Intrigue & Suspense Await In Dangerous Illusions by Irene Hannon

We all have favorite authors and Irene Hannon is one of mine.  Whether she is writing one of her famous thrillers or a romantic story on the Oregon Coast, she just doesn't disappoint me.  A case in point, I read Dangerous Illusions over the weekend!  In fact, I couldn't put this suspense filled novel down. 

The story is set in St. Louis, Missouri and our heroine is a quiet, uassuming teacher.  Trish Bailey moved back home three years ago to care for her invalid mother following the death of her husband and father.  Both died in an automobile accident that left her mother with life threatening injuries.  Their life was settling into a semblance of routine when her mother's untimely death rocked Trish's world once again.

Eileen Coulter's death didn't seem out of the ordinary. Or was it?  Detective Colin Flynn is ready to report the death as a heart attack until some things just don't add up.  Is it possible Trish accidentally mixed up some of her mother's medications? There is a sizable charitable foundation her parents left for her, an only child, to manage.  Or is she just an innocent woman succumbing to a build up of stress after dealing with three years of unimaginable pain and loss. 

Satisfied the death was an accident, Colin was ready to put the case to rest. In a perfect world, Trish could just go about her life without her beloved mother.  Between the pages of this book, however, more and more things pop up in her world to make life one sinister event after another.  There is also an undeniable attraction between Colin and Trish that keep the pulse of the story going.

The plot is filled with intrigue that can only be written by a master story teller.  As I turned each page, new facts came to life that kept my mind wondering how this story could possibly be tied up neatly in the end.  The illusions painted in this story by a masterful criminal add up to one good mystery. My curiosity kept me up until the wee hours of the night to finish.  It was well worth it.

Dangerous Illusions is book one in Irene Hannon's new Code of Honor series.  I give this book five stars and look forward to the second book in this series. 

Vendetta....A Harrowing Story That Will Keep You Turning Pages!

  

I stayed up again the other night to finish a  page turner called Vendetta by Lisa Harris.  I purposely waited a day or two to begin the book because I knew once I started a new book by Lisa I was bound to get hooked right away and find every excuse to get back to it every chance I could.  The book didn't disappoint and when I had 35 or so pages left past midnight I pressed on to find how the story would end.

Nikki Boyd is  on the Tennessee Missing Persons Task Force and has a particular reason for her commitment to her new job.  Her own sister disappeared in front of her school while waiting for Nikki to pick her up.  Now a case that is all to similar captures the attention of Nikki and her team of experts, taking them on the hunt through the Smoky Mountains National Park. 

This case, though, begins with social media and the profile of an unsuspecting teen. A young girl who is lonely and seeking friendship and understanding meets a young man who is perfect, just the right age and as an added bonus, his pictures prove he is good looking and a model brother.  What more could a girl ask for and why not agree to meet him for a hike while visiting at a remote cabin?

 

Vendetta is the first book in the new Nikki Boyd Files series.  The story is a good lesson on privacy, trusting social media and how important your teen knows how to safeguard themselves. The world we live in can be sinister and while I am an optimist, we can learn a thing or two to stay safe.  Lisa Harris tells the story like it is and I admire that about her writing.  She develops her characters well and her plots are thoroughly researched and carried out so that the reader is transported into the midst of the case. My heart sped up at times, tears fell at times and if the author's goal is to get the reader to become thus engaged in her book, Lisa Harris has accomplished just that!

Saturday Afternoon Reading: Reviewing Gone Without A Trace

I could hardly put this book down. I love suspense novels and in my opinion award winning author Patricia Bradley can write a plot that is unpredictable. Gone Without a Trace is no exception. The story is book three in the Logan Lake series and includes characters from Promise To Protect and Shadows of the Past. 

Livy Reynolds, a homicide detective from Memphis is taking a little time off after a shooting incident.  Enter handsome  Dallas Private Investigator Alex Jennings and you do have some predictable sparks of romance. That is where the predictability stops.

Alex is searching for the granddaughter of a Texas State Senator and Livy believes there are similarities between the case of Samantha Jo Woodson and the sudden disappearance of her cousin Robyn two years ago.  Both cases involve waitresses working in diners. In both cases, the victims are warned to quit their jobs from cryptic notes. The two are joined together in the hunt to find similarities to these cases and other cold cases that involve waitresses who left without a trace.

