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The Ivory Nation #3
At Close Range
Criminal court judge Hannah Montgomery is presiding over a murder trial in Phoenix, Arizona. When the jury finds the defendant, Bobby Donahue, not guilty, Hannah is convinced they've reached the wrong verdict. Especially when strange things start happening around her...For one thing, a judge she's always trusted is making decisions she doesn't understand. For another, her pediatrician is being questioned in the deaths of several young patients--including Hannah's adopted son. The police say it was murder. Dr. Brian Hampton says he's been framed.
Still reeling from grief at the loss of her child, Hannah no longer knows who to believe, who's lying and who's not. Despite her faith in Brian, she begins to wonder if he's betrayed her. Is he connected with Donahue? Is he responsible for her son's death?
Still reeling from grief at the loss of her child, Hannah no longer knows who to believe, who's lying and who's not. Despite her faith in Brian, she begins to wonder if he's betrayed her. Is he connected with Donahue? Is he responsible for her son's death?
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2007
About the author
Tara Taylor Quinn
402 books1,459 followersTara Taylor Quinn began her love affair with Harlequin when she was fourteen years old and picked up a free promotional copy of a Harlequin Romance in a hometown grocery store. The relationship was solidified the year she was suspended from her high school typing class for hiding a Harlequin Romance behind the keys of her electric typewriter. Unaware that her instructor loomed close by, Ms. Quinn read blissfully on with one finger resting on the automatic repeating period key. She finished the book in the principal’s office. Forced to leave her romances in her locker after that, Ms. Quinn’s typing skills improved - a fact for which she is eternally grateful.
With over 140 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”
Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.
Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.
When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, and LeeLee or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..
With over 140 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”
Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.
Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.
When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, and LeeLee or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 30, 2019
At Close Range is the third book in the Ivory Nation series by American author, Tara Taylor Quinn. While Superior Court Judge Hannah Montgomery presides over the trial of an Ivory Nation member accused of a heinous murder, her close friend, paediatrician Brian Hampton suddenly finds himself the target of a media campaign and police persecution over the SIDs deaths of his patients. Ivory Nation leader Bobby Donahue is searching for the mother (and kidnapper) of his son, the only woman he ever loved.
Hannah is subject to multiple incidences of harassment that have her wondering about the trustworthiness of those close to her. She can’t believe Brian could be responsible for the baby deaths (one was her adopted son), but the evidence has her wavering. Another Judge is urging her to recuse herself from Ivory Nation case in the interests of personal safety, but Hannah can’t ignore her principles.
This third book of the series is a marked improvement on the second book, Behind Closed Doors, with a much faster pace and les repetition. It is important to read the series in order as there are significant spoilers for the first two in this book. The main characters have quite a bit of baggage while the rest are rather stereotypical, and the plot is a little convoluted, if predictable. Handily, by the dramatic climax, many of the baddies either give themselves up or kill each other, thus removing the background threat for a happily ever after ending.
Hannah is subject to multiple incidences of harassment that have her wondering about the trustworthiness of those close to her. She can’t believe Brian could be responsible for the baby deaths (one was her adopted son), but the evidence has her wavering. Another Judge is urging her to recuse herself from Ivory Nation case in the interests of personal safety, but Hannah can’t ignore her principles.
This third book of the series is a marked improvement on the second book, Behind Closed Doors, with a much faster pace and les repetition. It is important to read the series in order as there are significant spoilers for the first two in this book. The main characters have quite a bit of baggage while the rest are rather stereotypical, and the plot is a little convoluted, if predictable. Handily, by the dramatic climax, many of the baddies either give themselves up or kill each other, thus removing the background threat for a happily ever after ending.
December 1, 2017
I felt like I was floating in the sea while reading this book. Where am I going? How long have we been here? What is point? In this book, the only strong theme was Hannah and Brian's deep emotional scars from losing someone they loved to tragedy. The falling in love felt stifled, killer was obvious, and the book just ends. After reading over and over about the main characters tragedy and how they relied so much on each other then POOF we're done. What would have been nice is less detail on the main characters backstory and more on Luke and Amanda.
August 4, 2024
Too much sex. Tara Quinn has no idea of how God works, either. She did do a good job of hiding who all the bad guys were -at least for longer than I expected. But overall, this book wasn’t particularly enthralling or powerful or mesmerizing (quoting the reviews on the book’s cover).
August 26, 2019
I had a hard time finishing this book. It was annoying in a lot of places, very confusing at times, and the characters were barely likable.
September 28, 2010
The two main characters are helpless victims throughout the story. It was too depressing. I wanted it to be over.
