In the ninth romantic suspense novel in the New York Times bestselling Tracers series, author Laura Griffin brings back her elite cadre of forensic experts as they hunt down the most brutal serial killer yet.
Special Agent Tara Rushing arrives at a grisly murder scene and quickly discovers she’s got a serial killer on her hands. The killer is meticulous, making sure to wipe up even the smallest traces of evidence…but the Delphi Center experts are on the case.
The local sheriff has a suspect all picked out—ex-Marine and current security expert Liam Wolfe. Despite all her digging, Tara knows very little about Liam when she shows up at his sprawling Texas compound, which serves as headquarters for Wolfe Securities, and she’s surprised by her intense physical reaction to him.
As she and Liam grow closer, Tara finds herself depending on his skills and expertise to help her track a killer. But when another body turns up, Tara must decide if she can trust the man who’s quickly stealing her heart.
Laura Griffin is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty books and novellas. She is a two-time RITA Award winner, as well as the recipient of the Daphne du Maurier Award. Laura got her start in journalism before venturing into the world of suspense fiction. Her books have been translated into fourteen languages. Laura lives in Austin, Texas, where she is working on her next novel. Series: * Texas Murder Files * Tracers * Wolfe Security * Alpha Crew * Moreno and Hart Mysteries * Glass Sisters * The Borderline
FBI Special Agent Tara Rushing is directed to a crime scene where the mutilated body of a woman was found in the woods near Dunn’s Landing. Security consultant Liam Wolf comes under suspicion immediately but is less than cooperative with Tara and local law enforcement who are in charge of the investigation. However, it soon becomes apparent that a serial killer may be at work. And, Tara and Liam complicate matters with their strong attraction to each other.
The investigation is the heart of the story as there were plenty of clues and as many red herrings. I went down a few wrong paths with only a passing interest in the real culprit but I should have been able to figure it out. It was a really good mystery. I also liked Tara and Liam’s relationship, even with all the subterfuge between them. One thing that I’m not so happy with is the author’s tendency to design her female law enforcement characters as highly insecure. Tara was highly skilled and accomplished and all that second guessing about herself and angst just didn’t fit. I hope it ends with Tara.
Overall, I enjoyed the story because of the suspense and the difficulty in solving the crimes. The ending was exciting (as usual) and the tracers were again an essential component of the storyline. Still enjoying this series.
With a master’s touch, Griffin delivers yet another great addition to the Tracers series. Captivating and completely engrossing are the main characters Tara and Liam. With each clue, revelation, and obstacle I was immersed in this world of serial killer and law enforcement.
The happenings here are ripped from the headlines and prove to be incredibly difficult to put down once you open the cover of Shadow Fall.
Smart, yet weathered and exhausted is special agent Tara Rushing. She has a chip the size of Texas on her shoulder as she tries to solve this case while still reeling from her previous one. She meets the dry yet absolutely captivating security expert Liam Wolfe. From the moment they meet you just know that they will be a force to be reckoned with.
Feeling blocked by local law enforcement while trying to head a task force is no easy feat. Tara must take chances and make decisions to bring a killer to heel before more women turn up dead.
Smart, compelling, and brilliantly written: Shadow Fall is a force all its own proving that this series just keeps getting better.
The Tracers series by Laura Griffin is a pretty consistent romantic suspense series. I was really in the mood for a gritty, creepy, serial killer story and Laura Griffin delievered.
Special Agent Tara Rushing gets asked by her boss to investigate a gruesome murder in Texas. From that area, she isn't sure why her boss picked her and another female agent for this crime, but Tara puts on her big girl pants and gets to work. The scene is not a pretty one. A female was found gutted in the woods. Preliminary findings point to the fact that this woman was probably killed before she was sliced open and that it is most likely a woman who recently ran for a public office, and who had polarizing views. The local sherif office is one of those, good ole' boy groups, who don't look too kindly to Tara who tries to take over the operation. When another set of bones is found near the first crime scene, Tara starts to realize this might be the work of a serial killer.
Liam Wolfe is a former marine who now does personal security/bodyguard work. Liam owns a lot wooded land and the bodies have been discovered on his property. He was hired by the first victim to be her bodyguard during the election, but had not spoken to her for some time. When she turns up dead on his property, Liam becomes a suspect until his alibi can be vetted. Liam is a very intense, quiet man. Well built, deadly with a weapon and he takes his body-guard job very, very seriously. He made me tingle.
