Tag Archives: Crime

Taken Girls by Carolyn Arnold – a Review

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Taken Girls by Carolyn Arnold – a Review

 

Amazon / B&N

 

Description:
Music from the busy dance floor echoes into the deserted room where the Prom Queen lies deadly still. A tiara rests on her soft blonde curls, but her face is frozen with fear, and her painted red lips are forever sealed shut in a silenced scream…

When Detective Amanda Steele’s niece, Ava, begs her to look for a missing schoolfriend, she immediately agrees to take on the case. Eighteen-year-old Reece left home three nights ago after fighting with her mother and hasn’t been seen since. But when the teenager’s body is discovered brutally murdered, poised dramatically at the prom venue, Amanda is devastated she didn’t save the girl in time.

Haunted by the scene, Amanda dives headfirst into the case. Chasing every lead, she is horrified when she discovers a potential key witness strangled in her own home. It soon becomes clear that the killer will stop at nothing to silence anyone who might reveal their identity. So when Ava mentions she saw someone acting strangely at the prom venue that night, Amanda’s heart stops.

And when Amanda’s worst nightmare comes true, and her beloved niece is taken, she knows that every second counts to uncover this twisted killer’s identity and bring Ava home safely. But can she crack the secrets of this killer’s deadly game before it’s too late?

 

 

Review:

Taken Girls by Carolyn Arnold is the 8th book in her terrific Detective Amanda Steele series. I am a big fan of Arnold, having read most of her books, and I love this series, which continues with another great addition.  Taken Girls was fantastic, with me unable to put the book down. 

Amanda Steele, our heroine, is a homicide detective in Dumfries, Virginia Police Department. Amanda’s niece, asks her to locate her best friend’s sister, who has been missing for 3 days. Though Amanda is a homicide detective, she agrees to look into this.  Eighteen-year-old Reece left home three nights ago after having a fight with her mother and hasn’t been seen since. Reece is the prom queen for the upcoming prom, leaving people stumped why she would runaway before the prom; her body is discovered at the venue, brutally murdered; with a tiara on her head, dressed in a gown, and her lips silenced.  Amanda takes control of the case, now that it is a homicide.

Steele and Trent (her partner) investigate a murder which is close to home,  becomes and a race against time to find the murderer before they kill again. Amanda’s niece, Ava, wants to become like her aunt, and decides to do her own investigation; which in time will lead the killer to target her.  When Ava goes missing, Amanda is urgently trying to identify the killer, as her and Trent are working without stop, as they are desperate to find the killer before Ava becomes a victim.

What follows is an exciting, suspenseful, intriguing, tense mystery, that kept me unable to put the book down, as this was a mind-blowing thriller.  I always liked Amanda and Trent as they were great partners, though this case was very personal for Amanda. The last third of the book was fast-paced, intense, exciting thriller, with many twists along the way. To say too much more would be spoilers.

Taken Girls was another fantastic crime thriller that held our breath throughout.  Amanda is a great heroine, and a fantastic detective. was so very well written by Carolyn Arnold, which is the norm for this author; as I am loving this series. If you like mystery thrillers, police procedural, then you need to be reading this series.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy supplied for Review

 

CAROLYN ARNOLD is an international bestselling and award-winning author, as well as a speaker, teacher, and inspirational mentor. She has several continuing fiction series and has many published books. Her genre diversity offers her readers everything from police procedurals, hard-boiled mysteries, and thrillers to action adventures. Her crime fiction series have been praised by those in law enforcement as being accurate and entertaining. This led to her adopting the trademark: POLICE PROCEDURALS RESPECTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT™.

Carolyn was born in a small town and enjoys spending time outdoors, but she also loves the lights of a big city. Grounded by her roots and lifted by her dreams, her overactive imagination insists that she tell her stories. Her intention is to touch the hearts of millions with her books, to entertain, inspire, and empower.

She currently lives near London, Ontario, Canada with her husband and two beagles.

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Identity by Nora Roberts – a Review

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Identity by Nora Roberts – a Review

 

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Description:
A new thriller about one man’s ice-cold malice, and one woman’s fight to reclaim her life.

Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan’s job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who’d been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.

Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. “Luke” is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.

What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn’t his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan’s nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother’s home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn’t flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn’t forgotten the one who got away.

