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Caitlyn Tierney FBI Thriller #1
Blind Faith
When her husband and son are murdered, she thought she'd lost it all. But for Sarah Durandt the nightmare is just beginning...
Sarah has just witnessed the execution of the man who confessed to killing her husband and son, among others. She leaves with no closure as the killer has refused her repeated requests to reveal the site of her family's graves. Sarah returns home to her small town of Hopewell in the Adirondacks Mountains and vows to search until she finds Sam and Josh.
Her hunt leads her to a trail of lies and unearths a new killer. In a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to place her faith in the man who betrayed her...her husband.
Sarah has just witnessed the execution of the man who confessed to killing her husband and son, among others. She leaves with no closure as the killer has refused her repeated requests to reveal the site of her family's graves. Sarah returns home to her small town of Hopewell in the Adirondacks Mountains and vows to search until she finds Sam and Josh.
Her hunt leads her to a trail of lies and unearths a new killer. In a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to place her faith in the man who betrayed her...her husband.
394 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2012
765 people are currently reading
1464 people want to read
About the author
C.J. Lyons
80 books893 followersNew York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over forty novels, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart.
Two times winner of the International Thriller Writers coveted Thriller Award, CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday).
Learn more about CJ's Thrillers with Heart at www.CJLyons.net
Two times winner of the International Thriller Writers coveted Thriller Award, CJ has been called a "master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as "breathtakingly fast-paced" and "riveting" (Publishers Weekly) with "characters with beating hearts and three dimensions" (Newsday).
Learn more about CJ's Thrillers with Heart at www.CJLyons.net
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 222 reviews
September 3, 2011
The best thing I can say about this book is that it was a quick read. (Also, I only paid 99 cents for it on Kindle, thankfully.) Now, for the rest of what I'd like to say: this book was juvenile, poorly written, and poorly edited (spelling and grammatical errors being the minor infractions). I will never read another book by this author because I am now thoroughly convinced that she is a total moron.
That is all. Do yourself a favor and don't get tempted by the low price tag and the glowing reviews on Goodreads from what I can only assume are the author's friends.
That is all. Do yourself a favor and don't get tempted by the low price tag and the glowing reviews on Goodreads from what I can only assume are the author's friends.
September 18, 2011
1 ½ stars. Author “tells” not “shows.” No depth. Mostly action scenes. It was a struggle to read. I wanted it to be over.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The problem with this story is the author’s style or method. There is too much “telling” not “showing.” When a character does something, I want to be in his head. I want to hear his thoughts, feelings, and then his words. This book is like watching a movie, seeing a character’s action and only hearing conversation when speaking to another. One example is a bad guy torturing someone. I want to be in the bad guy’s head seeing his feelings and thoughts so I can feel fear or horror. But instead a third party “tells” us he was forced to watch as the bad guy did this, did that, and then the victim died. This is the flavor for the entire book. Even at the end, we are “told” in a sentence or two “this is what happened to kill the bad guy” and “this is what happened to solve the migraines.”
Now the author did get into showing some emotions, but not within the action. Instead the emotions were almost unrelated to the scene. For ex: Caitlyn had severe migraines that caused incapacitating pain and vomiting. I felt the scene was being interrupted to talk about her pain. Ex: We read some of Sarah’s diary entries talking about her terrible pain and grief in the past. Ex: Caitlyn faints (or almost faints) in a flashback about her father’s funeral years ago. Ok, so all of these give us emotional elements, but they were extraneous. They weren’t part of the character’s emotions relating to their current actions.
The heroines are not stupid, but their grief, pain, vomiting, and fainting at inappropriate times had the effect of letting bad guys get control or have the advantage. It could have been done differently, but the way it was done was not entertaining.