Liam trains and hires a lot of former military, police-type people and Tara thinks Liam is the key to unlocking the killer - if only he would cooperate. Of course he doesn't but Tara is extremely stubborn and won't give up.
Laura Griffin does an amazing job setting the scene. She gives such a detailed analysis of the crime without it ever getting boring. Between Tara's job as a FBI agent, all of the crew at the very fancy Delphi crime lab, and Liam, who is a former marine and now body-guard - I could picture every last detail she gave us. She dives deep into dna and examining bones that have been buried for months. She analyzes how a serial killer's mind might work. I felt like so much care was taken to write this story and it really impressed me. The murder storyline is very engaging.
Did I want Liam and Tara to have a bigger romance? Yes, but that is just not going to happen in a Laura Griffin book. The romance is there, but it's in the background. Of course, they are investigating a serial killer so I didn't want Tara and Liam frolicking in the woods and boinking like bunnies. So I'll take your understated romance this time.
It's hard for me to find really well done suspense, and Griffin is always someone I can turn to. Fun read.
This book was AMAZING! Right from page 1, the author had me engaged and captivated.
I love Liam and Tara's character's!
I was on the edge of my seat the whole time trying to figure out who the killer was, and I was shocked as hell [but the author also left enough clues] when the killer was finally revealed.
Wonderfully written, and excellent character development!
This is probably my favorite book in the "Tracer' series! Kudos to Ms. Griffin!
"A copy of this book has been provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review."
This is the kind of book that keeps bringing me back to the Tracers series over and over again. It was a great combination of mystery, suspense and romance, with characters I really enjoyed.
Another great read by this author! It had me a bit confused at times with all of the technical stuff and the amount of players I had to keep straight, but I loved Tara & Liam!
Laura Griffin's writing makes me want to toss everything else aside and binge read the rest of this series. Not only is she a master at setting up a complex criminal investigation, but she also manages to inject just the right amount of romance. It's the best of both worlds - nonstop suspense and an addictive love story.
It's the body of a woman found gutted and dumped in the woods that brings Tara, an FBI investigator, to a small town in Texas to assist the local authorities. What makes things even more chilling, they know the killer is out there just watching and waiting to make his next move. The evidence leads Tara to Liam initially, but it's something else entirely that keeps pulling them back together. The bevy of plot twists, the tension, the great chemistry and the strong characters made it almost impossible for me to tear my eyes away.
Tara was a great character. Definitely one of my favorites in this book. Despite her fear of being vulnerable and her sense of loneliness, she was such a strong woman. She held her own in a field dominated by men and I had to respect that. Even if she put herself in some pretty risky situations to follow a lead. But if she hadn’t, she might not have followed her instincts and ended up on Liam’s doorstep. What a happy surprise that turned out to be. I loved Liam and Tara together.
I swear Laura Griffin's men are perfection. I don't know who wouldn't love Liam. He's gorgeous, smart, self-made and extremely protective. The best part, he never ever let his ego get in the way. And he was so patient, clear-headed and supportive of Tara. His actions at the end kind of confused me at first, but it turned out that he handled things just the way he needed to. It forced Tara to make a move and made for a pretty great ending.
Shadow Fall by Laura Griffin reminded me of the TV series Criminal Minds. In Shadow Fall, Special Agent Tara Rushing is heading a special task force hunting for a serial killer.
Shadow Fall was a lot of fun to read. There's lots of forensic stuff, lots of turf wars between local authorities and the FBI, and a hot love interest. What I liked most about this book was that I never quite knew who the killer was and I kept guessing wrong.
The last third of the book is action packed, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Can't wait to read more books by Laura Griffin.
Thank you to NetGalley and Pocket Books for a review copy of this book.
ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
A sexy romantic suspense thriller that will have you on the edge of your seats!! In this 9th installment of The Tracer Series, Laura Griffin hooks her readers once again in her newest release, Shadow Falls.
