Books for Christian Girls: "Critical Threat" by Lynette Eason

About this book:

  “FBI Special Agent Grace Billingsley tracks serial killers, using her skills as a psychiatrist and behavioral analyst to get dangerous people off the street and safely behind bars. But prison psychiatrist Sam Monroe knows that just because a killer is incarcerated doesn't mean they're not a threat. His own father, Peter, is a serial killer--in prison but certainly not out of Sam's life, as much as he wishes he was.
   When bodies start showing up with Peter's MO, Sam and Grace are both called in to consult. They've met before--and though Grace thought they'd made a real connection, Sam ghosted her. They'll have to get past the awkwardness and mistrust to solve this case--especially because it's about to get personal.”

Series: Book #3 in the “Extreme Measures” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here! And Book #2 Here!

Spiritual Content- John 3:16-17 at the beginning; The killer leaves a Scripture with each victim (Proverbs 10:31); Prayers; Going to a hospital chapel; Talks about God, witnessing, faiths, & how Grace and Sam’s faiths seep into their work; A discussion about the very beginning of time where there was good vs evil (the serpent in Eden), people’s choices, & if they’re truly remorseful over their actions, God will forgive them; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of those & events in the Bible; Mentions of witnessing, faiths, & how it influences Grace & Sam’s jobs and how they interact with others; Mentions of churches & church going; A few mentions of Christians/believers; A couple mentions of a cross tattoo with a Scripture; A mention of thanking God; A mention of being Blessed; A mention of God not calling someone to be a nun;
             *Note: Mentions of evil; Mentions of people believing in reincarnation & New Age things; A couple mentions of a brother elevating his sister to goddess status and worshiping her; A mention of the killer thinking that the “gods are smiling” on him; A mention of Sam wanting to find out what his father was lacking in his brain to become a serial killer (wondering if it was a chemical thing, a spiritual thing, or something else); A mention of the killer saying family members tried to turn him into a “religious nut” like them.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘wimp’, two ‘duh’s, two ‘gah’s, two ‘idiot’s, three ‘heck’s, four ‘shut up’s, eight ‘dumb’s, and thirteen ‘stupid’s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Seeing a death happen & dead bodies (up to semi-detailed); Almost being hit by a car, almost drowning, being locked in a car underwater, being kidnapped (x2), being held at gun-point and knife-point, gunfire, being threatened, being hit, fighting, pain, & injuries (up to semi-detailed); Being threatened, shooting (in self-defense), & a break-in/intruder (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a hostage situation, someone stabbed, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); The killer starts to stalk Grace; In the opening chapter, we see the killer’s POV and him thinking that killing isn’t a game, but a very serious business to him (only kills those that he deems “weren’t innocent” and “the ones who deserved what they had coming”, and that he chooses how they die to because he wants the innocent to be protected); Grace has to put herself in the perspective of the serial killer & try to figure out details about him and his motives by doing that (up to semi-detailed); Sam’s father is in prison for being a serial killer & because of it, Sam and his kids took his ex-wife’s last name; Grace has a panic attack (lasts a few sentences and not detailed); All about many, many mentions of sociopaths, serial killers, some not thinking that what they are doing is wrong (but doing justice and protecting innocent people), deaths, murders, how they happened (shooting, stabbing, etc.), victims (including teen girls and older women), the victims fighting, kidnappings and the killer locking the them up, bodies, finding bodies (including ones missing an organ and body parts), crimes, crime scenes, criminals, arrests, prisons, & prisoners (up to semi-detailed to bluntly detailed); Many mentions of copycat serial killers, them looking up to other killers, & their MOs (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of divorces (Sam is divorced, has during the week custody of his 17- and 12-year-old children, and not the best relationship with his ex-wife but does not bash their mother (a mention of them screaming at each other prior to the divorce)); Mentions of a lot of serial killers having mental illnesses; Mentions of the killer handcuffing someone to a car & then driving off a dock leaving them to possibly drown (*Spoiler* Grace *End of Spoiler*, semi-detailed); Mentions of others being shot, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of hostage situations, threatening to kill someone, holding someone at knife-point, a stabbing, blood/bleeding, injuries, & a death (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of autopsies (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of the victims and others kidnapped being drugged; Mentions of stealing & stolen cars and items; Mentions of a break-in & intruder; Mentions of juvie *Spoiler* Grace went to juvie twice, once for truancy and the second time was for smoking weed *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of child abuse and neglect, domestic abuse, abusers, someone being abused by a relative (not said what kind of abuse), & CPS taking the kids away; Mentions of bars, smoking weed, drugs, rehab, addictions, drug addicts, getting high, hallucinating, & people overdosing (quite a bit of slang/phrases are used when referring to all of this, *Spoiler* Grace’s brother and he overdoses, but Grace administers Narcan; Their parents blame Grace for his addiction because she gave him his first joint when he was fifteen *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of brainwashing; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of hatred; Mentions of throwing up & vomit; A few mentions of parents arguing & the husband pulling a gun on his wife and her dying from a gunshot; A few mentions of inmates killing guards, orderlies, & other inmates; A few mentions of nightmares; A couple mentions of a car accident & deaths; A couple mentions of a suicide; A couple mentions of a mentally ill man killing an orderly that made a pass at his sister; A couple mentions of PTSD; A couple mentions of a movie about robbing a bank; A couple mentions of alcohol & drinking; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of blackmail; A mention of someone having a good childhood (not abandoned by his mother or abused like a lot of other serial killers);
             *Note: Mentions of Apple products (iPad, AirPods, FaceTime); A few mentions of Uber; A couple mentions of a movie (Going in Style); A couple mentions of IKEA; A couple mentions of Harley motorcycles; A couple mentions of a car brand; A mention of a brand item (K-Cup).

