Having Faith by Lila Fox

October 17, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Having Faith by Lila Fox
Maclean Mafia Men Book 2
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed Nymphaea

Faith does everything she can to get her family away from the monster who happens to be her father. Trapped at home, she finally runs and hides, waiting and watching for the perfect time to get her sisters and her mother to safety.

Graham takes one look at the grubby and tired young woman and decides she is his. When he finds out who she was and realizes the extent of her problem, it makes him more determined to protect her.

The problem only seems to worsen, and he is forced to pull his family into something that can destroy them. This drama doesn’t impact just their families. Instead, a third family run by a sadist enters the fray. He wants the girl and doesn’t care who gets hurt on the way.

Can Graham convince Faith to trust him—with her heart and her life?

Way too much drama and danger, but it’s so hot.

I’ve never read anything by Lila Fox and this was a good introduction to her work. The story moved along and the writing was fine. I read this in the course of an afternoon and it was good. It was a nice way to pass the afternoon and there was heat, so that helped.

Faith is a bit insecure, which made her more human. She wants to protect her family from her father, a dangerous mafia man. I can respect what she wants to do because it’s a tall order. She meets Graham and he vows to give her that protection. I liked how he stepped right in and took over, giving her a break and being the strong, steady man she needed. The chemistry was good.

If you’re looking for a mafia romance that’s not so heavy on violence, then this might be a good introduction to the genre. Give it a try!

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Staked by Desire by Rose Wulf

October 14, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Staked by Desire by Rose Wulf
Night Shadows Series, Book 6
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Erotic Romance, Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

As the adoptive daughter of the Vampire Princess, Kendall Wheeler was raised in the sheltered world of dangerous, elite vampires. After the terrifying battle in Sacramento, Kendall realized she could no longer sit idly by while the rest of her family was in danger. So she ran off to reconvene with the shockingly capable Slayer who had been called in to eliminate a pair of serial-killer vampire brothers, eager to help him complete his task.

Adrian Colt preferred to work alone, but something about Kendall’s impassioned plea compelled him to let her join him on the hunt for the surviving Wilson brother. He realized quickly this decision was more dangerous than it should have been—Kendall Wheeler was everything he’d dreamed of in a partner. Except that a life partner is the last thing he’s ever wanted.

The hunt takes them from California to Colorado, where their target finally stops running. But Colorado has its own dangers, and without their usual allies, survival is not guaranteed.

Plot twists, heat and heart.

I’ve not read the other books in this series, but I didn’t feel lost because of it. Rose Wulf creates a vivid world and drew me right in, without making me feel lost because I didn’t know the other characters. Kendall and Adrian were intense and interesting enough that I want to read more, though.

I liked this premise. She’s adopted by vampires and doesn’t want them killed, so she enlists the help of a slayer. It’s an interesting pairing and fun, really. They have a great chemistry and I liked that they kept each other in check. Kendall just wants to protect her adoptive family. Nice twist.

Honestly, there are a lot of twists in this story that I didn’t see coming and it’s great. If you’re looking for something hot and different, then this might be the one for you.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Inner Darkness by Jorn Lier Horst

October 13, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Inner Darkness by Jorn Lier Horst
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Five years ago, serial killer Tom Kerr was imprisoned. Today, he’s out to reveal the resting place of his final victim.

However, Detective Wisting is taking no chances. Kerr is chained and handcuffed. The police have dogs and guns.

But minutes after entering the forest, Wisting’s officers lie broken and bleeding. And Kerr has vanished into the woods.

Too late, Wisting realises their error. What’s worse, Kerr had an accomplice who was never caught . . .

Now two murderers are on the loose – and Wisting has just hours to find them . . .

Tom Kerr was convicted and given the harshest prison sentence after he brutally murdered young women. Now years later he has agreed to lead police to the unmarked grave of one of his last suspected victims. Minutes after entering the forest under heavy police guard – Kerr escapes. Wisting and his fellow officers have no doubt Kerr received inside help and as the chaos clears they know they have very little time to hunt this predator – and his accomplice – down.