So many things run through my mind in a mystery, like trying to figure out who the perpetrator is and remembering clues that lead to solving the case. Patricia is particularly good at developing complex plots that keep me on the edge of my seat. This book is for the reader who likes complex characters and a plot that thickens right up to the end.

I recommend this book to you and I guarantee that one quick look on page one and you will be flipping to page two as though you were reeled into the story.

Nowhere To Turn Is A Page Turner!

For Danielle Harding, life is a roller coaster of emotions as she carefully plans how to escape from her abusive husband with their eleven-year-old son. Her husband, an FBI agent swept her off her feet but her dreams became a nightmare no woman should have to endure. Every turn she makes there is a roadblock. She connects with Operation Refuge where she meets Adam Buchanan, her guiding force in a journey that takes her from a terrible life to the dregs of an impossible world full of danger.

Packing up to leave, she clears out her husband's safe only to have her brother-in-law show up at her door to retrieve something Kurt, her husband left behind. What follows is a trail of wonder as we learn that Kurt has been killed, and his killer is looking for what was left in that safe. Nowhere To Turn by Lynette Eason is a suspenseful page turner that had me guessing on the edge of my seat until the end. The surprising twists to the plot weaves us into so many surprising scenarios that I wasn't sure who to trust or where Dani and her son Simon could find shelter.

If you like a good mystery that is well written and full of surprises read Nowhere To Turn because the book lives up to its title. It is the second book in Lynette's Hidden Identity Series. The first book, No One To Trust is another good suspense novel.  There are too many spoilers so I recommend you simply get the book, turn off the phone and settle into a reading weekend.

Second Hand Killer.....Fatal Exchange!

I am lucky that I received a copy of Fatal Exchange to review this month. I love suspense and mystery and this book kept me guessing. One minute I thought  I had it solved only to have yet another layer to the plot that surprised me.


Rafael Cerda is a young man attending a private school on a scholarship after pulling himself out of the pit of poverty that comes often in single parent families. His father passed away from a drug overdose and his mother works in a laundry and Rafael delivers papers and does odd jobs to help out the family. He participates in a Big Brother Program that has had an impact on a life that could have gone south in a drug ridden neighborhood. His younger brother Eduardo has had the benefit of all this hard work but missed the hard working gene, preferring to be a dealer instead. Enter the cartel leaders he owes money to and you have a drug deal about to go as sour as it can get.

Mason Taylor, handsome undercover cop who volunteers at the Big Brother Program is part of the positive influence on Rafael Cerda's life. Mason is beset with his own issues to deal with, coming off the death of his partner Michael Hunt and the imminent death of his own long absent father. Blamed by Michael's family for his death, Mason has a lot to prove in clearing his name and setting things right with the Hunt family.

Emily Hunt is Rafael's teacher and youngest daughter of the Hunt family. She didn't join the family business as a cop, choosing instead to make an impact on students' lives. All seems to be right in her world when she is met by Mason with the news that he was looking for Rafael. Unable to connect the dots with him on this urgent need to connect with Rafael, he shows her pictures he received in a text from Rafael: Eduardo is shown beaten with threats to kill him if ransom isn't met!

A race begins to find Rafael so they can save Eduardo and prevent the loss of another member of the Cerda family to drugs. However, something happens to switch things up with Eduardo and Rafael. Rafael enters the classroom with a gun and hold the entire class hostage. Emily is left to try to keep her students calm, but how long can she keep it cool when one of the girls, an asthmatic, begins to have severe problems breathing. Will Rafael back down?  Emily is a courageous woman who fights for the safety of her students; the hostages and the hostage taker.

What follows could be spoilers to a well crafted plot so I am not going to share spoilers. I will say though, that this is a good read for anyone who likes a mystery! This is my first experience with Lisa Harris' writing and I plan to look for more. I like a book that challenges my crime solving abilities, albeit wishful thinking, to keep my mind going. This is the second book in her Southern Crimes Series, so I will be looking for Dangerous Passage to get the full series in before book three comes out in 2015.