Sexual Content- Two forehead/head kisses, a cheek kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, and border-line semi-detailed // detailed kiss; Recalling/remembering kisses (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to kiss someone (barely-above-not-detailed); Touches, Warmth, (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple Blushes; Noticing; Mentions of wives leaving their husbands & affairs (*Spoiler* one being that Sam was told over the years that his mother left their family & another being Sam’s wife leaving him for another man and Sam not telling their children that that was the reason for their divorce (the wife felt no guilt for sleeping with his best friend and the children noticed the other man being around a lot) *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of dating, dates, boyfriends, & being interested in someone; A few mentions of a kiss; A couple mentions of an abusive boyfriend (said to be “in the brainwashing way”); A mention of jealousy; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;
             *Note: Mentions of female puberty & emotions; A mention of a young woman’s shirt showing her midsection; A mention of a father setting parental controls are set on his daughter’s phone so that she doesn’t “access certain things that can be harmful for girls [her age]”.

-Grace Billingsley
-Sam Monroe, age 39 (?)
                                P.O.V. switches between them & the killer (x6)
                                                        304 pages

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Pre Teens-

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Early High School Teens-

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My personal Rating-

{Add a full star for older girls interested in this field}

After really enjoying the prior book in this series, “Crossfire”, I was hopeful that I would enjoy this one as well due to Grace’s job with the FBI. I think this maybe my first suspense book with a main character being a behavioral analyst and those parts were really interesting. Grace was super level-headed and because of her education and personality, she views situations different than most Romantic Suspense Female Leads I’ve read and it was really refreshing. I know she should be level-headed in her career, but it was nice to see that and also how she didn’t get offended by anything. I liked her a lot, especially with her discussion about how everyone has choices since The Fall and how that correlates to the criminals and killers she analyses.

I don’t really have many thoughts on Sam, he was fine. Both him and Grace were very fleshed-out characters with very distinct personalities. I will say that the timing of the first kiss really annoyed me. Annoyed me to pieces, actually. Especially since when he snapped out of it, he realized how it was terrible timing. But elsewise, the romance was fine, in my opinion for me.

I did had a nagging feeling about who the killer was and ended up being correct. Which makes me wonder if I should work in this field or was it just a bit too obvious? Hmm. Things to ponder.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the second book, but that was because Julianna was just the best. I did like it more than the first and also found it to be much less creepier than that book. Probably still not the best read for those sensitive to serial killer plots or such topics, though. ;)

See y’all on Friday with a new review!