This is the latest book in an ongoing Sweedish noir/crime series that I have been enjoying for a number of years. There were a few plot points I initially thought didn’t work for me – for example the police mid-way through agreeing to release the ankle-chains after Kerr tripped a few times in the forest – but a bit more thought showed me that these points mainly revolved around the sometimes stark differences in Scandinavian police procedure and other cultures. Processes like this and some cultural mindset differences are to be expected – and in my opinion embraced – in literature and I don’t feel it fair for that to impact negatively in a review setting. Other readers might not feel quite the same in this matter, but I feel enjoying and embracing different systems and methods of handling things like police procedure and attitude to criminals is one way to open our eyes to other practices.

I definitely feel this story can be comfortably read by itself. The plot and storyline is fairly self-contained and enjoyable without any prior exposure to the numerous previous books in the series. A number of the characters are long-standing – like Wisting’s daughter, Line, or a number of his fellow police team members. And while I personally enjoyed knowing much of the history linking these characters it was not necessary to understand or enjoy the story. Readers can, I feel, be comfortable picking up this book and enjoying it as a Scandinavian based police procedural mystery.

There are a few sub-plots that thread out from the main story of hunting down the escaped prisoner. I greatly enjoyed watching these unfold and then all fit back together as part of a larger puzzle. I thought the ending well handled and the overall pace of the book was balanced – fast enough to not be boring or dragging, but also detailed and comprehensive enough that I could try and work everything out myself without feeling rushed or lost.

Readers looking for an interesting Scandinavian crime should definitely check this out, and I can equally recommend the other books this series.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Hermitage by LJ Ross

October 12, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Hermitage by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

He thought he was invincible, but he was wrong…

When an old man is found dead inside the ancient hermitage at Warkworth Castle, Northumbria CID are called in to investigate. With no apparent motive, it’s their job to unravel why he was murdered – and this time they’re forced to do it without their star detective…

DCI Ryan is thousands of miles away. He’s tracked a killer across Europe and has sworn not to return until he has his man in custody. Nathan Armstrong is a dangerous psychopath but there’s just one problem – he’s also an international celebrity; a world-famous thriller writer with money and connections.

Ryan is a stranger in a foreign land, but he knows one thing – he’ll never give up.

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular landscapes of Northumberland and Tuscany.

DCI Ryan and his wife have travelled to Italy in pursuit of a killer who has managed to elude justice for too long. With the rest of his team tackling a new case can they still work together to fulfil their duties.

I found this to be an interesting read. For much of the book the case in Italy and the case in England are completely separate and the author did a good job of balancing the story-telling between the two cases. I was a little surprised how they dovetailed together – while it was some exceptional writing on behalf of the author I felt it was just a little too pat for my tastes. Personally I would have found it more believable had they remained separate but the eventual linking between the two was strong and well written.

I admit I did enjoy that Phillips and Mackenzie were able to eventually join Anna and Ryan in Italy and the ending was extremely satisfying and perfectly to my tastes of a well-closed case and a happy ending. I feel readers can be fairly safe in picking this book up. While there are a number of tangled threads linking back to previous books the plot and characters for this story are very well explained and the book can mostly be read on it’s own merits I feel. Certainly the reader will hold a more emotional connection to the characters and their well being if they’ve read some of the previous books – but I do feel that isn’t strictly necessary to enjoy this book by itself.

An interesting police procedural style of murder mystery book I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be continuing with this series.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Buzz Kill by David Sosnowski

October 11, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Buzz Kill by David Sosnowski
Publisher: 47 North
Genre: Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

Pandora Lynch lives in Alaska with her single dad, an online therapist for Silicon Valley’s brightest and squirreliest. Homeschooled by computer and a self-taught hacker, Pandora is about to enter high school to learn how to be normal. That’s the plan at least.

NorCal runaway George Jedson is a hacker too—one who leaves the systems he attacks working better than before. After being scooped up by a social media giant, will George go legit—or pull off the biggest hack ever? Not even his therapist knows for sure, but maybe the headshrinker’s daughter…

After meeting in cyberspace, the two young hackers combine their passions to conceive a brainchild named BUZZ. Can this baby AI learn to behave, or will it be like its parents and think outside the box?

