Review: Shadow of Suspicion by Christy Barritt

A computer expert, Lacey Ryan, is accused of child kidnapping and faces numerous attempts on her life.  Mark James,the detective investigating Lacey, moves from suspicion to a desire to prove her innocence. The novel covers the following:  deception on many levels, computer hacking, cyber-terrorism, and a complicated plan to entrap the female protagonist.  There is a bit of an Alias/Sydney Bristow/CIA/SD-6 situation going on in this story, but on a smaller scale. 

The novel takes place in the same universe as Mountain Hideaway (Trent McCabe’s and Tessa Jones’s story), and Dark Harbor (Zach Davis’ and Madelyn Sawyer’s story), which were both also written by Christy Barritt.  In fact, readers are given a look into the post-nuptial life of Trent and Tessa, however, Zach is given just a passing mention.

There was enough mystery and suspense for me to wonder about what was going on.  I had a bit of a Scooby Doo experience:  I wasn’t able to guess who all the culprits were before the end, and needed the debriefing to discover how deep the conspiracy against Lacey was.  

It’s also a quick read; I was able to finish the book in less than two hours in one sitting.  If you are looking for a quick mystery to occupy yourself for an afternoon, and you enjoy a touch of romance, Shadow of Suspicion might be the book for you.

Review: Perfect Alibi by Melody Carlson

I've been away for two months.

Two words.

Writer's block.

I found it difficult to get myself to sit down in front of a computer to write a review, so I finally did it the old fashioned way.  I wrote using a notebook and pen, away from the computer, and I was able to get something down on paper.

Anyways, I'm back with a review of a Love Inspired Romantic Suspense novel titled, Perfect Alibi, by Melody Carlson, who has written over 200 books.  I've reviewed one of her previous books, Trading Secrets, which was a young adult novel, but she also writes for older audiences.

In Perfect Alibi, Mallory Myers, a young Portland journalist, flees to her hometown of Clover.  She is trying to escape the nightmarish discovery in her apartment where she found the body of her best friend, Kestra.  Kestra had been murdered there and Mallory fears that she is next.  Mallory is certain that she knows who the murderer is:  her ex-boyfriend, Brock Dennison, a popular news-anchor of a Portland television station.  When she voices her suspicions to the police, she faces disbelief and skepticism.  Instead, she comes to realize that she is considered to be the primary suspect for Kestra's murder. 

On top of that, Mallory is still receiving death threats, which started when she first broke up with Brock.  The threats follow her to Clover.  No one believes in Mallory's innocence because everyone thinks that she is making up the threats in order to throw off suspicions from herself.   

The exception is Fire Chief Logan McDaniel, one of Mallory's former high school classmates.  He had been interested in her romantically in the past, but hadn't acted on his attraction then.  His protective instincts are roused when he sees the threats made against Mallory.  The threatening texts indicate that her harasser is physically nearby and is able to find Mallory even when she is supposedly in seclusion. 

Brock Dennison has the perfect alibi.  How could he have murdered Kestra when he was on the air, delivering that evening's newscast?  It also doesn't make sense that Brock could be the author of the threatening texts when he is Portland, which is located three hours away from Clover. 

Will Mallory and Logan be able to expose Kendra's real murderer and prove Mallory's innocence?  Will Logan be able to protect Mallory from being killed next?  Is Mallory trying to deceive everyone so that she can get away with murder? 

I thought that the novel was okay.  The female and male protagonists were both believers, and they didn't seem to be suffering crises of faith.  The conflict seemed to be more about whether Mallory could prove her innocence to the the rest of the world, including to Logan, who found himself doubting her every once in a while.  Perfect Alibi is a basic inspirational, romantic suspense novel with believing protagonists, and I didn't think that either of the central characters experienced huge development or growth in their faith after their adventures concluded. 

As with Love Inspired's practice, the Bible verse inscribed on one of the first few pages of this novel reads, "Be gracious to me, O God...for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by."  (Psalm 57:1 NASB)  The verse describes what Mallory must do in order to get through the circumstances that she finds herself in.

