Eyes of Justice

Title: Eyes of Justice
Author: Lis Wiehl
Series: Triple Threat
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: April 3, 2012
Pages: 320
————————————

Cassidy, Allison, and Nicole fight or justice every day, Cassidy as a crime reporter, Nicole with the FBI, and Allison as a federal prosecutor. Together they’ve dubbed themselves the Triple Threat and a force to be reckoned with. But, they’ve never faced a case so full of painful roads and dark alleys. They race to find the culprits to a friends murder before the killer decides to find them too.

After they find out that the police have a fellow cop in custody, some new evidence points to someone else and they’re determined to find him and bring him to justice. The Triple Threat women don’t know who to trust other than close friends and a new unexpected ally, a quirky private investigator named Ophelia. Together they start to engage in a deadly cat-and-mouse game that could leave them all dead.

As the killer gets closer to home with every day and closer to picking off the Triple Threat gang one by one, the Triple Threat also gets closer and closer to finding out who this mysterious person really is and his vendetta towards them. With a little help from friends and a lot of skill and badge pulling, they start connecting dots that were never meant to be noticed let alone be connected.

Will the Triple Threat gang be able to catch the killer before he gets to them or will they only see who he is with their last breath? Who is it? Is the killer someone they know or is it someone completely unrelated? Will the Triple Threat end up losing their jobs over nothing or will they catch the real killer before it’s too late?
—————————–

I haven’t read anything by this author before and was a little concerned that wouldn’t be able to read this book as a stand-alone. Thankfully, that wasn’t an issue. What was was the slow start and lack of realism as far as the jobs went. The characters seemed too keen on pulling rank and showing badges to get where and what they want. It seemed a little unrealistic and odd to me.

There definitely was a slow start to this book. It started out with a murder but dead end after dead end inhibited the story and crippled the end result. However, once the story picked up it never let up which is a perfect quality in a suspense/thriller novel. The author was fantastic at creating suspense and making the reader be put on the edge of their seats but I just wish that it had been through out the story and not just the second half.

The suspense was very suspenseful and thrilling and the author didn’t give very many clues as to who the murderer was making the guessing practically impossible and somewhat of a surprise, making it a huge plus for me. However, I think the way it was executed was a tad bit bland but the reasons the killer had for his murders were original and something that I haven’t really read before, but the premise of the story is a lot better than the actual story.

I felt that the characters lacked depth as well. One of their best friends was murdered and they cry and sob for the first half and then the second comes and nothing. The friend isn’t given much of a second thought and it was a huge letdown because of how close they supposedly were to each other. Also, there was an emotional gap between the women and any male in the women’s lives. Almost like they didn’t want them to know how they really feel. It was definitely strange considering one of them is married.

I’m sure this author is a good author, but I didn’t get to see it in this book. I may read more from tis author but I probably won’t jump at the opportunity. The only thing that saved this book was the suspenseful thrilled aspect in the book and even that was subpar in my opinion. I read so many books in this genre and because of that feel that book needs to be at it’s best for me to really like it. Unfortunately, this book didn’t really hit the mark for me, but maybe it will for you.

Overall, it’s an exciting thriller suspense but isn’t totally original in its execution and it can be boring due to the lack of action in the beginning and the lack of emotional connections between the characters. I recommend this book for fans of Lis Wiehl and for beginners in the genre. I give this book a two and a half out of five.

*I received this complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher though their Booksneeze blogger program. All opinions expressed are my own.*

Nick of Time

Today it’s going to be a review on Nick of Time by Tim Downs.
————————-
Nick Polchak, aka The Bug Man, is getting married to a woman that’s just as strange as he is, Alena Savard.
Alena is a dog trainer that people call. A witch because she trains her dogs by visual commands and not sound, and also because she lives on a mountain alone with thirty-seven dogs.
Just days before the wedding, Nick goes to a Vidocq meeting, a group of people that solve cold cases, and finds out his friend was killed. So he goes off on a search for the murderer and solve a mystery, all the while forgetting about his wife-to-be and forcing her to go searching for him.
Will he make it back for his own wedding or will he forget his bride at the altar? Will he solve his friends’ murder or will the murderer prevent him from finding anything?
—————–
I had never read a Tim Downs book let alone Bug Man series book, and at first I was repulsed with the thought of a guy that figures out murders by way of bugs. Ew, and his fiancé lives with thirty-seven dogs. So I had a hard time believing that I was going to like this book, but once the story got started and Nick got arrested, it changes it all.
I learned a lot, maybe more than I wanted, about bugs and where and what they do in and on a dead body.
The faith is pretty much nonexistent with only a pastor that is a close friend of Alena, but he never talks about his faith and that was a little disappointing.
No romance. Despite the fact that the couple is getting married, neither of them are very romantic people.
It had a very shocking twist in the story that is the entire ending so I can’t tell what happens, though I want to. It wasn’t at all what I suspected, but shockingly, I loved it nonetheless and thought it was believable.
Overall I loved this book and will definitely read more from Tim Downs. I’d give it four and a half out of five.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255