Thursday, August 18, 2011

Deep Cover

ORCHARD, SANDRA
DEEP COVER

Maintaining his cover cost undercover cop Rick Gray the woman he loved. Sweet Ginny Bryson never really knew Rick—he never gave her the chance. Not then, and not now, when he's back with a new alias to gather evidence against Ginny's uncle. The man's crimes led to Rick's partner's death, and Rick wants justice to be served. But his investigation is stirring up trouble, and Ginny is smack-dab in the middle. Someone wants Ginny to pay the price for what her uncle has done. But how can Rick protect her without blowing his cover, jeopardizing his assignment…and risking both their lives?

My Review:

This debut novel doesn't read like a first. Deep Cover is a well-paced read packed full of action and suspense. Orchard's writing style is wonderfully easy to read. The words flow, sentences are fluid, conversations natural -- all the qualities of a polished product.

The suspense starts on the first page and doesn't stop until the last. The plot is well thought out with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on your toes. By mid story I had an inkling of a suspect but no motive. I love a suspense that isn't predictable!

This is one of those clever Love Inspired Suspense reads that manages to find a good balance between romance and mystery/action. That's hard to do with a shorter word count and I love it when I find an author who has perfected the balance. It helps that Rick and Ginny have a past -- their attraction is palpable at the first meeting and just climbs from there. Unfortunately Ginny tries very hard to place mind over heart and that leads her to keep her distance from Rick. He, on the other hand, can't stop thinking about her even though he knows the circumstances of their second meeting are as complex as their first. Throw in a bit of doubt, Ginny's penchant for jumping to conclusions and making fast judgements and Rick's feelings of not being good enough and -- well, let's just say this story packs an emotional punch.

A great debut novel that will steal your breath away!

9 comments:

  1. Sounds interesting:) I love a good mystery!

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  2. Thanks for the great review Kav! So glad you enjoyed the story.

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  3. If you love a good mystery, Charity, you'll love this one!

    'welcome Sandra. It was an easy review to write because it's such a good book.

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  4. I agree with you, Kav. This is a great book. I don't read a lot of LIS's because they're usually weak with the romance, but this one sure wasn't.

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  5. Hey Eileen -- I know -- trying to find that balance between romance and suspense in the shorter word count is so hard! Glad there's authors like Sandra who have achieved that.

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  6. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Kav! Some of these debut novels that have been released lately are pretty amazing! :) I haven't read this one, but it sounds like it left a good impression. :)

    I also wanted to let you know that I have a blog award for you here:

    http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/2011/08/community-love-winners-and-blog-award.html

    No pressure to pass it on or anything - I just wanted more people to know about your great blog and to show my appreciation for all that you do! :)

    ~Amber

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  7. Hey, this is the weekend for awards for you Kav, because I just posted a Liebster blog award for you, too. I'm so enjoying this blog...and not just because you gave me a great review :) You can check out the details on today's (Saturday's) blog post at SandraOrchard.blogspot

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  8. Gosh -- I think I'm blushing! Thanks Sandra!

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