I found the book to be entertaining, and enjoyed the ride that I had with Mallory and Logan in Perfect Alibi.  I would probably read more of Ms. Carlson's romantic suspense novels in the future.

Review: Countdown to Danger - with Hannah Alexander and Jill Elizabeth Nelson

The month of January saw Harlequin's Love Inspired Historical line with two stories set in the Regency era, so I made plans to purchase those two books.  However, I did pick them up from Walmart Canada, which offers three Harlequin books for $15 as opposed to buying the titles for $6.75 each.  This is how I ended up choosing Countdown to Danger, a Love Inspired Suspense novel as my third choice to take advantage of the $15 deal. 

Countdown to Danger contains two novellas, Alive After New Year, by Hannah Alexander, and New Year's Target,by Jill Elizabeth Nelson.  I have read and enjoyed some of Ms. Nelson's previous work such as Witness to Murder, which I really loved, Evidence of Murder, which takes place in the same universe as Witness to Murder, and Calculated Revenge. 

Hannah Alexander is a pseudonym for a wife and husband writing team, Cheryl and Mel Hodde.  Their biographical blurb in the book sounded interesting; apparently she was ambushed into a blind date with him by their pastor, and upon finding out that Mel was a doctor, asked him if he could help her paralyze someone.  That was when she revealed to him that she was writing a novel.  Since then, they have co-written a number of novels, one of which had won a Christy Award for Best Romance in 2004. 

In Alive After New Year, Lynley Marshall, a triage nurse, has her life threatened through a message conveyed by an anonymous note, unless her family forks over a large amount of money to keep her safe from harm.  John Russell, the new police chief with whom Lynley has developed a friendship with, thinks that something is off about the note.  There is a genuine threat against Lynley's life; the events that follow demonstrate that she is in danger, but the obvious suspects that the note seems to point to do not make sense to him.  While they are wracking their brains to discover who the real culprits are, both Lynley and John must work through issues that keep them from taking their platonic friendship to a romantic one.  Lynley, who had been through a divorce from a man who was unfaithful, is reluctant to make herself vulnerable to another man, and John, a widower, is still trying to heal from the loss of his wife to cancer and feels guilt at the thought of finding new love with another woman. 

With some mystery and suspense stories, sometimes I am able to guess who the villain is early on, but I didn't with this one, although hints are given through the pacing of the plot and the number of chapters and pages remaining after each revelation of who the guilty party might be.  The one quibble that I have with this novella is that there were some acronyms or abbreviations related to medicine or law enforcement that I was not familiar with, which may be common knowledge for those who live in the United States.   However, those items were few and far in between, so it didn't detract much from my enjoyment of this story.

In New Year's Target, Seattle detective Cassidy Ferris is shot at while going down a ski run in Aspen, Colorado.  Her rescuer is Tim Halstead, her childhood nemesis.  He's a legal aid attorney who is now situated in San Franscisco.  New Year's Target is a bit of a Romeo and Juliet story, except Juliet really doesn't like Romeo even though she is attracted to him.  Besides the personal enmity between Cassidy and Tim,  there has been bad blood between the Ferris and Halstead families since the death of Cassidy's cousin, Francine.  Francine died in a fire caused by a short in a faulty electrical box while living in a tenement building owned by the Halsteads. 

Tim has always had a crush on Cassidy since they were kids, but didn't know how to show it appropriately and ended up tormenting her instead.  Now that they are reunited as adults, he vacillates back and forth over wanting to be near her or desiring to give her space, recognizing that their past history may be something that can never be overcome.  However, they continue to be thrown together in Aspen when it becomes clear that Cassidy is not the only one whose life is being threatened; Tim's life is endangered as well.  With death threats and danger escalating against them, Cassidy and Tim must work together to find out who is behind the attacks. 

I found the villain to be a little bit over the top and one dimensional when we finally discover who this person is.  However, with the limitations of a novella, there isn't room for more development of this character.  We get exposed to much of this person's evil all at once for the climax of the story, although we read allusions to it earlier on.  What I really liked about this story was the romantic tension between Cassidy and Tim.  I liked the quick pacing and development of this story, and between Alive After New Year, and New Year's Target, I enjoyed the latter more, although the former was a good story too.