, they notice a hole cut into the extra crate. Someone had been stowing away inside and they have now left. Scared, they call the police who begin to investigate. They quickly learn that there may be more than an extra crate being delivered to homes, along with some mysterious deaths. Is the company involved in terrorist activities or are they smuggling immigrants? As the mystery unfolds, Kate and Scott learn the truth and how lucky they were not to open that crate first.

Ashley Michael has written a decent short story thriller with Countdown: The Reckoning. It is a scary thought that something like this could happen, especially in this day and age. I enjoyed the story, although I did think that Kate and Scott could do with some fleshing out in places, but they seem like a genuine couple. They are a middle class couple and have money, which is why they decide to decorate their house in the first place. I would have liked a little more back story on Kate in places. Overall, I think the story is good and it kept me reading.