Shadow Falls is a hair-raising and riveting suspense thriller that will have you gasping and holding onto your breath as you delve deep as FBI Special Agent Tara Rushing tries to solve a case of grisly homicides. When Tara is assigned to the homicide of a female politician, she immerses herself fully to the case trying to find the killer. Soon Tara and her partner, MJ finds similarities with their homicide case that are closely related to other Jane Doe murders. All Jane Doe cases shows signs that a serial killer is on the lose and targeting unsuspecting females. As Tara investigates further, she realizes that her deceased politician was a client to a former ex-Marine, Liam Wolfe, who now runs a private security firm.
In order to catch the killer, she finds herself getting close to Liam Wolfe. She uses his expertise in military knowledge as he teaches her how to track down the killer. As they continue to get close, they soon find themselves developing feels for one another. As Tara gets closer to finding the killer, she soon finds herself doubting her trust with Liam when another body turns up. Evidence points that these homicides are happening near the vicinity of Liam's private security training campground. The pressure is on Tara and her partner MJ to find the serial killer before another grisly murder occurs. Tara must now decide if Liam worthy of her trust.
Shadow Fall was just perfection!!! Laura Griffin did an amazing job with the sexy suspenseful thriller. The writing was phenomenal and engaging!!! This book had it all from romance, suspense and mystery. Reading this book was like watching a movie or crime TV show unfold before your eyes. If you are fans of those CSI and FBI shows, then this book is for you. I loved that Ms. Griffin made this book so thrilling and had readers like myself glued to the pages. So if you are looking for a sexy, suspenseful nail-biting thriller that will have you on the edge of your seats as you await the identity of the serial killer then Shadow Fall is the book for you!!! A real pager turner and must read!!!!
Romantic suspense lovers with a particular captivation for CSI forensics style crime tracking skills will be be sitting on the edge of their seats to finish Shadow Fall! One note of warning though, for romantic suspense lovers who thrive on the passion or romance angle of the read, please note that the emphasis in this novel is on the action-packed suspense driven plot.
For those of you who are wondering whether Shadow Fall can be read as a standalone, this being my first Tracers' Series novel, I can honestly say that it stands completely on its own as both the specific criminal, which is the focus of the suspense, and the romance is fully contained with the book. All that said, my curiousity has now been piqued to challenge my sleuthing skills with prior Tracers novels! The suspense angle of this series is that spell binding!
Special FBI Agent Tara Rushing receives the typical share of resistance from the local authorities in the small town in Texas that she is sent to to investigate a high profile murder of a former political hopeful. Found brutally mutilated in the woods, the female victim, who at one time was the client of former marine, turned security expert, entrepreneur, Liam Wolfe, is the kind of high profile case that can't be ignored. After a little digging, however, it becomes clear to Tara that they have something much bigger than just a single homicide. Instead, they are undoubtedly looking at the work of a serial killer who is in the process of escalating his attacks.
Moreover, the serial killer is no novice to the law. Clearly, they are dealing with a government or law trained professional who knows exactly how to wipe all evidence traces. The local authorities, led by their sheriff, have their own suspicions, and Liam Wolff is at the top of their suspect list.
Tara, however, is not so convinced. Moreover, what she feels when she's near Liam is something altogether different: a strong attraction. Liam is a suspect on a case she is working on, so completely off limits. However, she can hardly ignore him when he is willing to lend his expertise in both the crime investigation and other areas to Tara. Is Liam just trying to throw her off the trail of a brutal serial killer though, or is he truly trying to help with both the case and Tara's personal well being?
All in all, Shadow Fall was a suspenseful, riveting read. I inevitably kept coming back to my Kindle hoping to solve both the case and Liam's true motivations. Lovers of romantic suspense titles will love exercising their thought-provoking crime skills while devouring Shadow Fall.
Source: Review copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars I know why readers had problems with this book, was the suspense good, yes, as is the case with this series. But as always the weakest link is the romance. The characters don't spend enough time together, get to know each other before the ILU are sprung on us. Then, again this time I felt we didn't get to know the heroine Tara, her last case, the little detail about her mom (and what it implied) and why she felt cut off from the world---it was all a blank. Same is the case with the hero Liam, his brother is mentioned in passing but nothing about how he got such a big business rolling. The book was full of these plot holes which bothered me.
ARC provided by the Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
In addition to being a twisted mystery and a hot romance, Shadow Fall, as Tracers, #9, can easily be read as a standalone. As I am new to the series, I really, really appreciate that. I had no clue who the baddie was and that is just the way I like it.
