THE INTENDED VICTIM (The Agency #4) by Alexandra Ivy-a review

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About the book: Release Date December 31, 2019

ONCE, SHE GOT AWAY
The body lying on a cold steel slab bears all the hallmarks of the Chicago Butcher. There’s a cruel slash across her throat, deep enough to sever the carotid artery, and a small crescent carved into her right breast. Her delicate features are painfully familiar to Ash Marcel, once a rising star in the Chicago PD. But though the victim resembles his former fiancée, Remi Walsh, he knows it’s not her.

BUT THIS TIME
Though Remi escaped a serial killer five years ago, her father died trying to save her. Grief and guilt caused her to pull away from the man she loved. Now Ash is back in her life, insisting that Remi is still in danger.

IT’S A DEAD END . . .
Someone is targeting women who look just like Remi. With or without a badge, Ash intends to unmask the Butcher. But the killer isn’t playing games any longer. He’s moving in, ready to finish what he started, and prove there’s nothing more terrifying than a killer’s obsession . . .

••••••••

REVIEW: THE INTENDED VICTIM is the fourth instalment in Alexandra Ivy’s contemporary, adult THE AGENCY romantic suspense series. This is former Chicago police detective / college professor Ashland ‘Ash’ Marcel, and youth center counselor Remi Walsh’s story line. THE INTENDED VICTIM can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Remi and Ash) and first person (killer) THE INTENDED VICTIM follows in the wake of the possible return of a serial killer. Five years earlier Remi Walsh was the intended victim of a serial killer known as The Butcher but Remi’s call to her father, police officer Gage Walsh, resulted in the death of her father, and Remi with no memory of what happened that day. Fast forward to the present, wherein a series of murders where all of the victims have been surgically altered to look like Remi Walsh, pull Ash Marcel, Remi’s former fiancé into the investigation. What ensues is the rebuilding romance and relationship between Ash and Remi, and the potential fall-out as the killer hits too close to home.

Ash Marcel was destroyed the day Remi Walsh walked out of his life but Remi struggled in the aftermath of the death of her father, the attack on her life, and Ash Marcel’s obsession with finding the killer. Ash Marcel had never stopped loving our story line heroine and a change in careers meant pulling away from the life that he loved.

The relationship between Remi and Ash is one of second chances; a rekindling romance between two people torn apart by death and destruction, and brought together by memories from the past. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Remi’s mother Liza, and Ash’s brother Detective Jax Marcel. There is a large list of suspects who are questioned yet remain a person of interest.

THE INTENDED VICTIM is a romantic suspense thriller; a story of betrayal and obsession; family, friends, jealousy and madness. The premise is intriguing and entertaining; the characters are colorful and dynamic; the romance is seductive and captivating.

Reading Order and previous reviews
Pretend You’re Safe
What Are You Afraid Of?
You Will Suffer

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy