Review

I’ve never picked up a book by this author so my expectations were pretty much non-existent. This can be read as a stand-alone since the author provides plenty of details about what happens in the previous books. However, I do recommend reading the previous books first because it will give insight to the characters.

Taylor Jackson is a kick-ass lieutenant who has recently fought one of her biggest criminals, the Pretender. He physically injured her, causing her to remain mute, suffering in silence. Taylor is not the type to wallow in self-pity but she is finding it most challenging to get past this. In order to get back to work, she must agree to see the police department’s shrink, something that she despises to do.

Her friend, Memphis, makes her an offer that she can hardly refuses, to escape to Scotland and heal with a psychiatrist friend of his. After much careful deliberating, she convinces her fiancé to let go, Taylor finds herself in another country trying hard to fight to get back to her former self. Just as things are looking up, Taylor is thrust into another mystery of ghosts of the past.

Memphis has his own case to solve in London and he can’t stick around to babysit Taylor, though he wishes to win her away from her fiancé. His feelings intensify and he has guilt over them due to his wife’s death. James, Taylor’s fiancé, is fighting to keep Taylor but her being with another man is making it hard for him. Not to mention, he has kept the fact that he has a child hidden (a fact he has recently discovered) and that he is searching for his son. Taylor feels betrayed and she uses her friendship with Memphis to take away the pain.

While Taylor is at the castle, she starts to rely heavily on drug (prescription) and alcohol, and the hallucinations begin. Taylor starts to spiral out of control and she can’t tell what is real and what is fantasy. Soon, she discovers someone is out to harm her and she doesn’t know who she can trust.

The characters are interesting and believable with enough flaws and quirks to make them human. Taylor makes plenty of dumb mistakes and is easily naïve which is a contrast to her tough girl exterior. At times, I wanted to shake her for putting herself into stupid and tempting situations but I understood she has the need to be independent.

I figured out the potential killer early on though the author did throw in a few ploys to distract me. The action and suspense is slowly thought out and the author has a way of keeping the reader’s interest. However, this book is not as focused on the suspense but more of the recovery.

I really dislike love triangles because I always end up liking one character more over the next and it upsets me when the author picks my least favorite. In this book, the love triangle is obvious but it is put to bed rather quickly and is a relief to all parties ( I don’t want to spoil it).

Overall, a good suspense, not as thrilling as I would have liked but I will be going back to read the previous books.

Reviewed by Samantha