Laura Griffin takes aim at the good old redneck boys of an East Texas county and calls then out for the way they handled the disappearances of several young women until the killer practically gift wrapped and hand delivered his last victim. Tara is an FBI agent sent with her partner, M.J., to assist in the investigation of a high profile victim. The local law isn't cooperative until additional victims turn up and then, only because the media is focused on them. Tara is just coming off an FBI raid that has left her very unsettled and then she meets Liam and she is unsettled for a whole other reason.
Laim Wolfe is a former Marine and owner of a very successful security firm. The UNSUB has been mucking in his backyard for several months. It looks like the baddie has military experience and is very familiar with the area. Laim meets Tara and wants to help and protect her, but he also needs to protect his business. In addition, Laim knew the last victim and feels a certain failure that she was murdered and in a particularly gruesome way.
This is a great Tracers book. Great mystery and suspense, intriguing characters, awesome plot, detailed explanation of the crime scenes/evidence. Absolutely well written.
BUT, what doesn't work with me is the romance. It was flat out forced. They lusted after each other, sure but I just can't feel the lurve. They need more page time together to even make their attraction believable.
And some things left me puzzled a bit. 1. The way Tara was being too cold/aloof towards Liam. Why is that? Bad history? 2. What really happened in the Froyo raid that gave Tara nightmares? 3. And who the h3ll was that blond woman Liam was secretly seen kissing? Girlfriend? Sister? I need answers.
All in all a great fast paced mystery/who-donnit. But lacking in romance (still not as stiff as book #8).
Laura Griffin, you are indeed brilliant. Deep Dark is still my favourite though. Tara was the leading role, we have more of her POV compared to Liam[😍] The case, not as creepy as Deep Dark but still scary and engaging. The perpetrator, he wasn't on my suspect list, another surprise masterminded by Ms.Griffin. The science factor between Tara and Liam was kinda flat, they were going circles on each other, he was really into her but she was a bit standoffish.. Which was quite frustrating. As this is my second book by the author, I noticed that her heroines had family issues, lonely, traumatised, gloomy but fantastic in their careers. The guys..... Nothing but pure hotness.
An important fact, the motel where Tara and her partner stayed should be demolished.
The ninth book in the Tracers series by Laura Griffin. FBI Special Agent Tara Rushing is sent to the scene of a murder to find out if the victim was Catalina Reyes. But she soon finds that this is the work of a serial killer and he is still out there. One of the suspects is Liam Wolfe, the owner of Wolfe Securities and an ex-marine. The body was found on his land and he knew the victim.
I really like Laura Griffin's style of writing. A nice mix of suspense and romance. The story moves at a nice quick pace. I liked the characters. I don't have any major complaints or criticisms except the romance took a bit of a backseat with the investigation but I don't think it suffered much. The whodunnit was a bit obvious to me but there were a few times I tried to second guess it. I love this series and highly recommend it to romantic suspense fans.
It's no surprise to me that once I started reading Shadow Fall I had a hard time putting it down. It's pretty well how all of Laura Griffin's books have been for me. Her books are such a perfect fit for what I like to read; I more or less devour them. For me an indicator of a good book is that you can't put them down and can't wait to get to the ending and then once you get to the end you're disappointed that you're finished.
I really enjoyed the intricate plot that Ms. Griffin developed for Shadow Fall. I was pulled into the story line right from the start and enjoyed all the twists, turns and suspense. I empathized with how Tara had to work against the good ole boy network and it was definitely a believable situation for her to be in. I thought her character development in learning to work with others and to recognize that she couldn't do everything herself was really good. I think I needed a little more back story to understand why she was so self reliant and kept herself apart from others.
Shadow Fall had an excellent supporting cast but I did wish for a little more from them. I was slightly disappointed that some of the characters weren't developed more as I wanted to get to know them. To some degree, I think character development and romance took a back seat to the intricately woven plot and I really love how well written and planned out the Tracer Series suspense plots are.
I really liked the combination of Liam's right hand man (Jeremy) and Tara's right hand "woman" (MJ). I wanted to get to know these characters more and was really hoping for some romance to bloom between them. In fact, there was a part of me that liked the idea of a romance between them better than the romance between Liam and Tara.
