Southern Crimes Series book 3 romantic/suspense

Hidden Agenda by Lisa Harris

 

Michael Hunt, an undercover agent in the Mexican drug cartel has just hours to live.  He is shackled, questioned, beaten and left on a remote island resort of the man who wants him dead.  Another agent has been killed before his eyes.  He doesn’t know what the cartel has learned about his true identity and has no chance of escaping a certain death—until he is rescued by Ivan and Olivia Hamilton, the children of the cartel leader.  Even if Michael, Ivan and Olivia manage to escape from the island, there is no guarantee they will survive.  They may be tracked down and killed at any point by Olivia and Ivan’s father or one of his henchmen.  Olivia and Ivan are just now learning that their much absent father is not the business man they thought he was.  What other lies have they been told by their late mother and why?

Harris writes a fast-paced, “don’t blink or you’ll miss it” suspense with a rather predictable romance intertwined.  The pace, as well as the questions the storyline continued to raise kept me reading.

The characters were revealed more by their actions than thoughts, as an action-packed story would demand, but I found myself not missing them too much when the book ended, which is one of the true tests of character development for me.  However, I might have felt differently had this not been the first book I read of this series.  That being said, the author did convey pertinent information regarding the plot of the preceding books so that even if the characters were new to me, I knew the important pieces of their pasts.

The plot left enough questions unanswered regarding Michael and his family, Olivia and Ivan, that I would probably read a sequel.  Readers will probably enjoy the whole series—especially those who like romantic suspense.

 

Unusual fiction/fantasy

Both of Me by Jonathan Friesen

In an accidental exchange of backpacks on a flight, Clara’s life takes a surprising turn.  She must find her bag and in the process meets Elias Phinn, a wonderful, confusing, creative, gentle, demanding schizophrenic.  He captures her imagination and persuades her to join him in his quest to find the Light keeper.  He somehow knows her past and her Great Undoing, which has sent her running away from her family.  In order to find out what Elias knows and how, she goes with him, but soon discovers that there are two Eliases.  She hopes to help him complete his quest, to destroy the Light keeper and in the end to unite her two Eliases.  Along the way she must come to terms with his past and hers and how the quest     will either heal or destroy the both of them.

Friesen writes an unusual story.   I found the story line a bit confusing at times, finding it difficult to reconcile some of the details with reality.  However, I couldn’t give up on the book.  I found it fascinating to try and figure out what Clara’s Great Undoing was and why Elias needed to find the Light keeper.  The supporting characters made the  story that much more interesting and was another factor in keeping me reading, although again, there were many details regarding them that seemed rather unrealistic.

I found the story’s ending to be satisfying and looking back on the book, saw the pattern of redemption, which I wouldn’t have predicted.  The fact that this book was listed as a children’s book concerned me a bit.  As an elementary teacher, I would not recommend this book to my students and would have preferred to see it listed as a young adult fiction.  It contains some thematic elements that younger children may find confusing.  I did enjoy reading it and would recommend it to a high school student.  I received a free copy from the publisher and this is my honest review.

 

 

Seek and Hide, Haven Seekers Book 1 by Amanda G. Stevens

Marcus Brenner lives in a time when Christianity is outlawed.  The MPC (Michigan Philosophical Constabulary) hunts down Christians to “re-educate” them.  Despite the danger, Marcus feels obligated to warn and protect his fellow Christians.  His unwitting informant is Jason Mayweather, an MPC who drinks too much and mentions that he has a warrant for two of Marcus’ friends.  Although he does his best, Marcus can’t prevent them from being arrested.  His failure to save them makes him more determined to help their friend Aubrey and her infant son.  Will he be able to help Aubrey regain custody of her son Elliott and keep out of the reach of the MPC?  Can Marcus rescue Elliott and still protect those he loves?

These questions are answered in Seek and Hide.  The characters are well-developed and yet have very real flaws, which cause them to depend on their relationship with God.  The plot moves quickly and keeps the reader involved.  Because this is speculative fiction, the reader feels tension between what is and what could happen in the future.  The reader who enjoys suspense with a fast-paced plot and some very human characters will enjoy this book.

Scuba Diving Mystery

Submerged by Dani Pettrey, Alaskan Courage Series #1

Bailey Craig has left small town Yancey, Alaska and vowed never to return.  Too many regrets and difficult memories haunt her there.  But when her only living relative dies in a plane crash there, she has no choice but to return for the funeral.  She plans to avoid everyone, especially her high school love interest, Cole McKenna, stay just long enough to settle her aunt’s affairs and then leave.  However, the mystery surrounding her aunt’s death and Cole’s need of her help, convince her to stay awhile longer.

Cole’s family owns the town’s dive shop and search and rescue operation.  His family helped find the submerged plane where her aunt died.  As the clues pile up, it begins to look like her aunt was murdered.  Cole and Bailey must decide if they can overcome past hurts to solve the mystery of her aunt’s death.

This book is the first in Pettrey’s Alaskan Courage series.  Although the story had enough plot twists to keep me reading, it was pretty easy to predict how Cole and Bailey would react.  I thought they were a bit too perfect, despite their flawed pasts.  The element of diving and finding a sunken treasure more than made up the characters’ predictability.  I also enjoyed learning about Alaska’s Russian history.  All in all, I found this book to be a very enjoyable read.