Deep Dark (Tracers, #10)

I’m getting close to being caught up with this series!! Only two more books are currently published and then I’ll have to find a new focus.

Deep Dark returns to the Delphi Center in the 10th installment of the Tracers Series. Delaney, Laney for short, Knox is part of the cyber unit there and is credited as one of their best hackers. The other half of this couple-to-be is Reed Novak, an Austin PD detective.

Reed is dumbfounded by the crime scene he just walked onto. There’s no physical evidence left behind whatsoever. There are no hairs, no fingerprints, no sign of a break in. Nobody working the crime understands it. That’s when Reed receives a mysterious clue somehow sent from the Chief of Police’s phone number. One thing is clear, it wasn’t the Chief of Police who sent the text. After doing some digging of his own Reed learns about Laney and her skills. He seeks her out to find out what else she knows.

The murder of Laney’s friend is eerily similar to an attack that she survived a few years ago. Because of this Laney just can’t stay away from this case, and she uses her skills to illegally search for information about the killer. Turns out he’s been spying on his victims through their webcams. Eventually, Reed caves and allows Laney to help him with the case, but she doesn’t turn up all the clues. One of the forensic investigators notices metallic shavings from the door lock on a colleague’s paper booties during a followup run through of the crime scene. Turns out the killer hasn’t been as careful as he thinks!

Laney is onto the killer and decides to follow up on the lead by herself, asserting her independence. As the pieces of the puzzle come together for Reed, he finds out that Laney has gone off to the killer’s home alone, without telling him. This was my biggest annoyance in the plot. I mean, I get it. I’m a woman, and I’m fairly independent myself, but I don’t think I would be foolish enough to go to the suspected killer’s home by myself. I get that it sets up Reed coming to the rescue on a white horse and all, but it seemed pretty weak to me. I’m not sure why I didn’t fall for the plot line as much in this book than I have in the past. Only time will tell if I will enjoy the last two books as much as the books prior to this one in the series.

Happy reading folks! 🙂

Shadow Fall (Tracers, #9)

The ninth installment of Laura Griffin’s Tracers series is called Shadow Fall and it centers in on Special Agent Tara Rushing and ex-Marine, security expert Liam Wolfe. For those of you following the series, yes, Liam is the brother of Delphi Center Mark Wolfe.

After a SWAT Team raid Tara is asked to go to a murder scene by a judge that she knows. She is supposed to gain control of the crime scene. This is a high profile case that focuses on the murder of a former public office candidate that was controversial. As time goes on more women are found murdered, and some old cases are linked to the same mystery killer. Which means that Agent Rushing has a serial killer on her hands.

Throughout the investigation the focus on Liam Wolfe as a suspect continues to be a distraction. Tara is sure he is clear, but the local officers continue to use him as a suspect. Rushing continues to go to the Wolfe Security Compound to learn more about the security company and Liam Wolfe himself. Along the way she realizes her intense attraction to the security expert. She also uses Liam for his knowledge of the small town they are in.

As Tara gets closer to figuring out the case the killer turns her into a target as his next victim. When this happens Liam goes alpha male in protection mode to make sure Tara is safe from harm. Tara is an alpha female though, and they butt heads for a while over who does or doesn’t need protection. Ultimately, the two work as a team to bring down the killer and both of their skills are needed in the take down. Without one part of their team they wouldn’t have been successful in ending the killing spree, and likely an FBI agent would have been the next victim!

This book was hot and thrilling with lots of intense moments. The way Griffin worked with this couple and their seconds in command was riveting. I’m coming to realize that I seem to prefer the books in this series that include more than just the main couple. I’m looking forward to the last few books of the series!

Happy reading 🙂

Beyond Limits (Tracers, #8)

Beyond Limits, book 8 in the Tracers series by Laura Griffin was an exciting read that revisited two characters that readers of the series had previously met. FBI agent Elizabeth LeBlanc and Navy SEAL Derek Vaughn. We met them previously in book 6, Scorched, and Griffin has finally decided to make them the feature couple.

This story picks up with Derek and the SEAL team finishing up a mission that ended with the death of a fellow SEAL. Back on the mainland USA, Elizabeth is assigned to a career making case, one that links to this mission the SEALs wrapped up. The problem is almost everybody believes the cases aren’t linked. Elizabeth doesn’t believe she was assigned to the case because of her merit, but because of her history with Derek. Derek unofficially helps out through the majority of the case, even getting arrested since he isn’t officially on the case.

It was a long passionate battle between Elizabeth and Derek between getting him cleared of any wrongdoing in the case and their romantic interest in each other. This book was one of the more enjoyable in the series for me. I really enjoy when Griffin decides to revisit characters she’s set up in previous segments of the storylines. It demonstrates that she’s really in tune with her readers and you can tell who the fan favorite characters are.

Exposed (Tracers, #7)

Wow. Have I been MIA or what!? I’ve continuously been reading, but haven’t been taking the time to write up my thoughts on a bunch of books. So my goal tonight is to schedule a bunch of posts…here’s hoping I follow through.

