Author: Barbara

Avid reader/reviewer of historical romance and historical mysteries.

Enigma by Catherine Coulter

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, MysteryLeave a comment

Enigma (FBI Thriller, #21)Enigma by Catherine Coulter

Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: FBI Thriller #21
Publication Date: 9/12/17

Be prepared for drama and action as the FBI’s CAU division deals with a medical megalomaniac and a mastermind killer who shows no mercy. The twenty-first book in the series is just as strong, thrilling, suspenseful and intriguing as the first twenty. These villains aren’t quite as twisted as some of them have been, but they still provide you with a shiver down the spine. Coulter chose not to use Savich’s ‘special’ gift in this book and I wonder if she’s decided to move away from that angle.

I love that you almost always get multiple cases in one book and this one has two. Both are interesting, but very different and the agents involved are also different and interesting.

Case 1 provides the name for the book – Enigma. When Dillon Savich’s friend, Dr. Janice Hudson, calls him to hurry over because she thinks her friend and neighbor is in trouble, he finds a mad man holding the neighbor hostage. The man has the neighbor, Kara Moody, duct taped to a chair and he’s raving about saving her from ‘them’ and screaming that he is an enigma. The madman ends up in a coma and Kara goes into labor. When Kara’s baby is stolen from the hospital and an attempt is made on the madman’s life the FBI goes into high gear trying to find the baby and figure out the connection between the madman, Kara and the baby. The answer will intrigue and astound you.

Case 2 has agents Cam Wittier and Jack Cabot tracking down an escaped robber and murderer, Liam Hennessey, aka Manta Ray. The escape was perfectly planned and executed, but how could the prisoner have possibly coordinated such a plan when he’d had no visitors except his lawyer? The answer to that leads you to blackmail at the highest levels of government as well as murder and intrigue. Hennessey escapes into a forest in Kentucky and then escapes the forest by helicopter. There must be someone rich and powerful helping Hennessey, but who can it be and why would they be interested in helping a robber and murderer escape?

Weaving back and forth between the two storylines, multiple intriguing characters and diverse locations will keep you turning pages as fast as you can to see what happens next. It is definitely a must read!

“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”

About Catherine Coulter:
Catherine Coulter is the New York Times bestselling author of over 75 books. Her hugely popular FBI thrillers include The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh House, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take, Tail Spin, Knockout, Whiplash, Split Second, Backfire, Bombshell, Power Play and Nemesis. She has a new international thriller series — A Brit in the FBI — co-written with JT Ellison. These include The Final Cut, The Lost Key and The End Game. Also now available is the first in her novella series, starring Grayson Sherbrooke (from the Sherbrooke historical romance series), titled The Strange Visitation at Wolffe Hall.

 

 

When The Scoundrel Sins by Anna Harrington

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

RELEASE PARTY! Please join the Facebook release party on 8/29 from 7pm EST – 10pm EST. There will be all kinds of contests, guest authors stopping by, and other fun things. See you there! ow.ly/enDr30e1v4y 

When the Scoundrel Sins (Capturing the Carlisles, #2)When the Scoundrel Sins by Anna Harrington

Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Capturing the Carlisles #2
Publication Date: 08/29/17

Harrington’s excellent writing coupled with sizzling chemistry and a bit of humor make for a great read – even while you want to shake both the hero and heroine until their teeth rattle.

Our heroine is Annabelle Green. Her father is a convicted thief and her mother was a housekeeper. She knew brutality and deprivation before her mother passed away and she became the ‘ward’ of Lord and Lady Ainsley when she was still very young. You’ll find out how that came about toward the end of the book. She was raised as a lady – except she wasn’t one. Lord and Lady Ainsley decided she should have a London season and hoped for a great match and they couldn’t understand why she was basically shunned. Well DUH! She was the low-born daughter of a thief – what did they expect. So, of course, there was a scandal at her very first ball. It wasn’t her fault – but it was a scandal nonetheless. In order to protect her, Lord Ainsley left the estate she had always lived on to her in his will – but she had to marry by her 25th birthday in order to inherit. Annabelle doesn’t want to marry but the will seems to be unbreakable, so it is either marry or lose the home she loves.

Quinn Carlisle is the third son of a Duke and his parents were a love match. He has vowed to never fall in love because he saw how his mother suffered after his father died in an accident. I do have to say that Quinn is not my favorite hero. I thought he came across as very selfish, self-centered and uncaring. Quinn doesn’t see any way he can stand on his own and be respected for who he is and what he has accomplished without leaving England, so he is on his way to America. He has totally forgotten that he caused the scandal that ruined Annabelle – and never even saw it as his fault (see selfish, self-centered and uncaring comment above).

Lady Ainsley has raised Annabelle since she was a small child and loves her like a daughter. Quinn is Lady Ainsley’s nephew, so he and Annabelle were around each other a lot as children. Lady Ainsley decides that Quinn needs to help find Annabelle a husband before her birthday since he is the one who caused the scandal in the first place.

I hope you will give this book a try. I think you’ll like it – even though you’ll want to give both the hero and heroine a good spanking before you are through reading it. That is just the mark of a writer and plot that pulls you into the story – if they weren’t good, you wouldn’t feel anything.

“I requested and received this book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”