This was labeled “suspense, romantic” in the RT Book Reviews Magazine, but on their website they labeled it “romantic suspense.” That misled me. I thought this would be “romantic suspense,” but it wasn’t. It’s action suspense thriller. In the future I will be more cautious when I see that label. This book does NOT have a “focus on developing a romantic relationship,” which is a requirement for the label romantic suspense. Instead a happily married couple was separated two years before the book begins. In this story they are reunited only for the purpose of surviving some bad guys. There is no story at all about their current relationship. The main story is about several different villains. Some want to get their hands on stolen money. Some have other nefarious objectives. Most of their actions are to threaten someone saying “do this or I will kill your loved one.” No one does anything smart. Some events are illogical or inconsistent. The story jumps around among too many different characters. It was like looking at a collage. Every character was one-dimensional. There were no nuances or interesting parts to anyone. The only good part of the book was at the end where a few different good guys kill some bad guys using luck and bravery.
Two teenagers were doing things during the book. By the end of the book I had no idea why they were in the story. Things were started with them but didn’t go anywhere. Their part of the plot was unfinished.
STORY BRIEF:
Damien is convicted and executed for killing Sarah’s husband and son. The bodies were never found. Sarah has been grieving for two years. She hikes in the mountains hoping to eventually find the bodies.
Before he met Sarah, Sam stole money from the Russian mobster Korsakov and then testified in court to put him in jail. Sam went into witness protection with a new name. Then he met Sarah. He never told Sarah about his former activities. Alan was Sam’s friend and knew about the money. For two years Alan has been wooing Sarah, planning to marry her and then kill her so he can get the money. Logan is a former FBI agent who is helping Alan and wants to split the money when Alan gets it. Korsakov has just been released from prison on a technicality. He plans to torture and kill Sarah and Sam. A couple other bad guys are also in the mix.
Caitlyn is an FBI agent who comes to town to resolve a question that recently came up. She may have to quit her job because she repeatedly becomes incapacitated due to migraine headaches.
DATA:
Story length: 382 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one, partially begun. Setting: 2005 and 2007 mostly Hopewell, New York a tiny town in the mountains, plus a few scenes in Texas and Virginia. Copyright: 2011. Genre: action suspense thriller.
REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The problem with this story is the author’s style or method. There is too much “telling” not “showing.” When a character does something, I want to be in his head. I want to hear his thoughts, feelings, and then his words. This book is like watching a movie, seeing a character’s action and only hearing conversation when speaking to another. One example is a bad guy torturing someone. I want to be in the bad guy’s head seeing his feelings and thoughts so I can feel fear or horror. But instead a third party “tells” us he was forced to watch as the bad guy did this, did that, and then the victim died. This is the flavor for the entire book. Even at the end, we are “told” in a sentence or two “this is what happened to kill the bad guy” and “this is what happened to solve the migraines.”
Now the author did get into showing some emotions, but not within the action. Instead the emotions were almost unrelated to the scene. For ex: Caitlyn had severe migraines that caused incapacitating pain and vomiting. I felt the scene was being interrupted to talk about her pain. Ex: We read some of Sarah’s diary entries talking about her terrible pain and grief in the past. Ex: Caitlyn faints (or almost faints) in a flashback about her father’s funeral years ago. Ok, so all of these give us emotional elements, but they were extraneous. They weren’t part of the character’s emotions relating to their current actions.
The heroines are not stupid, but their grief, pain, vomiting, and fainting at inappropriate times had the effect of letting bad guys get control or have the advantage. It could have been done differently, but the way it was done was not entertaining.
This was labeled “suspense, romantic” in the RT Book Reviews Magazine, but on their website they labeled it “romantic suspense.” That misled me. I thought this would be “romantic suspense,” but it wasn’t. It’s action suspense thriller. In the future I will be more cautious when I see that label. This book does NOT have a “focus on developing a romantic relationship,” which is a requirement for the label romantic suspense. Instead a happily married couple was separated two years before the book begins. In this story they are reunited only for the purpose of surviving some bad guys. There is no story at all about their current relationship. The main story is about several different villains. Some want to get their hands on stolen money. Some have other nefarious objectives. Most of their actions are to threaten someone saying “do this or I will kill your loved one.” No one does anything smart. Some events are illogical or inconsistent. The story jumps around among too many different characters. It was like looking at a collage. Every character was one-dimensional. There were no nuances or interesting parts to anyone. The only good part of the book was at the end where a few different good guys kill some bad guys using luck and bravery.