This post focuses on the novel, “Exposed,” by Laura Griffin. It is book 7 in the Tracers series. Exposed centers on Maddie Callahan, a forensic photographer from the Delphi Center, and Brian Beckman of the FBI.

You see, Maddie doesn’t only take photographs of crime scenes. She also has a side hustle doing photography for weddings. After one of her drawn out engagement photo shoots Maddie is attacked. When she was going over the crime with the police afterwards she assumed it was just another random mugging. However, Brian quickly figured out the attackers were after the camera, not Maddie or her belongings that were tossed away nearby.

Brian thinks the crime sounds familiar to a string of crime he’s been tracking for the past decade. As multiple attempts are made to steal the camera from Maddie, Brian gets closer to her, and gets to know her. He falls hard for her, but Maddie continuously rejects him because of her past history of a broken marriage because of a lost child. But as usual in this series, the characters can only say no for so long before they finally break down to their inner desires. Brian helps Maddie come to terms with the losses that she has experienced, while also solving the crime.

Overall this was an interesting read, and I enjoyed reading about the background stories of the two characters. I felt like they weren’t your average lead characters that you typically read about.

Twisted (Tracers, #5)

Hi readers–I’ve been a bit MIA lately…things have been a bit crazy lately–good crazy though. I spent a week in Arlington, VA for the Computers in Libraries conference which was a lot of fun, and I learned a ton too! But, this isn’t the time for excuses on my not posting–it’s time for my review on Twisted, the 5th installment in Laura Griffin’s Tracers Series.

Twisted centers in on detective Allison Doyle. Detective Doyle is the rookie that was reassigned to the homicide unit after her help in the university shooting case over the summer. Now, she’s the only one that doesn’t believe that a young woman’s murder was as simple as it appears to the rest of her department. As she tries to make her case with her department, experienced FBI profiler, Mark Wolfe arrives on the case, and he’s on Doyle’s side. Wolfe has been chasing a killer for the last 10 years of his career, and he believes the killer has struck again. As he mentors Allison through the case, he also falls for her.

Most of the book shows the two characters falling for each other in secret, hiding their feelings from each other for several reasons. As the case gets ever more dangerous, it becomes harder for the two to hide their feelings for each other, eventually leading to them coming to terms with their feelings.

Although I enjoyed the novel, I didn’t like it as much as I have liked others in this series. I find this entertaining because as I report my ratings on Goodreads, I see that others rated Twisted higher than others in this series. I guess that really proves that every book has its reader!

Do you think every book has its reader? And, as always–Happy reading!

PS–Although I haven’t been writing, that doesn’t mean I’ve slowed down on my reading. I’ve got several posts to catch up on!

Snapped (Tracers #4)

I am loving the speed at which I am able to get through the books in the Tracers series. I have been rotating through fiction and nonfiction books and it takes me much longer to read a nonfiction book, especially when I’m only half interested in the nonfiction book.

This installment of the series dives into the lives of Sophie Barrett, secretary at the Delphi Center, and Jonah Macon, a homicide detective for the SMPD. The book begins with what appears to be a random school shooting at the local university. As the plot unwinds the reader comes to learn just how meticulously planned out this attack was. Sophie, of course, had been walking through campus at the time of the shooting and was witness to much of the attack, making her SMPD’s key witness. She was the one to point out that the shooter had an accomplice, that the shooter’s car was planted in a certain spot, she even was the one making the 911 call and notifying the take down team of where the shooting was coming from! Sophie was at the center of it all.

Sophie makes the “mistake” of going on the news with her accomplice theory when the police don’t believe her. This sets up the scene for the rest of the book hiding from the mysterious Sharpe. There are a handfull of attempts to kill Sophie and each one draws Sophie and Jonah closer together.

It was another enjoyable book from Laura Griffin, and I’ve put in a hold at my local library for the next book in the series. Although I enjoyed it, there were a few parts that bother me a bit. I realize this book was written several years ago, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable to be using even fake school shootings as the background plot for a romance novel. I mean, I get it, the trauma brings the two main characters together, but I’m not really a fan of using a school shooting for subplot substance. For the most part I liked how Griffin portrayed Sophie. She is an independent woman who takes care of herself. That being said, most of her character development in this book seemed like a waste. Maybe that’s because the timeline of the book is so short, but I think it does the character a unjustice. She’s working really hard to get a promotion at the Delphi Center, and midway through the book we hear a rumor that she’s on the shortlist for the promotion, but we don’t find out any further what happens there. The reader gets a sense that Sophie and her parents and siblings are quite different in how they live life. At one point it seems we will finally meet a part of that famiy and get some closure there, but no, that meeting is brought to an end before it even ever really begins. Maybe we will continue to see Sophie throughout the series and some of these questions will be answered, but if this turns out like the pattern the rest of the books follow, we likely won’t see her character built upon much.

Happy Reading 🙂

Unforgivable (Tracers 3)

The third installment of the Tracers series was a fun read. The previous novels vaguely introduced us to Unforgivable’s main character, Mia Voss, the DNA tracer at the Delphi Center. I was excited to get to the story where Mia is the main character since she had made brief appearances in a few of the previous books.