With a hilarious and deeply empathetic narrative voice, this elegiac and unapologetically irreverent novel is both humorous and tragic without ever taking itself too seriously.

This novel reminded me of a combination of movie inspirations from the Kingsman: The Secret Service, Thanos from the Marvel Universe and I, Robot. The author took real life events that I clearly recall and cleverly and deviously wove them into a disturbingly fascinating ‘what-if’ scenario that is scarily plausible. Not probable, but plausible.

The story focuses on one main character, Pandora, who, through the author’s descriptions, gave me the impression that she looked like a young Linda Moulton Howe, an American investigative journalist I once saw on an episode of Secret of Skinwalker Ranch. That’s the image that came to mind and it stuck with me throughout the story. There is a secondary character, George, who is pivotal player for most of the tale, and Pandora’s dad, Roger. The other influence in Pandora’s life is her grandmother, Gladys. Those handful of people carry the plot and character development to various degrees.

It’s told in third person point of view from mostly Pandora’s side of things, but George’s perspective is told as well. It was interesting to see the author introduce readers to the main characters individually and slowly pull the strings that brought them all together in unexpected ways.

I saw George get built up, then torn down by an unlikely means. Even when you know the downside of something, doesn’t mean it won’t still happen; even when you say no, something happens to make you say ‘yes’. Those are the kinds of mind games that goes on during the course of the book and some made me pause and think while others I wanted to deny and yet quite a few, like I mentioned earlier, reminded me of movie plots and characters I’ve seen before but in no way are copied in the telling of this tale. It’s all unique, and when the direction of the program that George and Pandora starts to gel, fans of the science fiction genre will probably guess where it’s going, but not how it’s going to end. The thing about George’s character that I questioned was his ‘voice’. Supposedly he was a teenager, but as the story continued, I didn’t ‘hear’ the voice of a teenager, no matter how smart he was, he was still supposed to be a kid. He eventually sounded like a fully grown adult, and that kind of threw me.

I looked up the genre of this book because I had a difficult time trying to choose which ones Buzz Kill fell under. One had humor listed. I did not find this book humorous. Maybe some of the dialogue was cute, and the pop culture references made it relevant and interesting, but at no time was I tempted to grin, laugh out loud or chuckle. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I felt more anxious and worried as the story rolled out. I guess that’s called, suspense. The format is not laid out in a typical storytelling format, it took me a good portion of the book’s beginning chapters to get into the author’s rhythm and style.

What ultimately happens fits perfectly into conspiracy theories I’ve heard bandied about over the last ten years or so. Thing is, with all the advances in technology lately, Pandora and George’s thinking and ideas aren’t out of the realm of possibility. I think that’s why this book is effective. It’s not a horror story, but it easily could be.

Buzz Kill isn’t what I was expecting. Nor is it the type of book I typically read. Honestly, I’ve had this book on my TBR pile for a while; I think it’s because I felt I had to be in a certain ‘mood’ to read it. Guess today was that day as I read all 400+ pages in one sitting. There were times I felt overwhelmed from all the computer tech talk and theories and explanations, and underwhelmed with the ending. I expected it to be more impactful, more emotional or at least a bit more realistic considering the mess the prologue alluded to. I mean, the writing itself was well-done, the family dynamics between Pandora, her dad and grandmother were the easiest parts of the book to read, and I think that’s one of the things that kept me turning the pages. I liked Pandora’s character and I really appreciated her relationship with her grandmother and the reasons why she gave her the Furby. I even liked finding out about the true giver of the blue flowers. The book has its good moments.