Two teenagers were doing things during the book. By the end of the book I had no idea why they were in the story. Things were started with them but didn’t go anywhere. Their part of the plot was unfinished.
STORY BRIEF:
Damien is convicted and executed for killing Sarah’s husband and son. The bodies were never found. Sarah has been grieving for two years. She hikes in the mountains hoping to eventually find the bodies.
Before he met Sarah, Sam stole money from the Russian mobster Korsakov and then testified in court to put him in jail. Sam went into witness protection with a new name. Then he met Sarah. He never told Sarah about his former activities. Alan was Sam’s friend and knew about the money. For two years Alan has been wooing Sarah, planning to marry her and then kill her so he can get the money. Logan is a former FBI agent who is helping Alan and wants to split the money when Alan gets it. Korsakov has just been released from prison on a technicality. He plans to torture and kill Sarah and Sam. A couple other bad guys are also in the mix.
Caitlyn is an FBI agent who comes to town to resolve a question that recently came up. She may have to quit her job because she repeatedly becomes incapacitated due to migraine headaches.
DATA:
Story length: 382 pages. Swearing language: strong, including religious swear words. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: one, partially begun. Setting: 2005 and 2007 mostly Hopewell, New York a tiny town in the mountains, plus a few scenes in Texas and Virginia. Copyright: 2011. Genre: action suspense thriller.
June 5, 2017
whew! intense and fast paced...liked it a lot!
August 17, 2024
(Review to Come)
October 20, 2011
It was very easy to put this book down, and difficult to pick it back up. I think it took me a month to read it. Very predictable, and repetitive. I was disappointed.
August 31, 2011
Extremely predictable. I had difficulty getting over the fact that the main character (during a crucial plot point) came to the same earth-shattering conclusion about something three separate times in a five page span, and each time was as though it was the first time she had thought it. Someone's editor didn't proof read very well!
January 27, 2014
Awesome read! Sometimes when you go into a new series, you have preconceived notions that you are just going to read the same ole thing. But CJL really blew my preconceptions away! This was an awesome read as Sarah struggles at the two year mark of losing her husband and son, to a serial killer....or did she?? If you like suspense and haven't read CJL, this is a good book to start with.
April 18, 2021
It took a bit to get into this one, about a third of the way in it reached out and grabbed my attention. From there it moved in a whirlwind of intertwined story lines.
January 20, 2021
CJ Lyons best book yet
October 15, 2011
This was a good mystery. very interesting and a quick read. Read it on my kindle for 99 cents. Thanks to my Aunt Theresa for the recommendation.
CJ Lyons' romantic thrillers have been described as "the perfect blend of romance and suspense" by New York Times Bestseller Sandra Brown.
National Bestseller, award-winning suspense author CJ Lyons pushes the boundaries defining romance and suspense once again in BLIND FAITH.
When her husband and son are murdered, she thought she'd lost it all. But for Sarah Durandt the nightmare is just beginning...
Sarah has just witnessed the execution of the man who confessed to killing her husband and son, among others. She leaves with no closure as the killer has refused her repeated requests to reveal the site of her family's graves. Sarah returns home to her small town of Hopewell in the Adirondacks Mountains and vows to search until she finds Sam and Josh.
Her hunt leads her to a trail of lies and unearths a new killer. In a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to place her faith in the man who betrayed her…her husband
CJ Lyons' romantic thrillers have been described as "the perfect blend of romance and suspense" by New York Times Bestseller Sandra Brown.
National Bestseller, award-winning suspense author CJ Lyons pushes the boundaries defining romance and suspense once again in BLIND FAITH.
When her husband and son are murdered, she thought she'd lost it all. But for Sarah Durandt the nightmare is just beginning...
Sarah has just witnessed the execution of the man who confessed to killing her husband and son, among others. She leaves with no closure as the killer has refused her repeated requests to reveal the site of her family's graves. Sarah returns home to her small town of Hopewell in the Adirondacks Mountains and vows to search until she finds Sam and Josh.
