Willow Rose novel has lots of twists and turns

“It’s Not Over” by Willow Rose is a multilayered tale of love, loss and revenge that will be hard to sum up in a single column. I will do my best with a thumbnail sketch.

Former FBI agent Eva Rae Thomas has settled into a healthier routine. Her mother moved in to handle the household, and her three children are doing OK. Eva isn’t ready to marry yet, so her fiancé, Matt, and his son, Alex, live separately.

She and her wealthy actress sister Sydney have purchased and staffed House of Freedom, where girls they rescue from sex traffickers can receive treatment and care.

Matt is a police detective, so Eva does her best to keep him in the dark because the rescues aren’t really legal. He knows and chooses to look the other way.

Eva has just finished a rescue when a young FBI agent arrives. The FBI need Eva’s help. Ten years ago, Mary and Peter Marshall were vacationing in Florida with their twins, Maggie and Blake. One evening, the couple puts the children to bed then slip downstairs for an anniversary dinner. Mary insists on checking on the children every half-hour. Peter grudgingly agrees, and they take turns.

When Mary enters the room, she sees the beds empty and the patio door open. Someone has taken her babies. Blake’s body is found in a nearby lake, and the killer is sentenced to death.

Now, the Marshalls have returned to Florida for a vacation with their 7-year-old son, Cole, and he’s been abducted just like his siblings.

The story then bounces between the life of Roy Hudson and the present. Roy adored his overly protective mother but felt distant from his father. When his mother died the distance increased. Roy was unhappy when his father married a woman with a 2-year-old girl he called Maggot.

Roy’s father blames him for an accident that left his new wife paralyzed. He takes the teen to a secluded lake, knocks him out and runs the car into the water. He tells the authorities Roy stole his car and attempted suicide, then bribes a doctor to declare Roy brain damaged so he could be committed to a mental hospital. Realizing what had happened, Roy vowed revenge and eventually escaped, returned home and killed his father and stepmother before disappearing.

In the present time, Eva Rae digs for clues to who would have taken Cole and why, while the cunning killer hides the now drugged child in the same hotel waiting for the right moment to kill him. It is a cat-and-mouse game as Eva Rae and her team close in, but they are always a step behind.

When 15-year-old Jessica sees a news bulletin about Cole, she is desperate to contact Eva Rae but is snatched by sex traffickers. Miraculously, the place is raided, and Jessica tells Sydney things that Eva Rae needs to know.

The horrifying picture is complete when they learn that Jessica is actually Maggie. The child managed to survive and reach safety. Afraid to tell anyone that her abductor was her own father, she’s been living with an abusive foster family, but now she needs to save Cole from him.

Peter Marshal is Roy Hudson. His revenge plot included finding and marrying his stepsister, Mary (Maggot), then killing her beloved twins. Killing Cole was to be his coup de gras, but Eva Rae won’t let that happen and risks her life to save both Cole and Mary.

Finally home, Matt confronts Eva Rae with her positive pregnancy test. Matt is happy but she’s not sure she’s ready to have a newborn at age 42. One way or another, they know they’ll work it out.