 

 

 

Review:

Identity by Nora Roberts is a standalone romance suspense thriller.  I love all of Nora Roberts books, being a big fan of her In Death/Eve Dallas series, as well as her wonderful trilogies; I thought Identity was one of the best romance suspense thrillers I have read, which kept me glued to my kindle from start to finish. 

Morgan Albright, our heroine, lives in Baltimore, working two jobs; hoping to save enough money to open her own place.  Nina is her roommate, who is like a sister to Morgan, helping share expenses of the mortgage payments.  At night, Morgan is a bartender, making fantastic drinks, and always friendly; one night she meets a charming man, who is in town for a short time.  After a few visits to the bar, Morgan invites him to a dinner with her friend Nina and her boyfriend. A couple of days later, when Nina is home sick, Morgan comes home to see her back doors smashed, her cash, jewelry and car missing and Nina dead in her office.

Morgan learns from the FBI that the man whom she just met, was a serial con artist and a murderer.  His real name is Gavin, and he targets women (similar to Morgan’s looks), steals their assets and identity, and ends up killing them.  She lost everything, and when the FBI agent explains that she was the real target, she decides to leave Baltimore and return home to Vermont, to try and restart her life.  The agent does warn her that since she is the first person who ever survived, Gavin may still have thoughts of finding her again, being the ‘the one that got away’.

When Morgan moves home to Vermont to live with her grandmother and mother, she is happy to be with them; though she still has nightmares thinking about Nina.  Soon, Morgan happily gets a new job, in a popular resort, with her taking over as the nightly bartender/manager in the fancy Apres Bar of the resort.  She gets to know the entire Jameson family, who run the resort; and they all know about what happened to her in Baltimore.  The resort has a top-notch security system, and they implement plans to make sure who does not leave at night without a guard.  In a short time, Miles Jameson stops by each night, and makes sure she is safe, which leads into a slow burn romance. 

I loved Morgan, who was a fantastic heroine, as well as very loyal and loving with her mother and grandmother; she was also a terrific bartender, with many different concoctions. Miles was a bit gruff early on, but in a short time, he began to have feelings for Morgan, as she did for him.  I adored Howl, the dog, who fell in love with Morgan.  The Jameson family were all amazing people, and they were all so wonderful; I enjoyed their family meetings.  I did get a kick out of Jen, the fitness instructor, who trained Morgan how to defend herself; something that would come handy later on.

Gavin, the evil thief/murderer, had a few POV’s as we saw him constantly find victims and kill them.  He still had Morgan as his target for one day in the future.  This escalated as we get closer to the last ¼ of the book, which was very intense and suspenseful.  I will not say more, as you really need to read this book from start to finish.  Identity was a fantastic read, with a bit of romance, family, love, and suspense.  Identity was so very well written by Nora Roberts.  This is a do not miss.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

 

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Reckoning by Catherine Coulter – a Review

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Reckoning by Catherine Coulter – a Review

 

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Description:
When she was twelve years old, Kirra Mandarian’s parents were murdered and she barely escaped with her life. Fourteen years later Kirra is a commonwealth attorney back home in Porte Franklin, Virginia, and her goal is to find out who killed her parents and why. She assumes the identity of E.N.–Eliot Ness–and gathers proof to bring down the man she believes was behind her parents’ deaths. She quickly learns that big-time criminals are very dangerous indeed and realizes she needs Dillon Savich’s help. Savich brings in Special Agent Griffin Hammersmith to work with Lieutenant Jeter Thorpe, the young detective who’d saved Kirra years before.

Emma Hunt, a piano prodigy and the granddaughter of powerful crime boss Mason Lord, was only six years old when she was abducted. Then, she was saved by her adoptive father, San Francisco federal judge Ramsey Hunt. Now a 12-year-old with a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, she narrowly saves herself from a would-be kidnapper at Davies Hall in San Francisco. Worried for her safety, Emma’s entire family joins her for her next performance, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. Sherlock and officers from METRO are assigned to protect her, but things don’t turn out as planned…

 

 

Review:

Reckoning by Catherine Coulter is the 26th book in her FBI Thriller series.  Agents Savich and Sherlock, who I always enjoy, are the leads in Reckoning; which has two mysteries, with each involved in, though as we get later into the story, Savich will play a big part in Sherlock’s story. 

