Ride along on the riveting cases of the Tactical Crime Division — TCD. An elite team of FBI agents specializing in high-risk threats. When a terrorist is on the loose, the Tactical Crime Division is on the case. To find out who poisoned medications, two of TCD’s agents are tapped to go undercover posing as a married couple and infiltrate the company. But as soon as Jace Cantrell and Laura … Cantrell and Laura Smith arrive at Stroud Pharmaceuticals, someone ups the ante by planting explosives in their midst. Turns out that the small-town family business is hiding a million secrets. Could they unknowingly be protecting a vengeful killer?
From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek Thrills. Solve Crimes. Justice Served.
Discover the lives and loves of the remaining team members in the Tactical Crime Division series:
Book 1: 48 Hour Lockdown by Carla Cassidy
Book 2: Secret Investigation by Elizabeth Heiter
Book 3: Midnight Abduction by Nichole Severn
Book 4: Running out of Time by Cindi Myers
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RUNNING OUT OF TIME (Tactical Crime Division Book #4) by Cindi Myers is the fourth book in this Harlequin Intrigue multi-author series featuring members of the FBIs Tactical Crime Division. This is a specialized unit of the FBI formed to handle the toughest cases at a moment’s notice anywhere in the country.
Family owned Stroud Pharmaceuticals is the major employer in the small town of Mayville. The TCD is called in to discover who tampered with the company’s best-selling herbal Stomach Soothers. The tampered bottles contained ricin and have so far killed six.
Jace Cantrell and Laura Smith are partnered undercover to portray a married couple working in the plant. The easy-going, rule-bending Jace is not sure how well this will work with the by-the-rules, uptight Laura. As they work to find the killer, they soon have even more to unravel as a bomb explodes by a plant door and kills an employee. They soon uncover that there were more bombs made.
The couple now needs to figure out if they have one killer or two and what is the motive before more people are killed. As the tension and suspense build to solve this case, so does the heat in their undercover marriage.
I enjoyed this addition to the series. It is a romantic suspense with a well written balance between the romance and the suspense. The ‘opposites attract’ romance is paced believably and both characters are fully fleshed for this shorter book. The sex scenes are short and just barely explicit. The suspense plot kept me guessing, not so much regarding who was guilty, but who was responsible for which criminal activity. I felt the romance was predictable, but I enjoyed the characters and the suspense kept me engrossed and turning the pages right up to ‘The End’.
I enjoyed this romantic suspense addition to the TCD series!
Running Out of Time by Cindy Myers has Agents Laura “Smitty” Smith and Jace Cantrell going undercover in Mayville, West Virginia. Someone has tampered with Stroud’s Stomach Soothers causing six deaths and two people to be hospitalized. Laura and Jace are going to pose as a married couple and will be working at Stroud’s. They are enjoying dinner out after their first workday when there is an explosion. Someone planted a bomb on one of the factory doors at Stroud’s causing another death. Are the poisoner and the bomber the same person? The Tactical Crime Division needs to find out before another individual dies. Running Out of Time is the 4th novel in the Tactical Crime Division series. Each book in this series can be read on its own. The four books go well together, and I enjoyed reading the TCD series. I thought Running Out of Time was well-written and it moved along at a quick pace. There was plenty of action in this romantic suspense with poisoning, bombings, and bedroom activities. Sparks flew between Laura and Jace. They say that opposites attract and that is the case with this pair. There are steamy intimate scenes between Laura and Jace (I am surprised the trailer windows did not steam up). I liked that we get to learn more about Jace and Laura. You get a better understanding of their behavior once you learn about their backgrounds. The mystery was intriguing. I wish it had been more challenging to solve, but I did enjoy the mystery and suspense. There was some humor mixed in there as well such as when Laura first sees their accommodations in Mayville. Running Out of Time has suspense, action, mystery, and romance blended into one entertaining story.
An explosive tale of intense investigation and sizzling romance between two conflicted FBI agents who pretend to be married for the sake of the investigation.
Jace Cantrell and Laura Smith and their conflicted relationship were mentioned in the previous book of the series, and finally, we found out what was aching between them. While Jace and Laura seem like the opposites in their approach to their careers and in their background, they have more in common than they expected. They both are dedicated, hard-working, smart, and capable in their jobs, and as they get to know each other, they have that in tune and harmonious soulmate type vibe that is so attractive in a couple.
I loved the play between them, the attraction that was obvious, I kinda wish there would have been more flirt between them before the building-up-attraction turned into a scorching fire.
The investigation of the mounting crimes in the small town is not easy. The suspicion and distrust and uncertainty is palpable, there’s a strain in the air in the small community, as the blasts keep detonating.
