The Safe Room
Private investigator Rae Donovan hasn't spoken to her father in years. But when word reaches her that he’s dying in hospice, she drops everything—only to arrive too late. He's already unresponsive, and the diagnosis is chilling: poisoning.
Hunting for answers at his isolated Adirondack home, Rae uncovers a hidden room packed with high-tech surveillance gear, weapons, and a safe overflowing with cash. Her unassuming, retired father was living a double life. Now, Rae must face a dangerous ultimatum: walk away, or unearth a family truth deadly enough to get her killed.
- Rae - Private Investigator
- Lenny - Private investigator, Rae’s mentor
- Rick - Rae’s husband
- Amelia - Rae’s daughter
- Rae’s father - Retired FBI agent
- Grady Crowe - Detective
- Roxanne - Borys’s wife
- Borys (Shift) - Roxanne’s husband, drug dealer
- Brian - Friend of Rae’s father
- Doug - Friend of Rae’s father
- Rae gets a call from an unidentified woman who says her father was found unresponsive and is suffering from profound organ failure.
- Rae stays with her father until he dies.
- Rae finds a secret room in her father’s house.
- Inside the room is a gun case containing several weapons and a large amount of cash.
- Detective Crowe tells Rae that her father died from amatoxin poisoning caused by death cap mushrooms.
- There were two other victims: Doug, who died, and Brian, who is in the ICU. Both were retired law enforcement officers and associates of Rae’s father.
- Crowe shows Rae a photo of Roxanne visiting her father in hospice and another photo of Roxanne with Borys.
- Borys was killed last month.
- Rae catches Brian leaving the secret room in her father’s house.
- Brian says he just woke from his coma and needs his share of the cash so he can disappear.
- Doug, Brian, and Rae’s father were hired to kill Borys, and Roxanne poisoned them in revenge.
- Roxanne appears and shoots Brian, killing him.
- Rae shoots Roxanne.
- Rae takes most of the money from her father’s safe and returns home to her family.
The Safe Room missed the mark for me. The story is around sixty pages, yet it lacks any chapter breaks. That stylistic choice frustrated me because I need those natural pausing points to digest what I am reading. Without them, the narrative felt like one continuous stretch, which amplified my struggle to stay engaged.
The main character, Rae, is genuinely well-developed. I had a firm grasp of who she was and what drove her. Despite that strong foundation, I could not pull myself into the actual story. The plot dragged, leaving me feeling bored rather than hooked. A novella of this length should be punchy, but this one felt oddly sluggish.
When the conclusion finally arrived, it did not offer a satisfying payoff. Instead of a natural resolution, the ending played out as a mild information dump. It hurriedly explained the lingering mysteries in a dense rush rather than letting the reveals unfold organically. While the character work with Rae is commendable, the slow pacing, lack of structural breaks, and clunky finale made this a tedious reading experience.
- Murder
- Mention of drugs
- Loss of a parent
ASIN: B0G82Q44Q9
Publication Date: July 1, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
