Critical Threat (Extreme Measures, Book 3)

LYNETTE EASON

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 2023.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This series just gets better and better! A serial killer is on the loose, and the killings are reminiscent of an earlier serial killer who is now incarcerated. Supervisory Special Agency Grace Billingsley is a behavioral analyst – a profiler – called to the latest crime scene. Sam Monroe is an FBI agent and a prison psychiatrist, also called to the crime scene but in an unofficial capacity – he is the son of that incarcerated serial killer.

I loved Sam just about right off the bat. It’s been awhile since I read the previous books and I wondered briefly if we had already met him, but I don’t believe so. One of my first thoughts about him was what a gentleman he is. He and Grace met previously at a conference, where they spent some time together, but haven’t seen each other since. In a good romance, the characters usually have some baggage (don’t we all?), and with his infamous father, Sam has a lot of baggage. He and his now ex-wife had even changed theirs and their children’s last names in order to distance themselves from his father.

In the previous books, from what I remember, especially the first book, the action started right from the first few pages. This time around the book started off at a leisurely pace, though no less enthralling, as Grace and Sam, along with other members of the FBI, continue to investigate. Sam has a niggling feeling that his father, despite being in prison, is somehow connected to the murders. He and Grace visit the previous crime scenes as Grace gathers information to create a profile of the killer. There is some action, a car nearly running Grace over in a parking structure, but the real, pulse-pounding action starts around page 124. Not that I’m complaining, I was completely invested in the story from the first chapter.

As usual, the author’s writing is descriptive and flowing. Though I’d never read about characters heading somewhere as aiming themselves. As in, she aimed herself towards the door. I guess when we are going somewhere, we do aim ourselves in that direction. It just struck me as an odd way to describe it. Also as usual, all of the characters are well written. While we don’t see the main couples from the first two books until the very end, we meet lots of new characters, including Sam’s kids and mother-in-law, who all live with him, and both Sam’s and Grace’s coworkers. Sam’s 12 year old daughter is prevalent throughout the book, and I loved how she took to Grace immediately upon meeting her. There are plenty of twists, and while I suspected (correctly) that one plot point was going to happen, until it did I never knew where the story was going, and when it did I had no idea how the characters would get out of their predicament.

Another wonderful and suspenseful story, and I can’t wait for the next book!

*received from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed*

Goodreads Synopsis: FBI Special Agent Grace Billingsley tracks serial killers, using her skills as a psychiatrist and behavioral analyst to get dangerous people off the street and safely behind bars. But prison psychiatrist Sam Monroe knows that just because a killer is incarcerated doesn't mean they're not a threat. His own father, Peter, is a serial killer--in prison but certainly not out of Sam's life, as much as he wishes he was.

When bodies start showing up with Peter's MO, Sam and Grace are both called in to consult. They've met before--and though Grace thought they'd made a real connection, Sam ghosted her. They'll have to get past the awkwardness and mistrust to solve this case--especially because it's about to get personal.

Crossfire (Extreme Measures, Book Two)

 

LYNETTE EASON

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 2022.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program

First line: FBI Special Agent Julianna Jameson glanced at the alert on her phone.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This is the second book in the author’s Extreme Measures series, and a great follow up to the first book. Julianna is a hostage negotiator, a profession I’ve not come across in my reading before now. Her younger sister Dottie, a senior in high school, moved in with Julianna as soon as she turned eighteen and could get away from their sorry excuse of a mother. So there’s some baggage from her upbringing, but also from an event that occurred during Julianna’s own high school days.

Clay, a police officer, is an SRO – school resource officer – at Dottie’s school. There are tons of books with police officer heroes out there, but an SRO was another first for me, and I really liked it. I remember a police officer at my high school, some of us called him CC, for “cool cop”, because he’d smile and wave at us as we walked out to our car to leave when we should’ve been in class. Something I’m pretty sure Clay would not do – he’d be questioning the students and sending them back to class. Clay enjoys his job and seems to be well liked by the kids, providing them with encouragement and a willing ear if they want to talk about anything, even making sure that one of the students gets breakfast every morning, and calling the middle school to be sure that student’s younger brother is also getting breakfast.

When the story opens, Julianna is called to a hostage situation at the courthouse. A high profile defendant has taken over a courtroom. Clay also rushes to the scene when he learns about it, as his younger sister, Reese, is one of the jurors. Watching Julianna at work was tense and fascinating, as she tries to get control over the situation. We’ve all seen hostage situations play out in TV shows and movies, but seeing it from Julianna’s point of view gave me a much more detailed look at and understanding of a negotiator’s role/process.