Her hunt leads her to a trail of lies and unearths a new killer. In a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to place her faith in the man who betrayed her…her husband
August 29, 2011
I was roped into this by Amazon. It was a related read from when they reeled me in on another...plus it was just $.99! Anyway, I couldn't put it down.
I knew something was a little "off" when Caitlyn thought Hal's "sugar substitute" tasted bitter. I don't normally pick up on stuff like that, but I was glad to find out later I was right!
Other reviewers have commented that the story is unrealistic. To me, that's kind of the point of books like this. However unrealistic the premise of the book, though, the one thing that bothered me was that the body Sarah discovered TWO YEARS later still even had any skin on it at all! Granted, there wasn't much left, but it seemed to me like there would be next to nothing left of a body that had been in water for so long. The book even mentions the fish nibbling on the soft parts. Totally gross. Anyway, other than that, I bought the story, I was drawn in and anxious to find the outcome!
I knew something was a little "off" when Caitlyn thought Hal's "sugar substitute" tasted bitter. I don't normally pick up on stuff like that, but I was glad to find out later I was right!
Other reviewers have commented that the story is unrealistic. To me, that's kind of the point of books like this. However unrealistic the premise of the book, though, the one thing that bothered me was that the body Sarah discovered TWO YEARS later still even had any skin on it at all! Granted, there wasn't much left, but it seemed to me like there would be next to nothing left of a body that had been in water for so long. The book even mentions the fish nibbling on the soft parts. Totally gross. Anyway, other than that, I bought the story, I was drawn in and anxious to find the outcome!
June 20, 2012
Blind Faith is fast paced, highly entertaining thriller which would keep the readers hooked to it. I really recommend it to the thrillers fans.Sarah Durandt husband and child were killed by a psychopathic serial killer.Although it had been two years to their death their bodies were never discovered. and her her hope of finding theirs bodies dies when Damian Wright the killer gets executed without revealing the site of graves of her familySarah returns home to her small town of Hopewell and vows to search until she finds Sam and Josh.
Her hunt leads her to a trail of lies and unearths a new killer. In a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to place her faith in the man who betrayed her...her husband..
Her hunt leads her to a trail of lies and unearths a new killer. In a race to save everything she holds dear, Sarah is forced to place her faith in the man who betrayed her...her husband..
August 20, 2011
All that was missing, is for a dog to leap in & have a bite out of crime! My low rating is due to the normality of the novel. It was flat! I've read worse but then again I can't complain I bought it for $0.99
A woman spends 2 years believing both her husband & son dead, the convicted killer confessed to the killing but won't tell her where her buried them!
I guess because I've read many thrillers that this didn't impress me at all.
A woman spends 2 years believing both her husband & son dead, the convicted killer confessed to the killing but won't tell her where her buried them!
I guess because I've read many thrillers that this didn't impress me at all.
August 4, 2017
3.5 stars. In the first chapter, Sarah Durandt watches the execution of the serial killer who murdered her husband Sam and her son Josh two years ago. Although the killer confessed, she hoped he would reveal where he buried their bodies so she could bring them home. Not to be. Meanwhile, FBI agent Caitlyn Tierney learns DNA evidence does not support the serial killer's confession and she attempts to learn what really happened to Sam Durandt.
I picked this book up at a garage sale. The first few chapters seemed depressing as Sarah is so still so caught up in her grief but she becomes a stronger person. Many people in this book are not who they seem. I had not heard of this author before, but I would read more of her romantic suspense books.
I picked this book up at a garage sale. The first few chapters seemed depressing as Sarah is so still so caught up in her grief but she becomes a stronger person. Many people in this book are not who they seem. I had not heard of this author before, but I would read more of her romantic suspense books.
September 5, 2022
Sarah has lost her husband and son to a serial killer but they never found the bodies. Thus begins a tale of treachery and double crosses that brings FBI agent Caitlyn to Sarah's small town. Good action yarn.
March 19, 2013
First in the Caitlyn Tierney suspense series revolving around a damaged FBI agent. Events take place in Hopewell, New York, up in the mountains.
