The Heart of a Killer
Jaci Burton


ISBN-10:
0778312593
ISBN-13: 978-0778312598
Publisher: Harlequin
Line: Mira
Release Date: Oct 18, 2011
Pages: 400
Retail Price: 7.99



Genre: Suspense
Heat Level: Hot
Rating:

Before the Special Forces hero has even unpacked his bags from twelve years of active duty, he's embroiled in murder—corpses bearing the brutal trademark he's seen only once before—on the worst night of his life.

The last time Detective Anna Pallino saw Dante Renaldi, they were in love. Now, he's part of the connection to a string of fresh homicides and a horrible assault Anna only survived thanks to him.

More than anything, Anna wants to trust Dante. But as the bodies and the coincidences stack up, Anna will have to decide, and fast: Is the man she owes her life to the very same one who wants her dead?

 

Review

Action and passion-packed suspense that kept me awake all night long

One horrific night, sweet sixteen-year-old Anna Pallino is attacked in the alley behind the ice cream shop she works at. Her boyfriend Dante Renaldi and his three foster brothers save her life by killing her attacker, but not before the would-be killer carves a heart in her chest.

Dante leaves that night and doesn’t return until years later, for his foster parents’ anniversary party. But on his first night back, someone he loves is brutally beaten to death in the same alley and has a heart carved into his chest. Anna, now a detective who’s nursed anger for Dante since he abandoned her when she needed him most, points the finger of suspicion at Dante.

Jaci Burton’s terrifying story hooked me from the first sentence. With a hero and heroine who smolder even as teenagers, Heart of a Killer is jam-packed with sexual tension and emotional upheaval. As Anna tries to convince everyone around her that she’s recovered from her own attack enough to investigate the case, Dante tries to convince her to risk her heart on him again. I do love a hero who knows he wants the heroine and doesn’t try to fight it.

My only problem with this novel was that I figured out who the killer was way too early. The killer’s identity seemed pretty obvious to me, which left me wondering why the heroine and hero couldn’t figure it out.

Even with that mystery removed for me, the novel was still suspenseful and terrifying. In fact, I read it over two nights when my husband was away, and it had me jumping at every noise, which is always a good sign in a suspense novel.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Katrina Latham


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