Once it’s all over, a grateful – and impressed – Clay invites Julianna and her sister to meet him and Reese for dinner, and a very quick close friendship develops between Reese and Dottie. It’s a little slower for Clay and Julianna, what with the baggage I mentioned earlier, which Julianna doesn’t like to share or talk about. And Clay has some serious baggage of his own, from an incident that occurred when he was deployed. He avoids relationships because he’s convinced that when a woman hears his story, she’ll turn her back on him.

But it’s not all quite over, as Julianna finds herself and Dottie in danger from someone who appears to be watching them, following them. From there it’s a roller coaster ride as Clay sticks close to his new friends, determined to help Julianna keep Dottie safe, and do whatever he can to keep Julianna safe. At one point, when Julianna is called to another hostage situation, Clay has to force himself to stand down and let her go on her own, knowing she could be in danger, but also realizing she’s very capable at her job, and of taking care of herself. The women in this series, and all of Revell’s romantic suspense line of books, are definitely not helpless victims who need a man to protect them, which is a big part of their appeal to me. But it’s more than just that, of course. There is lots of action, some tender moments, and believable, well written characters who you’d love to be friends with.

All in all, this is a gripping read, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: FBI special agent Julianna James is a top-notch negotiator who has never lost a hostage. Surely, she can manage to take care of her much younger sister, Dottie, who showed up unannounced to live with Julianna while she finished her senior year of high school.

A former sniper with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Clay Snyder left the army after a tragic incident that he can't get past. Now he's working as a high school resource officer until he can figure out what to do with the rest of his life. 

Their paths cross when Julianna is called in to negotiate a courtroom hostage situation involving Clay's sister. Impressed and a bit intimidated by the calm, capable woman with the dark hair and blue eyes, Clay invites her to speak at his school. Dottie's school. 

But as the anniversary of a school shooting from Julianna's past approaches, it becomes clear that her perfect record is about to be tested and that Dottie is at risk. If Julianna and Clay can't figure out who's behind the attacks, more innocent people will die--and Julianna just might be one of them.

This intense story of revenge and redemption from bestselling author and master of suspense Lynette Eason will have you up all night as you race toward the explosive finish.

Life Flight (Extreme Measures, Book One)

 

LYNETTE EASON

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 1/4/22.

How acquired: Revell Reads Bogger Program for review.

First line: Today was not going to be the day they dies – not is she had anything to say about it.

(For Goodreads synopsis, scroll down.)

My thoughts: The action starts from page one and the adrenaline rush doesn’t let up! This is the first book in a new series, and the series is off to a great start. Penny (who, of course, in my head, looks like Penny from The Big Bang Theory!) is an EMS helicopter pilot. When the book opens, she and two paramedics have rescued a teenager who had hiking accident in the mountains and is in critical condition, and thanks to a storm Penny has to make an emergency crash landing, and then hike down the mountain for help. Unbeknownst to her, an escaped serial killer is on the loose in the mountains, with FBI Special Agent Holt in hot pursuit. Penny and her crew saved Holt’s life some time before, and they casually dated after that, but living so far apart kept a real relationship from developing.

I loved Penny and I really loved Holt. When Penny becomes the serial killer’s next target, Holt goes all out to protect her, and amidst all the danger and excitement I loved watching how their relationship deepened. They both have secrets, and when Penny’s comes out Holt is hurt and disappointed that she’d never trusted him enough to tell him about it before. And yet he has his own secret that he keeps trying to bring himself to tell her. The serial killer is as creepy as all get out, especially when we learn the reasoning behind his actions.

I wasn’t familiar with Lynette Eason prior to this book, though a quick look through my reading log shows I did read one of her category romances back in 2012, although I have no memory of it now. But I’m very impressed with her writing and her storytelling. There are quite a few characters involved in the story line, but they are all well drawn and easy to keep track of. The descriptions of the mountain and the storm and the terrain are vivid. This fast paced adventure kept me up past my bedtime, and I can’t wait for the next installment in the series.

Synopsis from Goodreads: EMS helicopter pilot Penny Carlton is used to high stress situations, but being forced to land on a mountain in a raging storm with a critical patient--and a serial killer on the loose--tests her skills and her nerve to the limit. She survives with FBI Special Agent Holt Satterfield's help. But she's not out of the woods yet.

In the ensuing days, Penny finds herself under attack. And when news reaches Holt that he may not have gotten his man after all, it will take all he and Penny have to catch a killer--before he catches one of them.

Bestselling and award-winning author Lynette Eason is back with another high-octane tale of close calls, narrow escapes, and the fight to bring a nefarious criminal to justice.