Liam and Tara's romance was the weak point in the novel for me. Although other readers swooned for him, I had issues with Liam. There were numerous points where I was frustrated with him. I'm all for the strong silent type, however, silence and being uncooperative in an investigation are very different. His lack of cooperation with Tara didn't show that he cared about her. I also wasn't too impressed by his dropping in on an ex-client for what looked like was a quick liaison while he was supposedly intrigued by Tara. I don't like my male MC to be entertaining other women once he becomes interested in the female MC. Yeah, what can I say, I really like to see good old fashion honor in my heroes.
I had major issues with Liam stonewalling Tara with who his employees are and was really disappointed when she opted to be distracted by sex versus doing her job. My sore point with romantic suspense is when sex shouldn't be happening but the H/h have no control. Finding a murderer should be more important than having a round of sex.
However, he did deliver a few swoon worthy moments, including the line below which is my best romantic line from the book:
"I know you don't need me, Tara" He huffed out a breath and glared down at her. "I want you to want me anyway." Liam
Yep, lines like this tend to redeem a character for a lot of flaws.
Thanks to Net Galley, Pocket Books publishers and Ms. Griffin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
If I have to choose one word to describe SHADOW FALL, it's ADDICTING...Even when I had to force myself to put it down...all I could do was think about the plot, the characters, the case, the mystery...seriously addicting!
Liam and Tara were sizzling. The chemistry between them from the very first meeting was electric...someone get the fire hose! The one thing that I love about Laura Griffin's writing is that she balances the Suspense and the Love Story with such ease, never letting one over power the other, but letting them flow perfectly in balance.
The pace was perfect, with just the right amount of action, emotion and sexy kisses to keep this a page turner. Laura Griffin knows just when to give a little more to keep the readers interest, never letting your attention waver from the story line. I swear...I had so many possible suspects right up until the very end. Laura Griffin killed it! SHADOW FALL is officially one of my favorite of the Tracer's Series and a Top Tasty Read for 2015.
Shadow Fall is security expert Liam Wolfe and Special Agent Tara Rushing's story. I vaguely remember Liam's name coming up in previous books but I believe Tara is a new character.
Liam is the brother to Mark Wolfe from book 5. He is pure alpha male with a military background and now he owns his own personal security company. He runs a huge operation protecting the rich and famous. He becomes one of the suspects when the latest victim found murdered on his land is his former client.
Tara Rushing is a fairly new FBI agent. Which is why she is uncertain to the reason she was chosen, along with another newbie, to help out a murder investigation. She's got an uphill battle with the good ole boys club to compete with on the task force.
This is one of my favorite couples in this series. I absolutely loved Liam. He's big, tough and 100% man. I like that he was instantly attracted to Tara because she was dressed in combat clothes and had a gun strapped to her hip. What I also liked was that he never wavered with his attraction to her. He knew she was who he wanted and he went after her.
Tara was a very like-able heroine. I really love the tough chics that can hold their own with alpha men. Even with how tough she was, you could still see the feminine side of her. I think she handled all the men who worked against her very well. She was a respectable character.
This had another exciting suspenseful plot that will keep you on your toes. I loved following this case and trying to figure out who the serial killer was.
Good to see Liam get his own book. Still curious as to why Tara and MJ were chosen for the investigation but I enjoyed the story. I hope we'll see MJ and Jeremy again.
(PureTextuality.com)I found this book after reading a review by Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. She loved it, and I immediately went to Net Galley and ordered it before I had even finished her review. It just sounded so good. And you know something? It really was!
Tara Rushing is a special agent with the FBI and has been sent to the scene of a bizarre killing of a fairly well known woman. The body is in the deep woods near a small town in Texas. It’s not long before she realizes that something more than one murder is going on in these woods. Liam Wolfe is an ex-marine and current owner of a high tech bodyguard company that has it’s headquarters nearby. Tara is accompanied to the town by another agent M.J., a fairly new agent with the FBI. This is not the normal case for either women. They normally work with the FBI Swat team in Houston, so they really are wondering what they are doing on this case. Since M.J. is so new, Tara takes the lead between the two. It’s not long before Tara is running an entire task force, but only after the discovery of two more murders in the woods. An then a third. Tara’s got a local sheriff chomping at the bit to arrest Liam Wolfe, all the while, she herself is fighting feelings for the ex-marine. Only Liam isn’t fighting his feelings, he’s embracing them.
