Month: September 2022

Reckoning by Catherine Coulter

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Contemporary, Mystery, Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

Reckoning (FBI Thriller, #26)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: FBI Thriller #26
Publication Date: 8/2/22
Period: Contemporary
Number of Pages: 432

As always, Catherine Coulter has delivered a stellar book. One might think that a series with 26 books would become a bit stale and repetitive, but that is NOT the case here. Each book is as fresh, engaging, and inventive as the first. These later books haven’t made use of Dillon’s sixth sense as much as the first ones did, but that isn’t an issue for me – after all, it allows them to solve the crimes by following the evidence. Although – sometimes – a bit of that intuition would be good in the suspenseful parts.

I listened to the audiobook version from my public library and I loved the way they did it. Harper Audio presented the book with narrators Saskia Maarleveld and Pete Simonelli, so we had a female narrator for the female voices and a male narrator for the male. Both narrators did an excellent job with the pacing of the narration and each character had a nicely unique voice.

If you are a fan of the series, you’ll remember Emma’s story – The Target, book #3 in the series. One of the things I love about this series is the continuity of the characters. They don’t all show up in every book, but they recur often enough you can keep up with them. Emma was kidnapped by a heinous pedophile when she was six years old, and now several years later, someone is again trying to kidnap her. Is it a family member of the pedophile who is coming after her as revenge for the death of the pedophile? Is it the man who actually paid the pedophile to kidnap Emma in the first place? Is it someone totally different?

Savich and Sherlock definitely don’t have an easy time solving this one – especially when the victims are very good friends of theirs. They manage to thwart more kidnapping attempts before the kidnappers decide to change targets. Catching the villains and rescuing the abductees becomes a near-death thing for all participants. Can Savich and Ramsey save everyone or will some of them die?

The other featured case features Agent Griffin Hammersmith as he pairs up with Kirra Mandarian, a commonwealth attorney in Porte Franklin, Virginia. When she was just twelve years old, Kirra barely escaped with her life on the night her parents were murdered. Now, after living with her uncle in Australia for years, she is back in Porte Franklin and she is determined to uncover the murderers of her parents.

Little does Kirra know how dangerous those murderers are or how far they can reach until the attempts on her life begin. Lucky for her all of those years in Australia taught her many survival skills – and she’s going to need every one of them to survive. Things are very close even with the ever-so-handsome agent Hammersmith looking out for her. Can Kirra and Hammersmith get the evidence they need to convict the murderers before those murderers get them?

I thoroughly enjoyed this intense, suspenseful read and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

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Within These Gilded Halls by Abigail Wilson

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

Within These Gilded HallsBarbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: Stand Alone
Publication Date: 10/4/22
Period: Regency
Number of Pages: 320

Whew! My head is still spinning after finishing this book. In one book you get a romance, a murderer, a thief, a spy, a smuggler, revenge, treason, blackmail, treasure hunts, and a really strange household where deep dark secrets reside. Yes, it is very busy! It is also fast-paced, well-written, interesting, and filled with characters you either want to get to know better – or you want to slap them (or worse). The main focus of the story is the mystery, but the romance dovetails nicely into it. Those of you who like steamy romances will be disappointed because there is no steam, but there is a very honorable hero who treats his lady with trust, honor, and respect. I say that is a well done.

Phoebe Radcliff, a gifted artist, is the daughter of Lord Torrington who is a spymaster. She left home in disgrace two years ago and is now studying under the tutelage of a renowned artist, Miss Drake. Phoebe and her friend Daniel are making good progress on their art project, but she’s not so focused that she doesn’t wonder about some of the goings-on. Why are Mr. and Mrs. Fagean there as permanent guests? They are odd people and Mr. Fagean is practically running the estate.

Lt. Graham Burke unexpectedly arrives at his aunt’s home with a load of antiquities he plans to sell to a neighbor and isn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. When his aunt, Miss Drake, is murdered things really start popping. The weapon used would tend to implicate Graham, but he loves his aunt. As she lay dying, she whispered a final message to Phoebe and that sets off a major treasure hunt.

Graham and Phoebe are trying to solve the riddles that will lead them to the treasure and solve Miss Drake’s murder at the same time. Are the two things connected? What about the strange behavior of Mr. and Mrs. Fagean? Daniel is also acting strangely. Secrets – secrets-within-secrets – how will they ever untangle this can of worms?

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, but I would have liked it just as well (or better) if some of the sub-plots were left out. It was just a very busy book. There was some very modern phraseology – like “How is that working for you”, but other than that it was a great mystery and a sweet love story combined. Goodness – I don’t think you can go wrong with that. The story also alluded to Phoebe’s parentage a couple of times, but never really finished it – so why include it at all?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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