One thing I love about this series is how Griffin portrays her female characters. They demonstrate that it is ok to be intelligent, nerdy, and tough. Each character has their vulnerabilities, but triumphs over whatever initially holds them back. Mia Voss is as smart as they come being at the top of her field in DNA.

Mia is the target of a carjacking during which an innocent man is killed. She is deeply hurt by this and doesn’t want much outside help as she doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt. Detective Ric Santos has other plans though, as he and Mia bonded before this incident he wants to protect her from the perpetrator.

I enjoyed this book for the depth of the story. Just when you think it can’t possibly get worse–it does. It was multi-level between the police involved, the detectives, and finally the FBI being drawn in. It wasn’t one of the more simple cases, that’s for sure.

Happy Reading!

Unstoppable (Tracers 2.5)

I am thoroughly enjoying the Tracers series from Laura Griffin! Each installment has been interesting and captured my attention in different ways as it focuses on different characters each time.

Unstoppable is a short novella focusing on forensic anthropologist Kelsey Quinn who works with bones and decomposing bodies at the Delphi Center. She is also a teacher of a graduate class and the book focuses on her time at a dig. Since there have been a scurry of crimes in the area her Navy SEAL father sends Navy SEAL Gage Brewer to play bodyguard for the remainder of the dig. Chaos ensues and Kelsey and Gage have to come together to solve the crime going on in the area.

I went into this novella being skeptical about it because I couldn’t understand why Griffin would publish it as a novella, instead of a full-length book. These main characters come back for book #6 of the series so after finishing Unstoppable it makes a bit more sense with the timeline of the series. By the time I got close to the end of the novella I didn’t want the book to end! I’m trying to quickly read the in-between books to get back to Kelsey and Gage’s story-line.

Happy Reading!

Unspeakable

Unspeakable is the second book in Laura Griffin’s Tracers series. Each of the novels in this series focus on two characters in the criminal/forensic fields in Texas. This book focuses on Elaina McCord, an FBI agent, and Troy Stockton, a true crime writer who was featured as one of the characters in the first book in the series.

Elaina is a rookie FBI agent trying to demonstrate her skills, but the men on the case want nothing to do with her and are essentially icing her out from being helpful on the case. She constantly has to prove herself, but often gets herself into more trouble than she should because she is more of a loner than part of a team. She always feels that she needs to do things on her own to prove that she isn’t a weak link to the team because she is a woman.

The team is investigating a series of murders of young women who were violently killed and left to decompose in the muggy Texas marshlands. The murderer begins taunting Elaina with phone calls and other notes. Luckily, through every dangerous turn Elaina has Troy Stockton keeping an eye on her. Stockton is the only one that believes Elaina is on the right track right from the get go and helps her develop her leads and interview suspects and witnesses. He introduces his contacts at the Delphi Center to Elaina so that she can get evidence tested when her supervisor doesn’t believe it is worth the FBI’s time. Troy seems to be the only one watching out for the safety of Elaina, when even she jumps into dangerous situations without thinking.

With the killer knowing how to get to Elaina, while she doesn’t know who he is, it is a race against time to figure out who he is before he gets more victims, or targets her. This is the cause of several arguments between Troy and Elaina as his first priority seems to be her safety.

Through a search back several years it is clear that the killer has been honing his skills for quite some time and in several locations. Police from different areas of Texas come in to help out and the forensic specialists at the Delphi Center score big when testing the evidence sent in. It was a true group effort to solve this case, and an enjoyable read. I can’t wait to continue the series!

Untraceable

As a Technical Services Librarian, pretty much every book that my library orders comes across my desk at some point. Fortunately, and unfortunately, that means I have a huge TBR list so a lot of my posts aren’t about the most recently released books. Nevertheless, they are still enjoyable reads. A few weeks ago, the most recent book in Laura Griffin’s Tracers series came across my desk. The plot sounded great to me, since I love detective/forensic murder mystery series. I didn’t want to start with the most recent book though, so I looked for the first book in the series and ILL’d the book–“Untraceable.”

Griffin introduces readers to a crime in the middle of it, instead of after the fact. I really liked that she did not bring us in to the plot by immediately introducing us to PI/computer genius Alexandra Lovell and Detective Nathan Devereaux. Lovell also takes on clients who are women who have suffered abuse and are looking to disappear. Alex helped victim Melanie Bess disappear and now she is really missing and Alex has a gut feeling that something isn’t right.

I really hate giving spoilers–yes, even for a book published in 2009, so I don’t want to give away too much plot. But the rest of the book focuses on searching for Melanie and what crimes are connected to her abusive husband, who is a cop. There are many twists and turns throughout the story line including some that I didn’t see coming.

The other subplot going on is the budding relationship between Alex and Nathan. There is a sexual tension between them throughout the novel, and includes some back story as to when they met previously. As I was reading I had to double check that this was the first book in the series because their meeting was brought up so often. I’m intrigued to find out how their relationship further develops and was surprised to see how much happened in just the first book of the series. Normally, authors will let the tension build up a few books and slowly jump in, but this book jumps right in.

This book was a fun, quick read, and I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I can’t wait for the book to get shipped to me so I can get started!