Buzz Kill was interesting, thought-provoking, and I think more on point now with regards to the advances in artificial intelligence than when the book was first written. That’s the theme that can easily jump from science fiction to science fact. In both scenarios, I agree with the sentiment of the book – it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, and be careful for what you wish for because you may not like the end result. That’s my takeaway from reading this novel. As a cautionary tale, I think this book is well worth reading.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

Intense Pleasure by Lora Leigh

October 11, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Intense Pleasure by Lora Leigh
Publisher: St Martin’s Griffin
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Erotic Romance
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

TOO HOT TO HANDLE
Her name is Summer, as beautiful and occasionally fierce as her name suggests. Her past has just come back to haunt her, and suddenly she’s not sure who she can trust. Her longtime confidantes Falcone and Raeg seem to have Summer’s best interests at heart. . .but it’s clear that their desire for her still burns between them. Can they find a way to keep Summer safe—or will a bitter rivalry stand in their way?

Falcone and Raeg need to work together, now more than ever, if they intend to protect Summer from an old enemy who knows her dangerous secret. When Summer’s identity as a sweet, Southern socialite gets out, the two men must find a way to draw out the ruthless assassin on her trail. . .and keep their illicit romance with her under wraps. But some passions are so intense they can’t remain hidden. What are Falcone and Raeg willing to risk for the woman they both crave like no other, in Intense Pleasure, the next Bound Hearts novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh.

Three loves and one white hot passion.

I love a good menage story and if there’s some serious angst, then sign me up. This one delivered. Lora Leigh is one of my go-to authors and as soon as I picked up this book, I knew I was hooked. The writing is good and I got right into the story.

I have to admit there are a lot of characters from other books in the Bound Hearts series, so keep that in mind. It may take a bit of wading to get through the various names, but it’s worth it. Also, there are bits of repetition in this story, so beware. It wasn’t such an issue for me as some of the situations were repetitive, but it might wear on other readers.

Summer, Falcon and Raeg are meant for each other. The passion clearly blossoms right off the page from the get-go. I liked when they’d dance around each other, trying not to admit the attraction and when they did get together, it’s pure Lora Leigh guaranteed steam.

If you’re looking for something hot, with a menage, then this is the book for you. Give it a try.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Smuggled by Angela Karanja

October 7, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Smuggled by Angela Karanja
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

How a Talent Trip turned into a Trafficking Trip – Whoosh! – just like that she was gone!

Tuliana was 14 and had lived in her home country of Kenya with different people, in different places, at different times, for as long as she could remember. Then, out of the blue, she was ushered onto a plane with a group of teenagers and flown out of Kenya.

At a London airport she was separated from the group and whisked off in a car. Her experiences after this were creepy: she didn’t know where she was, or why.

Firstly, she was delivered to a home where she was grossly mistreated. Then to another where she wasn’t treated badly but she definitely didn’t belong. Finally, to another where she was treated really well – yet enslaved. In all those homes she was a slave – a modern day child slave.

Tuliana’s teen friend, Jonathan, whom she met on the plane during this Talent Trip was painfully worried. On returning to Kenya, Jonathan went to extremes to try find her – literally sacrificed his privileged life as a son of a British diplomat. He was thrown out of his family and the country and shipped back to live with his paternal grandparents in England.

Being kicked out only increased his motivation and efforts to find Tuliana. Jonathan mobilised teenagers from all over the world to join his “Operation Find Tuliana” campaign. The campaign picked momentum fast and began unsettling government systems. Teenagers were asking deep penetrating questions, demonstrating and disrupting status quo and stirred world leaders to STOP and LISTEN as teenagers demanded for ACTION not just TALK.

This campaign ignited bravery and vigilance among regular citizens who raised concerns and reported suspicious cases which led to the discovery of numerous children who were being exploited and abused up and down the country. Some children were living as full-fledged slaves, others as part times slaves – all, modern-day child slaves.

Tuliana was also unearthed having been illegally adopted in a supposedly “good family” but nevertheless a slave- the Cash cow for this family’s business.

Everyone should be aware of the warning signs of human trafficking, including teenagers.

The pacing was strong, exciting, and easy to follow. It had a conversational writing style that could appeal to teens and adults alike. There was never a good place to stop reading which is always something I like to see in what I read. It was fun to anticipate what might happen next to the characters when I needed to step away and take care of other business.