My Take
It's betrayals within betrayals and some of 'em just don't make sense. Others are so deeply hidden it's mindblowing. Then there are the facts which just don't make sense. I mean, if Sam can be coming around and spying on Sarah, why can't he retrieve the money and grab his wife and get outta Dodge? Then they compound the idiocy by rushing about like a subdued Keystone Kops routine, hanging around when I just don't see any good reason for it except to up the tension. I hate that.
I like the town and the few people in it whom we meet. The setting sounds absolutely glorious, especially if you're into outdoor sports like hunting, hiking, and camping.
I liked the romance building between Caitlyn and Hal. Makes it truly poignant at the end. And I cried. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I cry whenever I get emotionally involved with the characters. That's part of what makes a good story. Creating characters that pull the reader into the story and Lyons does it well. She's particularly good at keeping things hidden until the penultimate betrayal.
For the most part, it's well written, except for those few plot points I found stupid. Lyons cranks up the tension on this and keeps you wondering throughout.
The Story
A lab geek has raised questions about the first case Caitlyn took on after her on-the-job accident. Indiscrepancies that could well have resulted in a miscarriage of justice on the Hopewell double-murder case. When a body washes up in the river, the questions increase, and suddenly, there are way too many participants in a case that had seemed cut-and-dried.
To complicate life, Korsakov is getting out of jail, and he has plans for Hopewell.
The Characters
Sarah Durandt has been widowed for almost two years now. Her husband and three-year-old son, Sam and Josh, were murdered on Snakehead Mountain, and she is still grieving. Colonel Godwin is her father, who has retired and now runs the Rockslide Café in town. He's remarried to Victoria; Sarah calls her the Colonel's wife---Sam wrote a song about her which he titled "Morally Superior and Personality Challenged". Mrs. Beaucouers makes a grandmotherly babysitter.
Alan Easton is a lawyer who works for a victims' advocacy project. He listens. Dr. Hedeger keeps Sarah doped up with Xanax and Prozac.
Hal Waverly is the overworked chief of police in Hopewell; he lost his wife Lily about the time Sam and Josh were murdered. Gerald Merton is the current county coroner and the heir to the Merton Funeral Home. George Dolan is a truck driver who wishes his fifteen-year-old son JD would buckle down and forget about his dreams. Julia Petrino is the girl of JD's dreams who is willing to help him with his summer project, filming a documentary up in the mountains.
Supervisory Special Agent Caitlyn Tierney ignores the traumatic brain injury she sustained in the line of duty to continue working at the FBI. She figures if she took disability, the male agents would crack jokes about what was next...medical leave for PMS? Royal Hassam is an assistant U.S. attorney in L.A. with info for an old friend. Clemens works in DNA. Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Jack Logan was her boss on the Hopewell case; he's since retired. Deputy US Marshal Leo Richland has been missing for two years.
Damian Wright is a pedophile and serial killer, executed for his crimes. Stanley Diamontes was a surfer-boy accountant "involved in a money-laundering scheme", who turned state's witness against his boss. Grigor Korsakov is a psychopathic Russian mobster who gets off on the most horrendous torture for any reason whatsoever; he thinks he's an artist. Dawson is the lawyer the Korsakov family sent to babysit him. Alexi and Max are cousins who appreciate his idea of entertainment.
The Cover
The cover strikes me as patriotic with the grayish-blue of Sarah's eyes forming the sky above a skyline of trees in silhouette which reflect in a sea of blood with the title in white.
The title says it all as Sam requires Blind Faith of his wife.
My Take
It's betrayals within betrayals and some of 'em just don't make sense. Others are so deeply hidden it's mindblowing. Then there are the facts which just don't make sense. I mean, if Sam can be coming around and spying on Sarah, why can't he retrieve the money and grab his wife and get outta Dodge? Then they compound the idiocy by rushing about like a subdued Keystone Kops routine, hanging around when I just don't see any good reason for it except to up the tension. I hate that.