Kirra Mandarian saw her mother and father murdered 14 years ago, managing to escape to safety. Kirra lived in Australia with her uncle, who brought her up, and now in present time, she returns to the scene of the crime in Porte Franklin, Virginia.  Kirra is smart, savvy and trained in self-defense; she is now an assistant prosecutor, and is determined to find out who killed her parents; taking on a secret identity (Eliot Ness), she sends information to the police and prosecuting lawyers with information that would convict the villain; she also sends the paperwork to Agent Dillon Savich, whom she knows will be able to help.

Emma Hunt, a piano prodigy, was only 6 years old when she was kidnapped, but her father and mother saved her. Now at 12 years old, Emma manages to save herself from another attempt to kidnap her. Agent Sherlock, who has been friends with Emma’s mother, decides to spend time watching and protecting Emma, especially, with a performance being scheduled at Kennedy Center, in Washington, D.C. 

What follows is a non-stop exciting and intense adventure with two different cases. Both cases escalated, with many twists and surprises, which is another reason not to reveal these spoilers, so not to ruin the book.  I love Savich and Sherlock, even when they worked separately; they are a fabulous couple and super agents.  I really thought Kirra was a fantastic character, as she was fearless to find the truth about her parent’s death, as well as working closely with Savich, Agent Griffin Hammersmith and the local detective Jeter.  With Emma on close watch, the criminals decide to change the game, and manage to kidnap the mother and Sherlock; this will bring Savich into this mystery.

Reckoning was an exciting thriller from start to finish, and even if it was tense at times, as I was unable to put the book down from start to finish.  Catherine Coulter once again gives us a fabulous story, with wonderful characters, including evil villains.  Reckoning was a fast-paced, exciting, intriguing, suspenseful mystery.  If you like suspense, mysteries, espionage, especially in the world of FBI, I wholly suggest you read Catherine Coulter.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

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Girl on the Run by Carolyn Arnold – a Review

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Girl on the Run by Carolyn Arnold – a Review

 

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Description:
Shivers tear through her, but she must be brave—for herself, for her future. She grips her coat tighter and steps into the night and the cold, pouring rain. Never to be seen again.

An ordinary Monday morning commute turns deadly when a gunman opens fire in the local train station. Detective Madison Knight rushes to the scene, but she’s too late for the victims. Two women were fatally wounded, including an expectant mother, and one is fighting for her life. But it’s the face of one of the dead that has Madison seeing a ghost from her past. She looks just like Madison’s college friend Courtney Middleton, who vanished over fifteen years ago. If it is her, where has she been all these years, and does her resurfacing have anything to do with the shooting?

Eyewitnesses say that a young woman triggered the incident, but both the shooter and the girl seem to have evaporated into thin air. Mounting evidence suggests they may be part of a drug-trafficking operation, the girl being one of their runners. But Madison’s not so sure the girl is the hardened criminal she appears to be.

As Madison races to track down the young woman, more people turn up murdered, and there’s still no sign of the girl. Is her body out there to find or is she on the run? If the latter, is it due to fear or guilt? Could it simply be that the shooting victims were caught in the crosshairs of organized crime? Madison’s not sure, but she can’t shake her niggling suspicion: what if it was something more than that?

 

 

Review:

Girl on the Run by Carolyn Arnold is the 11th book in her wonderful Detective Madison Knight series.  As I have noted a number of times in previous reviews, Carolyn Arnold always gives us exciting suspenseful murder mysteries, led by a great detective like Madison Knight; and Arnold’s knowledge of police procedurals makes these investigations perfect.

Madison, our heroine, is a tough detective for the Stiles Police Department, who will let nothing stand in her way to find the guilty.   She and her partner Terry, are called to the scene of a shooting at the Liberty Station, where two women are dead and one injured.  After interviewing people at the scene, they learn that a young women triggered the incident when she took some things behind the coffee counter, and those on line complained; only to see a man shoot at the ladies on line.  Both the girl and the shooter are no longer on the scene, and Madison and Terry begin a complex trail that will lead to drug trafficking and revenge.

What follows is an exciting, tense, action filled thriller with many suspects, as well as twists and surprising turns.   While interviewing some of the victim’s families, Madison will find herself shocked at a picture of someone in her past, who supposedly died 15 years ago.  Which will lead to Madison going over and above to revisit what happened all those years ago, and how it effects the murders of the present.  With the new evidence, as well as other murders, the last ¼ of the book was amazing with twists that Madison discovered, which we did not expect.