I would have liked to see more character development both in the sense of describing people’s personalities and habits as well as in the sense of showing how they grew and changed as a result of their experiences. Ms. Karanja did a good job of creating backstories, especially when it came to Tuliana, but there wasn’t as much time spent on what Tuliana and the other characters who interacted with her were like as individuals. This makes it hard for me to describe their personalities with specific terms like shy, friendly, silly, intellectual, or any of the many other words that can give a reader a sense of what it would be like to meet that particular character in real life.

Some of my favorite passages were the ones that explored the many ways vulnerable people can be convinced to trust a stranger and travel to unknown places with them. While kids and teenagers are generally more susceptible to this than adults are, the techniques that were used could easily lure older folks into dangerous circumstances, too. I appreciated the way the author presented these scenarios to the audience without interrupting the flow of the plot. She trusted us to pick up on why they could be early signs that something was going terribly wrong without further commentary, and that made her story stronger.

Smuggled discussed an important issue in an accessible and interesting way.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

Swansong by Damien Boyd

October 5, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Swansong by Damien Boyd
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Isobel Swan, a sixth form student, has been murdered. First, her ring finger is severed, then her throat is cut.

With the investigation going nowhere fast, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon is sent undercover as a trainee teacher into Isobel’s boarding school.

But to find the killer, he must first confront his inner demons and lay to rest the ghosts lurking in his own past. If he can…

As Dixon digs deeper, the stakes have never been higher and a murder has never felt so personal.

DCI Nick Dixon has just returned from a short holiday at Cypres when he’s informed of the murder of a sixth form student. Isobel Swan looks identical to Nick’s high school girlfriend who went missing mysteriously in their lower sixth form year. Nick goes undercover as a teacher at the school and all too soon there’s another murder and everything becomes far more personal and complicated.

This is the fourth novel in the DCI Nick Dixon series, and I’ve been really enjoying these books. While there is a bit of history between Dixon and his colleague/girlfriend Jane and other members of their team, I feel the story can definitely be read as a standalone story. The plot and everything surrounding it including the muddiness created by Dixon’s personal take on the crime is all very well explained and handled and I feel readers should be able to easily pick this up without having read any of the previous installments.

I found this to be very much a police procedural style of mystery novel and while I didn’t think there was anything too unique or fresh about it, I nevertheless found it thoroughly enjoyable. Readers looking for something new or envelope pushing won’t find that here – but for a solid, well plotted and interesting mystery I really feel this book fits the bill. I did wonder a little about how much leeway Dixon was given by his superiors considering his very personal agenda for this murder – to be honest I didn’t find it overly realistic – but I did enjoy the fact that (as a bit of a change) Dixon’s bosses had a lot of faith and confidence in his abilities and were willing to trust him. I find it a bit of a cliché when there’s an overly antagonistic relationship between a detective and his superiors, so it was definitely a nice change to read the other side to this coin.

Readers looking for a solid British based murder mystery novel should absolutely find this as enjoyable as I did. I’m eager to read more by this author and will happily continue with this series.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Blood Sport by David J. Gatward

October 4, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Blood Sport by David J. Gatward
Publisher: Weirdstone Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A mysterious red sports car. A bloodied animal corpse. He’s caught the scent of a brutal crime, and he won’t stop until it’s solved…

DCI Harry Grimm is weary of humanity’s evil. Dragged to the middle of nowhere during the darkest of hours, he’s enraged by grisly evidence of a horrific illegal dog fight. And when the mutilated remains turn out to be a gamekeeper’s stolen pet, the gritty detective senses he has a solid lead after learning of a long-running feud.

Immediately putting his team on the case, Grimm worries the stakes may be escalating when the animal’s owner is beaten and left for dead. And though the tough investigator puts his nose to the ground and follows the bloody clues, he fears there’s only one shot to apprehend the real monster.

Can he bring a loathsome criminal to justice before the savagery turns deadly?