I like the town and the few people in it whom we meet. The setting sounds absolutely glorious, especially if you're into outdoor sports like hunting, hiking, and camping.
I liked the romance building between Caitlyn and Hal. Makes it truly poignant at the end. And I cried. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I cry whenever I get emotionally involved with the characters. That's part of what makes a good story. Creating characters that pull the reader into the story and Lyons does it well. She's particularly good at keeping things hidden until the penultimate betrayal.
For the most part, it's well written, except for those few plot points I found stupid. Lyons cranks up the tension on this and keeps you wondering throughout.
The Story
A lab geek has raised questions about the first case Caitlyn took on after her on-the-job accident. Indiscrepancies that could well have resulted in a miscarriage of justice on the Hopewell double-murder case. When a body washes up in the river, the questions increase, and suddenly, there are way too many participants in a case that had seemed cut-and-dried.
To complicate life, Korsakov is getting out of jail, and he has plans for Hopewell.
The Characters
Sarah Durandt has been widowed for almost two years now. Her husband and three-year-old son, Sam and Josh, were murdered on Snakehead Mountain, and she is still grieving. Colonel Godwin is her father, who has retired and now runs the Rockslide Café in town. He's remarried to Victoria; Sarah calls her the Colonel's wife---Sam wrote a song about her which he titled "Morally Superior and Personality Challenged". Mrs. Beaucouers makes a grandmotherly babysitter.
Alan Easton is a lawyer who works for a victims' advocacy project. He listens. Dr. Hedeger keeps Sarah doped up with Xanax and Prozac.
Hal Waverly is the overworked chief of police in Hopewell; he lost his wife Lily about the time Sam and Josh were murdered. Gerald Merton is the current county coroner and the heir to the Merton Funeral Home. George Dolan is a truck driver who wishes his fifteen-year-old son JD would buckle down and forget about his dreams. Julia Petrino is the girl of JD's dreams who is willing to help him with his summer project, filming a documentary up in the mountains.
Supervisory Special Agent Caitlyn Tierney ignores the traumatic brain injury she sustained in the line of duty to continue working at the FBI. She figures if she took disability, the male agents would crack jokes about what was next...medical leave for PMS? Royal Hassam is an assistant U.S. attorney in L.A. with info for an old friend. Clemens works in DNA. Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Jack Logan was her boss on the Hopewell case; he's since retired. Deputy US Marshal Leo Richland has been missing for two years.
Damian Wright is a pedophile and serial killer, executed for his crimes. Stanley Diamontes was a surfer-boy accountant "involved in a money-laundering scheme", who turned state's witness against his boss. Grigor Korsakov is a psychopathic Russian mobster who gets off on the most horrendous torture for any reason whatsoever; he thinks he's an artist. Dawson is the lawyer the Korsakov family sent to babysit him. Alexi and Max are cousins who appreciate his idea of entertainment.
The Cover
The cover strikes me as patriotic with the grayish-blue of Sarah's eyes forming the sky above a skyline of trees in silhouette which reflect in a sea of blood with the title in white.
The title says it all as Sam requires Blind Faith of his wife.
December 5, 2016
I read many reviews of this book where people commented it's an "easy read" and I agree. However, I saw ratings ranging from one lonely star to five slightly hard-to-believe stars (not the stars themselves; the fact that some people awarded that many). I actually chose to read this based on a review of a later book in this series, and, for once, wanted to start at the beginning. The first thing I would recommend to this writer (if she asked) is to fire the so-called editor who worked on this story. There were so many inconsistencies and continuity errors that were annoying, and the grammar certainly needed work. The concept of the story wasn't bad, but there were too many villains and too many motives for the various crimes (so, too many crimes as well!). Now, do I move on to book 2 in the series, hoping that the author improves as she goes along (and many do). Should I instead skip to the book I read the glowing review about and forget the ones in between? Or should I stick to the books I already own and come back to this writer IF (and you'll notice that's a big "if") I ever finish the 100 or so books currently residing in my wardrobe-turned-book cabinet? Yeah, I think the latter is the one.
