Eight stars
D. K. Hood exemplifies her abilities with this thriller collection. Hood creates a stunning story that is sure to keep the reader fixated on learning how things develop while relaxing throughout the experience. FBI Special Agent Beth Katz has kept her secret from everyone as she keeps hunting for serial killers across Montana. While Special Agent Katz has been working to find a local serial killer another case crosses her desk, as a number of women have gone missing during violent robberies. While Special Agent Katz looks for answers, she realises that the pressure of the job has left her vulnerable, perhaps too much so, and her secret might soon come to the surface. Hood delves deeper into her newest protagonist to present a great novel.
Cassidy Wilder is frantically looking for cover, knowing that every second counts. While the woods is a reasonable place to hide, the man who has abducted her is hot on her heels and before long, he will find her and exact a punishment even she could not fathom.
A convenience store robbery leads to a number of people dead and Cassidy Wilder abducted from the scene. FBI Special Agent Beth Katz would not normally take the case, pressure is being put on the Field Office in rural Montana to help solve the case. Spanning a number of counties, the law enforcement officials have not been working well together, forcing Special Agent Katz and her partner, Dax Styles, to corral the sheriffs together to get answers. While visiting the Wilder household, a few blocks from the crime scene, Special Agent Katz feels for the family and vows that she will do all she can to ensure that Cassidy returns home safely.
Looking through all the evidence on hand, Special Agent Katz is horrified when she watches the CCTV footage. The killer is calm as he shoots people around the store, as though this is all a game to him. Cassidy appears horrified violently taken from the store and shoved into the back of a truck. Comparing the other cases to this latest one, the parallels are eerie. Each of the other women who were abducted from the scene have turned up dead, their underwear missing, as though this is some odd trophy. Special Agent Katz realises that there is a time limit before Cassidy will also be killed and discarded.
A shocking discovery turns the case on its head and Special Agent Katz worries there is more to come. It is only when one of the bodies of the discovered women has a name written in blood that the case opens up. A strong lead has Special Agent Katz and Styles questioning themselves and just how much they know about the case, as well as one another. All they can decipher is that there is a killer out there, in plain sight, with more attacks surely on the horizon. They must stop this killer before the body count rises exponentially. Hood grips the reader with her storytelling and kept me wondering until the final page.
D.K. Hood has done a fabulous job with this series, painting a dark and powerful scene for the reader to enjoy. While the narrative flows well, there are strong undertones of the darker side that is Special Agent Beth Katz. As the story gets more intense, Katz and those around her find themselves caught in a web, questioning everything that is taking place. With a momentum build in the narrative, the reader finds themselves affixed to the story and all its facets. The character development is great, allowing the reader to learn a little more about those who are part of this collection, while also getting a crossover feel from others who work in Black Rock Falls, home to Hood's other series that is just as captivating. I am eager to see where Beth Katz and those around her will go and what backstory will emerge that will explain more of her darker aspects.
Plot twists are present in all of these novels, this one especially. The series is gaining traction and Hood is adding more to her stories to help shape them for the curious reader. Twists emerge that no one could have seen coming, which adds depth and intensity to the stories, all while keeping the reader wondering what is to come. I await the next novel in the series and how D.K Hood will present it for series fans.
Kudos, Madam Hood, for another great book that checked all the boxes.
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