Blog Tour: Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 by C.R. Hiatt

Title: Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00
Author: C.R. Hiatt
Publisher: AMB Publishing
Publishing Date: March 30th 2012
Pages: 351
Genre: YA Spy Thriller
Series: McSwain & Beck #1
Source: Kindle

Goodreads Summary:

Sydney Marie McSwain - a tomboy who yearned for a father.

Cody Beck - a wannabe filmmaker, wisenheimer and flirt.

Jaden White - the star who led the high school hockey team to two championships, and was now on the A-list for NHL scouts.

Sydney Marie McSwain loves her mom, Anna - a private investigator in the coastal city where they live - but they had a major issue between them. Anna refused to give Sydney the identity of her father. On the day of her high school graduation, they were battling it out, once again. An hour later, Sydney, Cody and Jaden were at the local café, and watched as Anna was gunned down.

Faced with immediate responsibility, Sydney and Cody agreed to take over the agency, only they changed the name to McSwain & Beck. At the same time, Sydney convinced Sutter Beach Detective, Ace Carter, to help her track down her father.

Then out of the blue, a model walked in and hired them to follow her step-brother. While Cody was busy editing a trailer to solicit new clients, Sydney settled into her lemon-yellow pickup to do surveillance, and wound up staking out a secret club called The Devil’s Door whose suspicious members wore the tattoo of a devil.

That same night, Sydney received a call from one of her mom’s former clients, but the client was gunned down at the location where they agreed to meet. The mysterious discovery of a DVD revealed the possibility that teenagers were being abducted, only nobody reported them missing.

On the hunt for the victims, McSwain & Beck were chased by men in ski masks, nearly gunned down by a members of a drug cartel called the outlaws, Sydney’s precious pickup was broken into; then the step-brother they were hired to follow, was found dead and Sydney was the number one suspect.

If things weren’t bad enough already, they had to figure out how to crash a red-carpet Mardi Gras bash being held on a private cruise ship, before it sailed off into the sunset, where they just might meet the devil, himself.

Now, the clock was ticking…

And time was running out…

How was she ever going to find her father, now?

Review:
I picked this book up thinking I could use a good adventure. The cover, the title, the synopsis all lead to an adventure and I got an adventure. This book was thrilling, exciting, and full of action, mystery, and attitude.

The story revolves around a girl, Sydney McSwain, and her best friend, Cody Beck. After graduation when tragedy strikes, they decide to take over her mother’s private eye business. This decision leads to them getting chased, beat up, and shot at, not to mention they solve the big mystery and bring the baddies down. Sounds like so much fun.

Sydney is an amazing heroine. She is very snarky, which I love, very independent, courageous, cunning, and very sneaky. Her mother taught her well in the business and she starts off the business better than your average PI. Cody is sexy, funny, smart, and a real flirt. They make a very odd couple but their friendship works. They back and forth banter had me laughing out loud on many occasions.

Sydney and Cody are thrown into a mess of crime when their very first client walks in the door asking for surveillance detail on her step brother. Form that moment Sydney’s life gets very interesting. In the process of staking out her target she stumbles on to some very heavy things and has to connect all the pieces. She and Cody never hesitate when it came to solving the mystery.

There were events in the story that were over the top but somehow it fit. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first started the book. I have not read to many crime books. I am sure this will be the start of many as it was a blast to read. The story was really easy to get into. It’s your average teens being kidnapped, breaking and entering, and murderous plot, but with the added bonus of McSwain and Beck. It was a fun ride and I really enjoyed reading this book. I look forward to the next installment.

Rating:

About the Author:

CR HIATT is a writer of screenplays and an author of YA action-mystery novels. The daughter of a military veteran, CR grew up in a small town where she became an All-American athlete. CR knew early on that she wasn't cut out for the nine to five type of job - her tendency to day dream about adventures often got in the way. But, being the daughter of a Navy Veteran she also knew one had to do what was necessary to be secure, so she disciplined herself to push those dreams aside and settled on working in the entertainment legal field. When those dreams invaded her world once again, CR finally gave in and set out to write her own adventures. What the heck, right. If you can't live 'em, you might as well write about them.
The journey started after CR interviewed big city detectives about their lives on the job; then talked with some of their victims. That resulted in her first YA series: McSwain & Beck. The novels are works of fiction, only based on real life events, but you can't help but wonder while reading the books which parts are true.
When CR isn't writing, she enjoys renovating houses, spending time outdoors, catching up on her favorite books and TV shows (dedicated fan of NCIS, Justified, Southland, Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, and Big Bang Theory) and most importantly, spending time at the campfires with her family and friends.


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