July 7, 2015
Blind Faith is a soap opera-like mystery full of shallow characters, melodramatic dialogue, and implausible scenes. The story has surplus contrived coincidences and its primary villain is so cartoonish that he resembles a character from Rocky & Bullwinkle.
I must applaud author C.J. Lyons, however, for penning a fascinating depiction of someone who suffers chronic migraines. Via Lyon’s vivid writing, the average reader will easily feel heroine Caitlyn Tierney’s dread and pain whenever the random brain storms shut her down.
This is a typical airport book and definite page-turner. Readers will likely find themselves eagerly wanting to see how FBI agent Caitlyn manages to escape the Grand Canyon-sized hole (masquerading as upstate New York) where she finds herself trapped.
Easy, brainless reads like Blind Faith can be enjoyably distracting. That’s why I’ll continue to the next offerings in the series.
I must applaud author C.J. Lyons, however, for penning a fascinating depiction of someone who suffers chronic migraines. Via Lyon’s vivid writing, the average reader will easily feel heroine Caitlyn Tierney’s dread and pain whenever the random brain storms shut her down.
This is a typical airport book and definite page-turner. Readers will likely find themselves eagerly wanting to see how FBI agent Caitlyn manages to escape the Grand Canyon-sized hole (masquerading as upstate New York) where she finds herself trapped.
Easy, brainless reads like Blind Faith can be enjoyably distracting. That’s why I’ll continue to the next offerings in the series.
April 5, 2020
I found this book at a discarded library books sale and the plot line interested me. I was not at all disappointed. I found this book full of twists and turns that I didn't not see coming. It was kind of a quick read and I found myself thinking about the characters when I wasn't even reading the book. The writing style was not bad and the characters did have some development. I might even read more from this author.
November 3, 2010
This is my first read for this author and I really enjoyed it. The pace is quick and the suspense is high. At one point I almost couldn't keep up with the pace of the book. Lyons interweaves 2 plots into 1 book and makes it work well together. This is a quick read that can be done in one sitting. Lyons will be added to my list of must read authors.
August 24, 2011
Got this for 99 cents on Kindle so my expectations were low - this was a good fast read - unrealistic plot and fast moving none the less. The plot was better than characters up until the end when the plot unraffles into a finish that's unbelievable. Still I'd pass this along for beach reading or to have on hand during a stressful time when you just need some unchallenging mind occupation.
August 13, 2013
This is an extremely fast paced thriller (actually won the 2013 Paperback Thriller Award). I enjoyed the storyline but found that there were soooo many characters to keep up with. Found myself skimming towards the end. There was a twst I didn't see coming. In all a good read and I will read her followup this fall: Black Sheep.
January 7, 2017
A little confusing until the end, when it all came together. The last 60 pages were the best. I like her style, but with so many characters it's hard to follow - although to be fair, I did have quite a few breaks between reading this. I did enjoy it though, and I love happy endings.
August 31, 2011
this book was ok. I found a lot of the story line to be unreal. I feel the story just was not developed very well.
October 3, 2011
Really REALLY REALLY bad writing. Within the first 100 pages you can figure the whole thing out. UGH!
September 2, 2012
Could not wait to be done with this... very painful to finish (and I don't mean in a great, literary sense).
January 30, 2013
My first book of C.J. Lyons and I really enjoyed it. Had some great twists and enjoyed the development of the main characters.
August 30, 2018
Good mystery\thriller dealing with a woman in a very small upstate New York town whose husband and young son disappear and are presumed to be the victims of a serial predator. When the predator commits another murder in Texas, he is caught, quickly convicted and then executed, all without giving our heroine, Sarah, any closure to where the bodies of her son and husband are.
Enter FBI agent Caitlyn, whose on the verge of retirement from a brain tumor that has left her with debilitating headaches and was on the case of the murder of Sarah's husband and son. New evidence involving DNA blows a hole in the theory that the murders were committed by one man and Caitlyn is determined to set things right before she wraps up her career.
