After being caught in the midst of an illegal hack, IT Specialist, Sam Zachman accepts a plea deal to stay out of jail. He is required to join a special FBI team charged with tracking and stopping serial killers. The deal was just too good to be true.When teammate and reformed psych ward patient, Lucy Bray, is injured in the line of duty, his new job is put on hold, and Sam can’t fight the pull … can’t fight the pull to return to his old criminal lifestyle.
When a hack goes horribly wrong, leaving three of his friends dead, he has no choice but to turn to the only person he trusts, even if she isn’t mentally stable enough to help.
As the last hacker left standing, he and the supernatural team of hunters will have to work off the books to unravel the clues and stop a new faceless serial killer threatening millions of lives.
If they fail, Sam stands to lose more than just his freedom. He’ll lose his life and those of everyone he holds dear.
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The book started on a sad note with Dr. Lucy Bray attending the funeral of her boyfriend, Sloan. The two were so connected in previous novels in the series and it tore my heart out to watch her try to hold herself together. She wasn’t the same after that and went into a hole of alcohol, belligerence, isolation from friends and family, and taking justice into her own hands, although the latter was just a mere mention or two. Regardless, I was crying right along with her.
Ford had been in love with her even when Sloan was and she loved both men. Ford didn’t take advantage of a bad situation with Sloan being gone, but eased himself in to be with her. The chemistry between these two flew off the pages, making me cheer for them despite Lucy’s broken heart over Sloan. She still had a connection with Sloan and her deceased husband, Martin, that was sometimes comical.
As the story unfolds, Lucy needs to help Sam, a young IT guy that is a part of their team and her best friend. Sam and three of his hacker friends did some hacking and uncovered something diabolical that was set to destroy the nation. His three friends are dead and Homeland Security wants to arrest him and throw away the key. Lucy isn’t going to let that happen. She’s bonded with this kid and isn’t going to let anything happen to him.
Lucy is actually part of a government experiment that left her with strange powers. She can touch someone’s blood and see how they were killed and then switch points of view and be inside the killer’s head, which made her a great candidate forthe rogue group of FBI liaisons. But since she’s had a blood transfusion, she’s got some psychic powers going on now and can see ghosts. She’s got a lot going on in her head and trying to keep it tamped down is sometimes an exercise in futility. One thing I really like about her is her loyalty. She is loyal to a fault and when she cares about someone, she stops at nothing to protect them.
I’ve read the previous novels in the series and knew that Lucy had been married for a brief time and that her husband had died. In this book, most of his story is revealed, although I’m sure there’s more to it. Hopefully, it all comes out as the series progresses.
I do prefer a steamier novel, but the romance in this particular book was kind of a secondary thing. I loved seeing Lucy with Ford. They’re good together, but with everything else going on, it sort of took a back seat. It’s all good, though. The suspense was riveting and kept me turning the pages. I cried at the beginning and I cried at the end. A good book will make you laugh. A great book will make you cry.
This book is part of a series and can be read as a stand-alone, but I recommend you read at least Stolen Justice, the book before this one. In my opinion, getting that backstory would help you appreciate the almost-love triangle between Lucy, Sloan, and Ford and how Sloan’s death affected Lucy.
*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.