Critical Pursuit

 

GIVEAWAY

CANTORE, JANICE
CRITICAL PURSUIT

Officer Brinna Caruso has built a reputation at the precinct as the cop to call when a child goes missing. For Brinna, it’s personal because she was once one of them. Brinna and her K-9 search and rescue dog, Hero, will stop at nothing to find a missing child, no matter the stakes.

Detective Jack O’Reilly isn’t ready to return to his homicide duties, after losing his wife to a drunk driver. He’s on the downside of his career, and bent on revenge, when he’s assigned as Brinna’s partner. While on patrol, Jack struggles between his quest for personal justice and his responsibility to those around him, especially his partner.

Skeptical of Jack’s motives, Brinna isn’t sure she can rely on her new partner, whose reckless abandon endangers the safety of those around him. But when a man surfaces with an MO similar to the criminal who abducted Brinna twenty years earlier, Brinna and Jack must cast aside previous judgments and combine efforts to catch the kidnapper, and finally allow Brinna the peace stolen from her as a child.

My Review:

Great suspense! Cantore is a new-to-me author -- I missed her first three-book series but I'm thrilled to be at the beginning of her next series. Her 22 year police service really shows in this gripping suspense. It's in the dialogue between officers, the detailed  inner workings of the precinct even in the alert codes from the patrol officers. It brings a different kind of edge to an already on-the-edge-of-your-seat read.

While I labeled this a romantic suspense I need to clarify that this is a continuing series where the romance will develop more through each book. Critical Pursuit is all about getting to know Jack and Brinna -- and about them getting to know each other. I really appreciate that deep characterization. Both come with baggage from painful pasts and their struggle to find balance in just living is truly inspiring. There is also a solid inspirational thread that doesn't wrap up in a neat little bow by the end of the book. Both Brinna and Jack's spiritual journey is gnarly and fraught with setbacks -- even bitterness. Very true to life as well. I loved the honesty portrayed in their battle and the steadfast Christian characters who don't preach, but don't back down either.

A great read for suspense lovers who like a healthy dose of reality in their fiction.

Please note: This is a re-release of an original publication from 2007 entitled The Kevlar Heart.

Giveaway Opportunity:

 If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of Critical Pursuit, please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca.  If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . to protect yourself from spammers. If you email me, please be sure to put the title in the subject line so it is easier for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday February 2 2014. Offer open to international readers. Good luck.