Girl on the Run was another fantastic, exciting, tense, riveting police procedural, so very well written by Carolyn Arnold.  Madison Knight is a great detective, though I thought she seemed a bit annoying early on; with that said, I dislike her Sergeant and still not crazy about her partner, Terry.  I do like her significant other, Troy, as well as the dog, Hershey.  If you enjoy mysteries, police procedurals, a tough as nails cop, then you need to be reading this series, as Carolyn Arnold is one of the best in police procedure stories.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy supplied for review

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Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li – a Review

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Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li – a Review

 

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Description:
History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.

Will Chen plans to steal them back.

A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents’ American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible—and illegal—job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.

His crew is every heist archetype one can imag­ine—or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they’ve cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.

Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars—and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they’ve dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted at­tempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.

Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary cri­tique of the lingering effects of colonialism.

 

 

Review:

Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li is centered on heists of Chinese artifacts that were stolen many years ago, and a group of five college age thieves (all Asian/Americans) who were determined to right a wrong, and give back to the Chinese their artifacts.  

We meet Will Chen, our leader, who while working at night at the Sackler Museum, sees a group stealing Chinese priceless arts; he picks up a valuable piece they dropped.  He then gets a note from one of the Chinese people who stole the artifacts, and the benefactor offers him a job, to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.  Will accepts and recruits 4 friends, each with different abilities to work together; the payout is 50 million dollars (10 million per). We meet the team: Irene Chen, Will’s sister, who is a very good con artist; Daniel Liang, a close friend to both Will and Irene, and the perfect thief; Lily Wu, Irene’s best friend, and the getaway driver; and Alex Huang, friend of Will, and is the hacker/computer expert.

All five of them made a great & complex group, with each being flawed and having different perspectives on life, as well as their hopes and future.  I really enjoyed all the main characters, and it was fun to watch them risk everything to try to steal the sculptures in different countries. The story was exciting during the heist attempts, but without revealing anything to ruin it for you, things will change along the way.  I will say that at times, the story was a bit slow, with some things being redundant.

Portrait of a Thief was an engaging, entertaining and somewhat complex story, that did keep my attention throughout. Portrait of a Thief was well written by Grace D Li, as well as an interesting story line.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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Stay Hidden (The Hidden Series #1) by Leigh Fleming-a review

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Stay Hidden (The Hidden Series #1) by Leigh Fleming-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon. au / Amazon.uk /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 13,2018

On the run from her abusive ex, Riley Smith lives life in the shadows. Keep moving. Pack light. Don’t make connections.

Until she encounters FBI agent Derek Bronson.

When a convenience store photo identifies her as the prime suspect in his father’s murder, Riley’s ability to keep her sordid past a secret comes crashing down around her. Now it’s a matter of keeping them both alive.

••••••••••

REVIEW: Stay Hidden is a mystery/crime/romance story. Author Fleming has written a very well-paced, intricate story of loss and love, with brutality and betrayal in the threads of the plot.

I don’t do spoilers, so just let me set the theme.

Derek Bronson is the hero of the book. Derek is an FBI agent whose father was also with the FBI. Derek’s father was shot and killed trying to stop a bank robbery he stumbled upon two years earlier. Another robbery has been committed and a woman killed this time. Derek asks to be allowed to work on the case. Against better judgement his supervisor allows him to join the team.

Riley Smith is the female leading character in this story. She’s secretly running and trying to stay hidden from Tyler, her ex-boyfriend who was seriously abusive. They don’t come much worse than Tyler. She’s hiding in the same town as Derek is working and has some of the same friends. She’s making plans to run again, feeling like she’s stayed too long, but she meets Derek and delays.

The romance is hot and explosive, until the issues they’re both having converge.

Leigh Fleming has written a thrilling and wonderfully emotional story. The romance was a little fast, but knowing what I know now, it’s appropriate. The action is well done, the brutality explained, but not dwelled upon. If you like romantic stories with a contemporary theme and a little crime…grab a copy and relax and enjoy this story. I certainly did.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Georgianna S

Twenty years ago Leigh Fleming vowed to write a book someday and her goal finally came to fruition in 2013. Since the day she first sat down at the computer to write, she has been hard at work creating unique characters facing life’s challenges, but who are always rewarded with their happy ending. When she’s not writing in her windowless office, she enjoys reading, travelling, scrapbooking, and spending time with friends.