STORY BRIEF:
Ivory Nation is a white supremacy group, headed by Bobby, a religious fanatic who believes God directs him. Members of this group threaten, torture and kill nonwhite people and anyone who helps them. Kenny is a member of Ivory Nation. He is being tried for the murder of Cortes, an illegal immigrant, who had sex with a white woman he was dating. Hannah is the criminal court judge overseeing the trial. Her home and car have been damaged. Her cat has been killed. There is no proof of who did it. Hannah’s good friend Brian is a pediatrician. He provides free medical services to low income families. Within the past year, several Hispanic babies have died shortly after receiving vaccinations from Brian. Evidence against him has been planted. He is being framed.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Members of Ivory Nation are everywhere including police, politicians, and courtroom employees. They get whatever they want through their connections and by threatening people. They can get anyone to do anything by threatening their children. No one can succeed against them. It’s a hopeless, helpless view of the world. This theme carries throughout the book. I was depressed throughout the book. Bad things are happening to good people, and they can do nothing about it. Finally, there is a decent ending but it was because one of the bad guys (I will call him BG) did something. BG did something that proved Brian was wrongly framed, but BG’s motive was not to help Brian. BG’s motive was to hurt something else. It was mere luck for Brian that BG decided to do this. Otherwise Brian would have gone to jail for life. I prefer stories where the hero or heroine has some skills, abilities or growth to be able to overcome adversity. In this book, the good guys were losers. There was no way they could win without the convenience of luck. The only positive was that Hannah kept her integrity and performed her judicial duties honestly, even though she was afraid.
CAUTION SPOILER:
An example of the Ivory Nation ability follows. Kenny is guilty and is found guilty by the jury. Previous threats to the judge had not helped. Therefore, after the verdict, the Ivory Nation leader Bobby confesses that he personally committed the crime. He gets a police officer to testify that the officer saw Bobby do it. Bobby says that the ring that hit the victim was his. So, Kenny is set free. Then a courtroom employee steals the ring out of evidence so it can’t be used. The police officer is killed and can’t testify. Bobby walks free along with Kenny. The judge had done what was right but was helpless.
DATA:
Story length: 370 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 5. Total number of sex scene pages: 8. Setting: current day Arizona. Copyright: 2008. Genre: mystery suspense with a little romance.
STORY BRIEF:
Ivory Nation is a white supremacy group, headed by Bobby, a religious fanatic who believes God directs him. Members of this group threaten, torture and kill nonwhite people and anyone who helps them. Kenny is a member of Ivory Nation. He is being tried for the murder of Cortes, an illegal immigrant, who had sex with a white woman he was dating. Hannah is the criminal court judge overseeing the trial. Her home and car have been damaged. Her cat has been killed. There is no proof of who did it. Hannah’s good friend Brian is a pediatrician. He provides free medical services to low income families. Within the past year, several Hispanic babies have died shortly after receiving vaccinations from Brian. Evidence against him has been planted. He is being framed.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
Members of Ivory Nation are everywhere including police, politicians, and courtroom employees. They get whatever they want through their connections and by threatening people. They can get anyone to do anything by threatening their children. No one can succeed against them. It’s a hopeless, helpless view of the world. This theme carries throughout the book. I was depressed throughout the book. Bad things are happening to good people, and they can do nothing about it. Finally, there is a decent ending but it was because one of the bad guys (I will call him BG) did something. BG did something that proved Brian was wrongly framed, but BG’s motive was not to help Brian. BG’s motive was to hurt something else. It was mere luck for Brian that BG decided to do this. Otherwise Brian would have gone to jail for life. I prefer stories where the hero or heroine has some skills, abilities or growth to be able to overcome adversity. In this book, the good guys were losers. There was no way they could win without the convenience of luck. The only positive was that Hannah kept her integrity and performed her judicial duties honestly, even though she was afraid.
CAUTION SPOILER:
An example of the Ivory Nation ability follows. Kenny is guilty and is found guilty by the jury. Previous threats to the judge had not helped. Therefore, after the verdict, the Ivory Nation leader Bobby confesses that he personally committed the crime. He gets a police officer to testify that the officer saw Bobby do it. Bobby says that the ring that hit the victim was his. So, Kenny is set free. Then a courtroom employee steals the ring out of evidence so it can’t be used. The police officer is killed and can’t testify. Bobby walks free along with Kenny. The judge had done what was right but was helpless.
DATA:
Story length: 370 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: moderate. Number of sex scenes: 5. Total number of sex scene pages: 8. Setting: current day Arizona. Copyright: 2008. Genre: mystery suspense with a little romance.
June 10, 2013
Maybe even 4.5 stars! This book was really great. Took me a few chapters to get into it because there was just so much going on, involving so many characters. Lots of twists and turns. There was at least one glaring editing error however that would prove to be a spoiler if I hadn't already been thinking along those lines. Overall though I really enjoyed this book and will most likely seek out other books by this author.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews