British author Carver doesn’t make it easy for her heroine, Jay McCaulay, in this so-so sequel to Gone Without Trace
. Carver awakes in an unfamiliar Moscow hotel room with no recollection of how she got there and only nightmarish wisps of memories from the previous five days. After making a hasty return to London, Jay relearns that her uncle, Duncan Bailey, has disappeared. With help from friends, like undercover cop Tom Sutton and MI5’s Max Blake, Jay uncovers surprising secrets in Bailey’s past, including sinister ties to Russian oligarch Nikolai Koslov, now resident in Britain. An uninspired romantic quandary—should she try to salvage a relationship with Tom or give in to Max’s importuning?—adds little to the story. In the end, Jay must risk returning to the scene of her nightmares to find her missing uncle. Climactic scenes in both Russia and Britain test Jay’s mettle and prove she’s up for further adventures. (Feb.)
