“FBI Special Agent Lincoln St. John is living his own personal nightmare. When the woman he loves, Allison Radcliffe, is killed, he devotes his life to tracking down the killers and making them pay for their crimes. He expected it to be a challenge. What he never expected was to find Allison very much alive shortly after her "murder." As his anger and hurt mix with relief, Linc isn't sure how he's supposed to feel. One thing he does know for sure: he and Allison will have to work together to stop a killer before she dies a second time--this time for good.”
Series: Book #4 in the “Blue Justice” series. Reviews of Book #1 Here!, #2 Here!, and #3 Here! There are also two connecting novellas that have not been reviewed yet.
Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted & remembered; Prayers; Talks about God, peace, & justice; 'H's are not capital when referring to God; Both Allie & Linc are believers; Allie wonders if God has gotten tired of her whining about finding a killer & is ignoring her; Mentions of God, faiths, & discussions; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; A few mentions of praying that someone becomes a believer; A few mentions of church going, a pastor, & sermon; A few mentions of a church camp & giving your life to God; A couple mentions of Vacation Bible School & a song; A mention of a miracle;
*Note: A few mentions of evil & someone being evil; A mention of the afterlife (said by someone who isn’t a believer).
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘heck’, an ‘idiot’, a ‘what in the blazes’, a ‘wimp’, two ‘shut up’s, and twelve ‘stupid’s; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Eye rolling & Sarcasm; Seeing deaths & people shot and killed (up to semi-detailed); Explosions, Fighting (self-defense), Being kidnapped, Jumping out of a moving car, Gunfire, Shooting, Being shot at, Being shot, Being drugged, Pain, Injuries, Passing out, Blood/bleeding, & Lancing a wound (up to detailed); Seeing someone tortured (up to semi-detailed); Watching a news report from a man whose wife is missing (grief apparent, up to semi-detailed); Grief (for a family & for loved ones, up to semi-detailed); Nightmares (barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler* Allie’s father and little sister were killed when an assassin broke into their house, her mother committed suicide after Allie had physically healed and Allie wants to find the killer to gain closure once and for all; *Major Spoiler* The shooter was Allie’s half-brother who felt betrayed and jealous and does not feel guilty at all *End of Spoilers* (recalling all of this and the trauma, up to semi-detailed); Allie doesn’t want to go with the lie that she died in an explosion, but is told it’s the best option; Allie nearly kills a murderer when given the choice (up to semi-detailed); A villain knocks someone out (semi-detailed); A villain images punching a teenager and causing them to scream before killing her (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed); All about many mentions of the Russian mafia, assassins, murderers, murders, deaths, bodies, weapons, possibly being killed, being shot at, gunfire, injuries, pain, & blood/bleeding (including a child being murdered, all up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a teen girl watching her father commit murders; Mentions of allergic reactions (hornets/bees & a medication) & deaths; Mentions of kidnappings, hostages, torture, & being tortured for information; Mentions of a beating & having to get plastic surgery because of the damage (*Spoiler* Allie *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of criminals, crimes, & crime scenes; Mentions of prison & arrests; Mentions of stealing & break-ins; Mentions of explosions & assumed deaths (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of blackmail & threats (including threatening to kidnap and harm children); Mentions of drugs, being drugged, & being high; Mentions of alcohol & drunks; Mentions of lies, lying, liars, & deception; Mentions of nightmares; Mentions of grief (for a loved one & for a partner); Mentions of throwing up; A few mentions of a loved one committing suicide; A few mentions of an abusive father (physically, Allie’s, barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of using something a bad guy is afraid of to lure him out (snakes, bees, etc.); A few mentions of hunting (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of hatred; A few mentions of rumors; A few mentions of cheating at a card game; A couple mentions of a car wreck & death; A couple mentions of married couples fighting; A mention of a criminal possibly killing himself to avoid capture; A mention of death row; A mention of terrorism; A mention of a teenager running away from home;
*Note: Mentions of a villain having OCD tendencies & a mother being undiagnosed bipolar; Mentions of a teen girl feeling like she’s a worthless girl to her father (he cares more for his son); Mentions of brand names & restaurants (ChapStick, Coke, Sprite, iPad, Phase 10, Outback, & Steak ‘n Shake); A few mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of Uber; A mention of Dropbox.
Sexual Content- Nuzzling and kissing another’s ear (acting a part, up to semi-detailed), a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, and four semi-detailed kisses; Touches, Embraces, Warmth, Nearness (up to semi-detailed); Blushes; Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Linc helps Allie put cream on her stitches on her back (not overly sexual, barely-above-not-detailed); *Spoiler* There is a man who has been obsessed with Allie and kidnaps her expecting that with time, she will love him; He tries to mess with her shirt to view her injury but gets touchy and later gets very upset when she pulls away from him *End of Spoiler*; Mentions of kisses, kissing, & married couples kissing; A few mentions of an affair; A few mentions of dating; A couple mentions of possible cameras in a bathroom; A couple mentions of touches (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of Allie being concerned about something inappropriate going on between a teenager and a forty-year-old man (there was nothing, though); A couple mentions of dances & crushes; A mention of a kissing couple being told to “get a room”; A mention of a boyfriend; Love, falling/being in love, & the emotions;
*Note: A mention of a shirtless man (not sexual).
-Allison “Allie” Radcliffe, age 29
-Lincoln “Linc” St. John
P.O.V. switches between them & a couple others (x3)
307 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
{ Add up to a full star for Older High School Teens interested in law enforcement }
This was an interesting and different Romantic Suspense novel!
Allie and Linc didn’t play by the book in their hunt of the bad guy—it was different though because of that and I liked that aspect—but because of them not playing by the rules of their FBI jobs, some parts felt unbelievable or like they would get fired so fast when it’s revealed what they’ve done. But it’s fiction, so, of course, it all works out. Because of them going on their own, though, they didn’t feel professional. Which I feel bad saying because I liked that it was different than the norm, but it felt off at the same time? Or is that because I’m unconsciously comparing it to the norm? Hmm, thoughts to ponder.
The pacing of this one was different. Linc finds out Allie is alive fairly quick at only 60 pages in—which is obviously good for his sake and we don’t see a lot of grieving on his part, but I didn’t know what would exactly happen next. I did call two of twists in the story early on and was honestly disappointed about it. I went back and forth not believing how they didn’t pick up on certain clues and trying to show them grace because of all the craziness that’s happening to them.
This book (really the last 30%) gave me anxiety. There were some poorly timed romance parts (kisses and confessions) throughout the book, but the romance parts overall still felt lighter than I was expecting. They both were very focused on their mission of catching the bad guy (more so Allie) which I liked. I would say it was probably 70/30 on the suspense/romance elements.
It looks like two of the St. John siblings, Ruthie and Derek, both have their own stories in novella collections, so I will have to check those out soon.
See y’all on Friday with a new review!
*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.