The story is a good one, so I won't give away any more of the plot but it does take several twists and turns and there are some genuine surprises along the way. One device I had trouble with was the character of The Colonel (the name he is referred to throughout the book, honestly), the owner of the small town's diner, and his relationship to Sarah, which isn't established until halfway through the book unless I really, really missed something.
That's the only nitpick I could find with this book, a rollicking good thriller that keeps the pages turning until the very end. Highly recommended.
Enter FBI agent Caitlyn, whose on the verge of retirement from a brain tumor that has left her with debilitating headaches and was on the case of the murder of Sarah's husband and son. New evidence involving DNA blows a hole in the theory that the murders were committed by one man and Caitlyn is determined to set things right before she wraps up her career.
The story is a good one, so I won't give away any more of the plot but it does take several twists and turns and there are some genuine surprises along the way. One device I had trouble with was the character of The Colonel (the name he is referred to throughout the book, honestly), the owner of the small town's diner, and his relationship to Sarah, which isn't established until halfway through the book unless I really, really missed something.
That's the only nitpick I could find with this book, a rollicking good thriller that keeps the pages turning until the very end. Highly recommended.
July 27, 2023
There are those moments when you can tell in the first two or three pages of a book that you and it have formed a tight bond until the back page. This was just such a book for me. The book drew me in hard from the outset, and I thrilled my way to the back cover with much appreciation for the plot, the writing style, and the suspense.
Someone murdered Sarah Durandt’s husband and son. It happened high in the Adirondacks, and the cops think they got the right guy. He’s on death row in another state, and Sarah, battling the darkness of her grief and loss, goes there to get information from him as to where he buried the bodies. Neither Sam nor her son, Josh, surfaced.
But the killer is uncooperative. He takes to his grave the secret of where Sam and Josh died.
FBI Agent Caitlyn Tierney is in the area for other reasons, and she gets involved in Sarah’s case. You see, the guy they executed didn’t kill Sam and Josh after all.
I’ve provided a child-like description of this plot. I’ve failed to help you see the gripping suspense that will tie your guts in knots if you download this. You’ll love the ending, and I love the fact that I didn’t slip my moorings and write about it. That’s not as easy as you think. I want to gush about the book—all of it.
Someone murdered Sarah Durandt’s husband and son. It happened high in the Adirondacks, and the cops think they got the right guy. He’s on death row in another state, and Sarah, battling the darkness of her grief and loss, goes there to get information from him as to where he buried the bodies. Neither Sam nor her son, Josh, surfaced.
But the killer is uncooperative. He takes to his grave the secret of where Sam and Josh died.
FBI Agent Caitlyn Tierney is in the area for other reasons, and she gets involved in Sarah’s case. You see, the guy they executed didn’t kill Sam and Josh after all.
I’ve provided a child-like description of this plot. I’ve failed to help you see the gripping suspense that will tie your guts in knots if you download this. You’ll love the ending, and I love the fact that I didn’t slip my moorings and write about it. That’s not as easy as you think. I want to gush about the book—all of it.
May 8, 2020
Ho-hum. The plot kept me reading (until the action got truly dumb near the end), but the writing made me do a *lot* of eye-rolling.
For example (from a flashback on pp. 266–267): "Surrounded by her arms, comforted in the warm embrace of the mountain and the stars above them, he had decided that he was now a different man, a new man. And the next morning as the sun seduced the mountains with its golden glow he had arisen and [gotten rid of] the last piece of [his old self] still remaining.... After the photo had finished burning he woke [his lover]. The rising sun bathed her in streams of ruby and gold. They made love again and as they clung together, shivering in the morning breeze, tears had warmed [his] face."
Ack. Ptui.
For example (from a flashback on pp. 266–267): "Surrounded by her arms, comforted in the warm embrace of the mountain and the stars above them, he had decided that he was now a different man, a new man. And the next morning as the sun seduced the mountains with its golden glow he had arisen and [gotten rid of] the last piece of [his old self] still remaining.... After the photo had finished burning he woke [his lover]. The rising sun bathed her in streams of ruby and gold. They made love again and as they clung together, shivering in the morning breeze, tears had warmed [his] face."
Ack. Ptui.
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