Leigh is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Washington Romance Writers chapter. She lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia, with her husband, Patrick, and her deaf French Bulldog Napoleon, and is mom to adult children, Tom and Liza.

Contact Leigh at leigh@leighfleming.com. Follow Leigh on Facebook at www.facebook.com/leighhflemingauthor and on Twitter www.twitter.com/leighhfleming1

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Phoenix Burning (A Veranda Cruz Mystery #2) by Isabella Maldonado-Review & Guest Post

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PHOENIX BURNING (A Veranda Cruz Mystery #2) by Isabella Maldonado-a review and guest post

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 8, 2018

The battle between Veranda Cruz and the Villalobos cartel turns Phoenix into a war zone.

Homicide Detective Veranda Cruz will stop at nothing to take down the Villalobos cartel. But when a wave of violence in the city escalates, she fears that the secrets of her past will take her down instead.

Adolfo Villalobos is a crime boss who’s determined to stake his claim. To prove that he’s ready to run his family’s sprawling criminal empire, he devises a plan to silence his siblings and destroy Veranda, leaving a trail of destruction through downtown Phoenix that makes national headlines. Veranda believes the task force she’s been assigned to lead will end the cartel’s reign of terror, until Adolfo’s revenge takes a cruel–and highly personal–twist.

••••••••••

REVIEW:  PHOENIX BURNING is the second instalment in Isabella Maldonado’s contemporary, adult VERANDA CRUZ MYSTERY crime thriller series focusing on Phoenix homicide detective Veranda Cruz. PHOENIX BURNING can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order as there is a continuing premise throughout.

Told from several third person points of view including Veranda Cruz, PHOENIX BURNING follows Phoenix homicide detective Veranda Cruz as she and her fellow police detectives continue to struggle in the wake of a notorious Mexican Cartel headed by Hector Villalobos and his adult children (Adolfo, Bartolo, Carlos & Daria) whose illegal activities including arms dealing, drugs and human trafficking are wreaking havoc in the Phoenix area.

In the first instalment BLOOD’S ECHO Veranda’s fifteen year old sister Gabriela was kidnapped by the Villalobos family, and her mother’s restaurant burned to the ground in a violent act of retribution and revenge against our story line heroine. Fast forward six weeks, and Veranda is named to a special task force alongside the Phoenix Police Department Homicide Squad and Gang Unit, the FBI, DEA, US Marshal, Homeland Security and the Mexican Federal Police as they put a plan into motion to take down the Villalobos Cartel. What ensues is a series of set backs, and threats aimed at our story line heroine as Hector Villalobos tries establish his power and authority against everyone involved.

PHOENIX BURNING contains some scenes of violence that focus on the brutality of the Mexican cartels; their cruelty and destructiveness as it pertains to human life, and their single-minded ruthlessness of domination and control. The Phoenix Police are outsmarted; our heroine’s family and the people of Phoenix are blindsided; the Villalobos family structure and dynamic will continue to change.

Author Isabella Maldonado, a retired police captain, and graduate of the FBI National Academy, draws on her experiences and real life in her endeavor to create a fictionalized world of corruption, crime and violence in Phoenix, Arizona. PHOENIX BURNING is an intriguing thrill ride; a gripping and realistic tale of choices and tragic consequences; of retaliation and retribution; entitlement, family, dominion and power.

:Copy supplied by Netgalley for review

Reviewed by Sandy

TOEING THE THIN BLUE LINE by Isabella Maldonado

Police officers are afforded a lot of discretion in how they perform their duties. This is both necessary, and a potential pitfall. After more than twenty years on the force, I’ve made my share of judgment calls during rapidly evolving situations. When I became a police captain later in my career, I had to hold others accountable for their decisions. It’s not something most cops like to discuss, but it’s a very real part of the job. There are times when you’re put in the position of knowing a guilty person has escaped justice based on a technicality. You must let them go. We used to have a saying on the force: “The world is round.” It means that the person who gets away with a crime today will doubtless come full circle and end up getting caught for something else tomorrow. Kind of “bad guy karma.”

In fiction, whether on the screen or in print, heroes are sometimes portrayed as vigilantes who ensure justice is served. This is one of the reasons why fiction can be so much more satisfying than real life, where sometimes evil seems to prevail. This begs the question: Should good guys do bad things in the name of fighting crime? We know what Machiavelli would say, but then again, he didn’t swear an oath to serve and protect. In real life, the answer is not just no, but hell no.