The main characters were real and totally realized by the author. These are characters that have insecurities, and ones that have gone through things in their life. I enjoyed getting to know them and watching the sparks fly between the two. The romance was tempestuous to say the least, and very sensual in the end. Tara stays conflicted due to her FBI status and Liam being a prime suspect. All this did was heighten the drama between the two. And like I said before, Liam is okay with the whole thing, as far as the romance goes. He also was a former bodyguard for the woman that died and was friends with her, so he has a stake in what happens with that as well.
I have always loved romantic suspense and as with anything else, I got a bit burned out on it a couple of years or so ago. Now I read the occasional one by a favorite author or one that sounds like I would like it. This was not by an author I had ever read, but one that I may go back and read some more from her, because I enjoyed the read so much. I can honestly say that I had no idea who the killer was and that is refreshing in a suspense novel for me. The killer wasn’t even on my radar. Yay, for books like that!
If you enjoy adult stories that involve serial killers, the people that solve the crimes, and a good romance, this book should go on your to be read list. It never let me down, and kept me reading at a pretty brisk pace. For me, it was one of those books that kept getting better as I read. I highly recommend this to adult romantic suspense readers because it’s just that good!
Shadow Fall is Laura Griffin returning to her Tracers roots dealing with local violent crime, after the brief (but exciting) forays into counter-terrorism themes of the previous ones. Special Agent Tara Rushing is called to the crime scene and finds Liam Wolfe in the centre of her investigation. But Wolfe, as she finds out, is taciturn yet desirably intense, unsettling her further as the body count piles up.
Ms. Griffin's crime writing is flawless and intricately detailed, even if, like in some previous Tracers books, it seems to sacrifice character growth and relationship development in the process. There were major gaps in the characters that I would definitely liked to have seen filled/explained and was disappointed when they weren't: Liam's apparent dalliance with an ex-client even when he has Tara in his sights, the almost-non-relationship between Liam and Mark (whom I loved and had hoped to see more of), the return of the other Tracers but no mention at all about their significant others and how they were getting on. Even Tara's and Liam's connection seems tenuous at best even if it's undeniable strong, forged only by the dark pull of adrenaline-filled attraction; the insta-love declaration at the end incredibly unbelievable given Tara's deep distrust issues. All I really got out of the end was that Tara and Liam were both good at their jobs, despite the chips on their shoulders and it took a few runarounds before the killer was taken out.
Nonetheless, Shadow Fall is an entertaining read which fell short of the relationship development (which I do believe should be one of the defining characteristics of romantic suspense), especially if you're in just for the thrilling ride to get to the whodunnit portion.
Attracts and hold your interest from start to finish. This series always knocks it out of the park with detailed descriptions of the evidence and how the forensic scientists at the Delphi Center crime lab work that evidence to give those working the case the help they need in finding the killer.
FBI Agent Tara Rushing is just coming off a case that didnt go well. Having no time to recover she is sent to a small Texas town with another female agent to look into the recent murder of a woman that had once been in politics.
Tara arrived in good ole boy country where women arent looked to highly upon and she runs into resistance. Tara has always fought to be just as good as the guys and this sometimes is a bit of a flaw cause it caused a big chip on her shoulder.
Liam Wolfe left the Marine's and started his own security company which happens to be in the town where the body was found. He also has ties to the victim and becomes a suspect. Liam decides he and his team are going to do some investigation on their own on the side as he knows none if his men could have done this.
Most of the Tracer books dont delve deep into the relationship aspect or give us great details about their personal life but the story and hunt for the killer is always enough to keep your attention and provide a good suspense/mystery.
4.5 Suspensful and Sexy Stars! Definitely one of my top pics of the Tracer series. It's always nice to see the books improve as a series moves along. I read this out of order, because I accidentally skipped 8...and have already read Tracers 10(which is amazing, by the way.) Probably biggest sell for me in Shadow Fall was Liam. He's one of my favorite hero types, so all the lead female had to do was not be really annoying( Tara is not), and we were good to go;) As always, the plot line is fresh and moves well, the serial killer is very evil, and the couple is hot. What's not to like?!
