A Truth to Lie for (Elena Standish, #4)

A Truth to Lie for by Anne Perry
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A bit slow going in the beginning. Elena is sent into Germany to get a scientist (Hartwig) working in germ warfare out, another agent is sent to get his counterpart (Fassler) out. Not knowing how to get a car on her own and forbidden by Peter from contacting Roger Cordell (the cultural attache and M16) she reaches out to Jacob, who helped her escape Germany in Death in Focus.

Hartwig is shot to death during a car chase, and Elena and Jacob are tasked with helping get Fassler out as the agent sent to expedite his escape has been injured. Elena isn't anymore successful getting Fassler out than she was Hartwig he dies in a plane crash that Jacob and Elena miraculously escape from.

Lucas does a bit better on his mission to kill Paulus out of sheer luck. Hans (Roger Cordell's son in law) is sent by Paulus to pick Lucas up and Paulus orders him to kill Lucas. Hans has been unhappy with his superior officer for awhile and this assignment is the last straw he kills Paulus instead and takes Lucas to the airport. He then contacts Roger Cordell for help getting his wife Cecily and daughter Madeleine out of the country, and encourages Roger and Winifred Cordell to flee Germany too. Roger and Winifred stay behind but Hans and his family safely escape and Roger arranges for Hans to work in England.

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The Hunt (Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus, #27)

The Hunt by Faye Kellerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's sort of bittersweet as she killed off one of my favorite characters, Chris Donatti. I always felt that there was a good person inside who had been crushed by his traumatic and brutal childhood. And that if Terry hadn't used him when it was convenient for her and abandoned him he could have been redeemed. I also think this is probably the end of the series as Peter Decker and Rina are retiring to Israel. She may be planning for Cindy or McAdams to take over

This book picks up where The Lost Boys leaves off. Being too far away to help his Mother (Terry) himself Gabe calls Chris (his Dad). Chris is still in love with Terry and immediately goes to rescue her and her daughter (Juleen) after her young son (Sanjay) is kidnapped and Terry is brutally beaten. Terry decides the way to get her son back is to use Chris' feeling for her and she agrees to marry him in exchange for Chris paying off her husband's gambling debts. Chris uses Sanjay's kidnapping as leverage to get Devek to give Terry a favorable divorce. Once the divorce is granted Chris and Terry remarry and Chris flies to India to pay the kidnappers and bring Sanjay back to Terry. When he returns Terry is missing. He goes to the Decker's for help. Peter and Rina fly with Chris to Nevada to look for Terry and Cindy takes care of Juleen and Sanjay. Rina realizes a former girlfriend (Talia) of Chris' kidnapped Terry and left her to die of exposure in a shack in the mountains. They find Terry but on the way to the hospital she begins to hemorrhage from a miscarriage. Talia is arrested. After Terry's funeral Cindy agrees to raise Juleen who wants to stay in the States and Chris offers to provide financial support. Sanjay returns to India with his Father. Chris commits suicide a few months after the death of his wife and unborn daughter.

The body in the woods is Pauline. It turns out her girlfriend Elsie stabbed her when Elise saw Pauline with her ex husband Brock Baer. Being an ex con who had been charged with stalking and domestic abuse he didn't think anyone would believe him so he helped Elise bury the body. After burying Pauline in the woods Elise with through with her plans to help Bertram and Kathrine elope to Germany.

Rina and Peter leave for Israel.

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Captive by Iris Johansen (Goodreads Author)

Captive by Iris Johansen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fiona's story which was interesting and that I preferred to the main plot was rushed. The main plot was basically Seth Caleb pissed a very bad guy (Bohdan) off, the very bad guy wanted him dead and extended his hatred to Jane MacGuire once he discovered her connection to Caleb. A lot of people die and MacDuff's home is damaged in his pursuit of kidnapping Jane and her unborn child to use as bait. Eventually a trap is set for Bohdan and he is killed.

During all the chaos Jane decides to learn more about Fiona, the woman whose portrait graces MacDuff's Run and whom everyone says Jane resembles. Jane discovers that Fiona's Father was marrying her off for money but that she disappeared before the wedding could take place. She also discovers the identity of the artist who painted her portrait and that he did some murals for a train car (an antique car that gets destroyed during Bohdan's attempt to kill Jane and Caleb). Clues lead her to learning that the artist (Farrell) and Fiona were in love and that he left for America shortly before Fiona was to marry. Once in America he changed his name and disappeared. A hidden letter reveals that he sent for Fiona and engineered her escape. And shortly before the train car was destroyed Jane finds clues to a second treasure that Cira hid.