Having sat on both sides of the commander’s desk, I could deeply sympathize with an officer who colored outside the lines in an honest effort to lock up a criminal. But I couldn’t allow it. I disciplined those officers when they violated policy or procedure. During the review process, I always explained to the officer that the police are held to a higher standard. The fact that we are empowered to take away people’s freedom – and yes, sometimes their very lives – means that we cannot ever allow ourselves to cut corners or skip ahead, even if that means getting to the end point more quickly. My officers knew me to be firm, but fair.

In fiction, however, it’s just so much more fun to make sure evil gets its comeuppance. Preferably in a spectacular and wholly satisfying way. If that requires our hero to bend or break a few pesky rules, then so be it. I write a police procedural series featuring the Phoenix Police Department. My protagonist, Detective Veranda Cruz, strays from the line, but she ends up paying the price for doing so. It’s important to me to show the repercussions cops face when they use deadly force, whether subsequently deemed justifiable or not. Aside from those kind of judgment calls, officers routinely make many other decisions when they investigate cases that can have long-reaching ramifications for suspects, victims, and the entire community. Using my background, I try to portray as accurately as I can what happens to police who do the wrong things for the right reasons, but not to the point of bogging down the story with endless Internal Affairs interviews. Fast-paced stories need to keep their momentum, after all. Hopefully, readers enjoy an engaging story that keeps them on the edge of their seat. If my characters sometimes resort to extreme measures to get the job done, there will be a price to pay. But, after all, that’s what makes them the good guys!

Isabella Maldonado is a published author, a retired police captain, and a regular contributor on television News Channel 12 (Phoenix NBC affiliate) as a law enforcement expert. Her last police position was Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During her long career, she served as a hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander among many assignments. She was recognized with a Meritorious Service Award and a Lifesaving Award, and was selected to attend executive management training at the FBI National Academy in Quantico. Maldonado is a past president of the Phoenix Metro chapter of Sisters In Crime, and currently sits on the board. She lives in Mesa, Arizona, where she is currently writing the third book in the Veranda Cruz series, which features a Latina Phoenix police detective.

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Leave Yesterday Behind by Lauren Linwood-a review

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Leave Yesterday Behind by Lauren Linwood-a review

Leave Yesterday Behind

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date June 3, 2015

Callie Chennault vaulted to fame on the nighttime soap Sumner Falls, but after a decade of playing the same role, she is ready for a new acting challenge. When Callie is attacked by a stalker on the streets of New York, she takes a leave of absence from the show and returns to her roots in Aurora, Louisiana, to heal both physically and emotionally and determine her next career move.

Former professional baseball pitcher Nick La Chappelle has also come to Aurora to lick his own wounds after a messy divorce. A Cy Young winner and one-time ESPN broadcaster, Nick longs for the quiet of a small town in order to write murder mysteries under a pen name.

Sparks fly when Callie believes Nick is taking advantage of her great-aunt’s hospitality, but they resolve their differences—and surprise themselves by falling in love. Their bond is tested when both Nick and Callie become the focus of a serial killer nicknamed Lipstick Larry. Can they outwit a murderer bent on seeing them dead and survive to build a lasting relationship?

•••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: Leave Yesterday Behind is Lauren Linwood’s new crime and romance thriller. I do mean thriller. It’s well plotted with myriad twists and surprises. It’s incredible terror, murder, personal issues and romance all rolled into one exciting package.

The story revolves around Callie Chennualt, who plays Jessica on a soap called Summer Falls. The other main character is Nick La Chappelle, former baseball star turned best-selling writer of crime novels.

I’m leaving a lot out…I think you’ll need to discover this wonderful story for yourself and I hate spoilers. The two had met as teenagers, but life took them on different paths. Now they come back home and find each other again, both damaged and healing. Then the terror begins again as they find the stalker they arrested for assaulting Callie isn’t the serial killer, he’s still out there and he’s coming back.

Okay, no more spoilers. This is a marvelous fast paced, but twisty story. It’s exciting, sexy, romantic, terrorizing….and so much more.

If you love thrillers and mysteries with sizzling romance thrown in…this is your next read! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and found it very hard to put down! So yourself a solid and pick this up and give it a read, you’ll be glad you did!

Enjoy everyone, I truly did!

Copy supplied by the author

Reviewed by Georgianna

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