Hank Steinberg

He’s an American journalist looking for the break-out story that will make his career. She’s a British social activist working for an NGO and striving to ‘make a difference’ in the world. Their mutual passions bring them together in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan. Together they play a hand in an ill-fated uprising, prompting a hasty departure from the country.

Six years later, their past comes back to haunt them. Julia vanishes mysteriously after a day trip to Disneyland. The police find the children unattended in her car and are quick to suspect husband Charlie of foul play. But others are interested in Julia’s activities and Charlie is soon heading back to Uzbekistan to find out what is going on and hopefully rescue Julia.

While ‘Out of Range’ is not likely to win any literary awards, it is a fast-paced thriller that showcases author Hank Greenberg’s skill as a TV scriptwriter. I don’t know if he is actually familiar with Uzbek life or if he just referred to CIAFactbook.gov but he did a good job of making the story sound plausible which is really all that matters.

In addition, if you are working on a 'read around the world' reading challenge, you aren't going to find too many books about Uzbekistan.

* The review book was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.… (meer)

Charlie and his wife, Julie used to travel to dangerous countries like Uzbekistan. That was until Charlie almost lost his life and Julie their new born child.

Now, Charlie and Julie have two children. Charlie is living more of a quieter life as a desk reporter. That all changes when Julie disappears.

I have only watched about two episodes of Without a Trace. So I could not really judge what Mr. Steinberg would bring to the table with his debut novel. Well I can tell you after reading this book what Mr. Steinberg brings to the table, the triple “E”…Excitement, Edge of your thrill ride, and Energy. I started reading this book and could not read it fast enough. It has been a while since I have read an international thriller that had me excited to read it and put a smile on my face.

Charlie is the perfect hero. He has personality and he is relatable. Readers can feel the strong love he has for his family and wife. They can understand the need and want to go to the ends of the earth to bring back their loved ones. I don’t want to say too much more as I don’t want to give anything away. You will just have to check this book out for yourself.… (meer)