Jane has her baby at MacDuff's Run and names her Cira.

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The Forgotten Man (Elvis Cole, #10) by Robert Crais

The Forgotten Man by Robert Crais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this book we learn about Jimmy's (Elvis') past.

When a cop seeking revenge on the men who murdered her family when she was a child lures Cole into her scheme by telling him the victim in the homicide claimed to be his Father before he died, nothing good can come of it Cole doesn't know anything about his Father and has been hunting the man his entire life. Now will he discover his Father's identity or will his distraction cost him his life.

Pike and Starkey don't plan to let him die, no matter what others may have on the agenda. But can Starkey win Cole's heart when Lucy comes rushing to his bedside.

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L.A. Requiem (Elvis Cole and Joe Pike #8)

The Last Detective by Robert Crais
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What could go wrong when Lucy's possessive ex has Ben kidnapped to drive a wedge between Lucy and Elvis? Pretty much everything considering the mercenaries he hired are wanted for war crimes and are the baddest of the bad. Pike still hasn't recovered from the wounds he received in L.A. Requiem

But Cole promised to bring Ben home, and Rangers don't leave Rangers behind.

Flashbacks to Cole's time in Vietnam are interwoven with the story.

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The Investigator (Letty Davenport #1)

The Investigator by John Sandford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The dog should not have been shot in the head. One of the big problems in the world is the police thinking they can shoot our pets with impunity. The officer should have at least faced charges and been severely punished for killing the dog. Pets have the right to guard their homes and they can't distinguish between police officers and criminals. Not to mention these police officers were not in uniform and didn't identify themselves. I wish the homeowner had killed the bastard cop that murdered his dog. They weren't even in any danger at the point the dog was killed as it had been placed on the other side of the fence.

I enjoyed reading about a grown up Letty. She is a lot like Lucas it's hard to believe she isn't his biological daughter they are so much alike. In this book Letty and John Kaiser are hot on the trail of oil thieves, they suspect the money is being used to finance homegrown terrorism opposed to illegal immigrants crossing the border. Things come to a head in Pershing Texas when a carnival of immigrants attempt to cross the border.

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By Gaslight by Steven Price

By Gaslight by Steven Price
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which the abuser attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in their victim's mind. Typically, gaslighters are seeking to gain power and control over the other person, by distorting reality and forcing them to question their own judgment and intuition.
This book seems to be a great example.

I loved Ordinary Monsters that he wrote under another name so thought I would give some of his other books a try. I found this tedious and slow going at times. The book revolves around William Pinkerton's obsession with finding Edward Shade, a young boy who was one of his Father Allan Pinkerton's spies during the Civil War. And I found Edward Shade's history very compelling and the accounts of the Civil War riveting. Alas the hunt for Edward Shade was rather boring and long winded.

William comes to London, England believing that a woman named Charlotte can lead him to Edward Shade. Trying to escape from his surveillance she jumps into the Thames and is believed to be dead when a head resembling her is found, her various body parts are found later. Her former lover Adam Foole is distraught and ask for William's help in finding Charlotte's killer. As they hunt for clues to what happened to Charlotte we begin to learn of William's complicated history with his Father. And a wary respect grows between the two men. Then at a seance Adam Foole's identity as Edward Shade is revealed and we learn of Edward's love for Allan Pinkerton and why he thought Pinkerton sent a man to kill him and the long years he spent in a Confederate prison. The confrontation between the two that lead to Allan's obsession with keeping track of Shade. A cat and mouse game ensues between William (Allan's son) and Adam Foole (the orphan boy who loved Allan as if he was his Father)

The game is further complicated when Charlotte resurfaces and involves Foole in her plot for revenge. Just when it looks as if William is going to capture Edward Shade, an old friend reveals the truth about Allan's obsession with Edward Shade, he wasn't hunting Edward Shade to capture him he was keeping track of him in order to provide aid thus the lack of papers documenting Pinkerton's success in finding Edward Shade.

There really isn't a resolution William grows old but continues to look for Edward Shade.

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