Shadow Fall by Laura Griffin is a 2015 Pocket Books Publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Laura Griffin is one of my favorite romantic suspense authors and ' The Tracers' series is one I actually make a concerted effort to stay up to date with. While this series is always creative, action packed, and suspenseful, the romance and sensuality is usually given a prominent place in the story. In this case, the romance is still an important part of the story, but the mystery/suspense elements take center stage.
When a promising political candidate is found murdered the security firm, she had hired to protect her, comes under fire. Enter Special Agent Tara Rushing, who, along with the Delphi Center, is on the case. She is immediately suspicious of the security expert, and owner of Wolfe Securities, Liam Wolfe.
When it becomes obvious that other murders have occurred close by Liam's compound, Liam firmly stands behind his company and his men, refusing to admit one of them could be responsible. Tara on the other hand views Liam's stance as obstruction of justice and interference with an ongoing investigation. While there is an obvious chemistry between the two, Tara must proceed with caution because Liam may not be a person she can trust with the details of the case...or with her heart.
The characters in this story are very interesting and a little complex, making them distinct and a perfect compliment to one another. Tara is at a fragile point in her career, is suffering from nightmares, and wondering if she is becoming too cynical, while Liam is an enigmatic character, tight lipped, dark, and sometimes a little over confident and aggravating. Both characters are strong, but each has a soft or vulnerable side which helps the reader relate to them and feel empathy toward them. There secondary characters were also well defined and added a little extra sparkle of romance and tension to the story.
The mystery is also one of the best I've read in a while, with forensics playing a big role, helping to create a smart, well plotted story. The taut serial killer premise and slow, creepy, build up of suspense, complex twist and turns make this an engrossing book, which was impossible to put down.
This is a story that reminded me of the romantic suspense novels I cut my teeth on and made me such a fan on this genre to begin with.
This author is one of the best in this genre, and just keeps getting better. I thought this installment was just a wee bit darker than some and I liked it more because of it. What can I say.. I'm dark and twisty. I hope to see more like this one in the future.
This is another solid installment in this series and highly recommend it!
Griffin’s latest Tracers series thriller is a terrifying journey, a twisting, turning nail-biter that skillfully mixes dark, sinister suspense and hot steamy romance that will keep readers anxiously on the edge of their seats and in the dark until they’re expertly led to that ah-ha moment. Her stars are both alphas and their battle for constant supremacy in the bedroom and the field is brilliantly expectant, and her co-stars all excel in their respective roles. Her narrative is no-nonsense and gritty and perfectly matches the personalities of her enigmatic law enforcement/military characters. And the climactic ending really rocks this emotional rollercoaster. Brava!
FBI Special Agent Tara Rushing has been called to the heinous murder of a female politician and from the crime scene she’s betting this was very personal. Now she’s just got to vet out all the suspects particularly the sexy ex-Marine who knows more than he’s telling.
Liam Wolfe is happy running his personal security firm, it gives him the feel of action without the red tape he faced in the military. When a former client and friend ends up not just dead but mutilated he takes it personally and even if it means going around the pretty fed sent to investigate the crime, he’ll get to the bottom of it.
Suddenly the body count is rising, they may have a serial killer on their hands and even with the heady sensual pull between them mistrust is the elephant in the room. Is there any hope for them?
FBI Special Agent Tara Rushing has been sent to a rural area in Texas to investigate the disappearance and murder of a prominent female politician. While the investigation is proceeding, another body shows up in the area, then another; leading her to believe there is a serial murderer behind the deaths. The local sheriff is doing his best to impede the investigation, and has his own suspect already picked out; security expert Liam Wolfe.
Liam’s security business is in a sprawling, wooded compound located conveniently near where all the bodies have been dumped. Tara’s attraction to Liam is growing, and after he is eliminated as a suspect, he and his security team come to the aid of the task force that has been established to handle the investigation. The crime scene evidence is sent to the Delphi Center for processing and evaluation. Tara spends a good deal of time at the Delphi Center, giving the reader some time to catch up with previous characters in the series.
SHADOW FALL is the latest entry in Laura Griffith’s always excellent ‘Tracers’ series, and is proof positive that this series is not running out of steam anytime soon. If possible, this series is improving over time, and this story is on the better side of the series entries. This is a very good series, and another great RS read.