DCI Harry Grimm is now the permanent DCI for their small community, and he feels he’s finally settling right in. So, when a friend and local calls Harry in the middle of the night, upset at finding blood and the signs of a fight he’s not worried about the lack of sleep. Only all indications of the crime scene indicate there’s a ring of dog fighters and Harry knows too well how insidious – and dangerous – such criminals and actions can be. Will they be able to stop things before they get out of hand?

I’ve been really enjoying this series and found this book to be a solid addition to it. While there’s quite a few smaller plots that are linked in to this dog-fighting ring I feel readers who haven’t read any of the previous stories should be able to follow along quite well without any problems. Those of us who have read the previous installments however should be very happy – I was thrilled that quite a few of the previously unsolved issues got cleaned up in this book and felt quite satisfied with how those plot-arcs were resolved.

There is a fair bit of character growth in a number of Harry’s team in this book and I found it overall a really well written and interesting book. I was pleased to see this progress and feel it will likely make a lot of other readers happy too. I was glad the animal scenes weren’t too gritty and there was no titillation in these scenes – no graphic descriptions of abuse or cruelty to animals and indeed I was very pleased that the police are shown as taking this kind of cruelty and criminality every bit as seriously as abuse and damage to humans.

Readers looking for a country feel but still strongly police procedural and mystery solving story should absolutely try this series. Personally, I feel the books are better read in order, but I think they can be read out of order and still enjoyed.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Seven Bridges by LJ Ross

October 3, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Seven Bridges by LJ Ross
Publisher: Dark Skies Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Ryan’s most explosive case yet…

It’s been five months since a killer walked free and DCI Ryan is preparing to leave Newcastle to hunt him down – this time, for good.

But Ryan’s plans are scuppered when events take a dramatic turn and he is forced to stay and face his past one last time, or watch a friend suffer the consequences.

Amid the chaos, another killer is preparing to strike. When the Tyne Bridge explodes, Ryan’s team are faced with a frantic race to uncover a deadly foe who won’t stop until every bridge is burned, along with everybody on it…

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunit set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape.

Just as DCI Ryan is considering a sabbatical to hunt a killer that has got away, two very serious, new threats appear. One is a bomber terrorizing everyone by blowing up important bridges that keep everything connected, and the other is a danger far closer to home for Ryan and his team.

I enjoyed the somewhat faster pace of this story. With two strong plotlines interwoven together at times there was hardly a chance for Ryan and his team to catch their breath and I felt the author expressed this hurry-hurry-hurry mentality very well to the reader. I feel part of the faster, more action-oriented style of pacing was because the bombings occurred with short notice. Additionally, letters were given to the media first, which meant they were relayed out to everyone with the police left perpetually chasing afterwards. So while this wasn’t a traditional “who dun it” murder mystery it definitely fit the bill in other respects and was a solid police procedural style of book.

The other main plot which took up a good portion of the storyline was the death of Detective Chief Superintendent Jennifer Lucas. There isn’t a lot I can say without treading into spoilers but suffice to say I strongly feel this element of the story added a huge amount of emotions and turmoil – both from the present and the past – for the team as a whole. I was very pleased this plotline was given an almost equal share of time to the bomber plot. I could understand if some readers would feel this might make the murder feel a little drawn out or given too much exposure – but I really feel emotionally and for the characters in the team this plotline had a significant impact on everyone. To some degree – particularly a personal one for the team members – it might even have been more important than the bomber threatening everyone’s daily lives and sense of normalcy. Personally, I was pleased the author didn’t cut this aspect of the plot nor dim its impact down. For a few main characters this really was quite world-shattering and I was pleased it was given the attention and space it was.

In many respects I feel this book could absolutely stand alone. The bomber plotline was very self-contained and I don’t feel readers need any particular prior understanding to thoroughly enjoy it. Even the Superintendents death was very well explained and quite detailed. While I feel the strength of the impact and the fallout from it might be better enjoyed by readers who have read at least a few of the previous books and have an emotional attachment to the main police team and the characters – I feel anyone could pick up this story and easily follow along with what’s happening and help put the pieces together.

A strong book with a good, fast-paced action style of plot this is a great mystery. This is an author and series I’d definitely recommend.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
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