I truly enjoyed the story, the interaction of different characters, and the escalation of the situation, the developing of the flirty romance was engaging and enticing, so much so that I ended up inhaling the tale at once. A marvelous ending for the multi-author mini-series!
~ Four Spoons with a teaspoon on the side
I don’t want this series to end, this is the law book of this series and I’m not ready to say goodbye.
Each book has their own charms and this one has captivating story, poisoning and bombing spiced up with enemies to lovers romance, yup complex and I loveeeee it and devoured it in one sitting. The suspects pool is not that big, so it makes everything more interesting, keeps me wondering who’s telling lies, what’s the motive behind all the terror.
Great story, awesome chemistry between the main characters, the mystery and the romance has perfect portions, so totally recommended for a fast-paced suspense romance lovers.
Running Out of Time by Cindi Myers
Tactical Crime Division #4
FBI Agents Laura Smith “Smitty” and Jace Cantrell are sent with a few other team members to Mayville to find a killer using poison to murder with. Working undercover as husband and wife is not comfortable at first but becomes much easier as the two cohabit and spend time together. The poison is bad but then bombs start going off with more loss of life. Is there more than one person doing the killing? Who is doing the killing and why? That is the question Jace and Smitty need to figure out with their colleagues.
What I liked:
* Laura: smart, dedicated, good at her job though some think she is cold. I liked her and enjoyed watching her work to solve the case and fall in love
* Jace: a man who knew what he wanted, did his job well, and fell for his partner while working to solve the case
* The rest of the team
* The plotting, pace and writing of the story
* The romance
* That the bad guys were caught
* That justice was served…eventually
What I did not like:
* The people that I was meant not to like
* Wondering if there will be more books in the series or if this was the end
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more books by this author? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4-5 Stars
Terrific mix of suspense and romance. A pharmaceutical company in West Virginia is the victim of product tampering and the TCD is sent to investigate. In addition to the public team that is sent, Jace and Laura are sent undercover as a married couple. Laura will be the admin assistant to one of the executives while Jace will work on the floor of the factory. Neither of them is especially happy about the assignment as they don’t get along very well.
I enjoyed the interactions between Jace and Laura. The tension between them at the beginning was evident. Laura is very much a by-the-book agent while Jace tends to be a little more creative in his approach. Laura thinks Jace is a loose cannon and Jace thinks Laura is wound too tight. Both will deal with their dislike to catch the killer. I loved watching the changes they went through as they were forced into close proximity. On the professional side, there were several occasions when Laura saw the benefits of working outside the box. On the personal side, the development of their relationship was fun to watch. Previously they only saw each other as fellow agents, but living together gave them a whole different outlook. The sparks of antagonism that flew before now turned to sparks of passion. Jace notices Laura’s long legs and softer appearance when she is dressed casually. Laura gets quite a surprise when she gets a look at Jace in a wet shirt. The more time they spend together, the stronger those sparks grow and the closer they get. As the case nears its end, both Laura and Jace have to decide what will happen with their relationship. A close call at the end opens their eyes to what they really want.
The suspense of the story was fantastic. It opened with a bang, literally, as a bomb detonated at the factory soon after Jace and Laura started their new jobs. Jace and Laura look for motive and opportunity from within the factory while the rest of the team looks at the broader picture of who might have a grudge against the owners or the company. There are multiple options for suspects and with each new attack, the number seems to grow. When a note is found that says “two down, four to go” the TCD is determined to find the killer before anyone else dies. The tension grew as the team closed in on the culprit. I was on the edge of my seat as my suspicions grew about one person. The final confrontation was very much a mind game between the killer and the agents until Jace figured it out. Then it was a race against time to save the last target.
This final TCD romantic suspense finished the series with a bang – literally. But it starts with a poisoning, and I may be dating myself here, but I remember the tainted Tylenol that’s mentioned in this story. I also remember the panic and worry people had until it was figured out. So, something similar being used here was interesting to me. Honestly, I read a lot of mystery, suspense, and thrillers, and I’m surprised that I haven’t seen it before now, so I have to give props to the author for coming up with a mystery that will likely be original to a good portion of the book’s readers. Then we have the opposites attract romance, which is always good for a bit of banter and fun. There’s a fine line between love and hate, and passions run high when two people are butting heads. I liked Jace from the start, but he’s one of my favorite types of characters – a bit arrogant with a heart of gold. Laura is a little cold but with good reason, and I liked seeing her loosen up little by little as she and Jace got to know each other. The story is full of action and has a great balance between romance and suspense. I’ve enjoyed this whole Tactical Crime Division series, and I’d recommend it to anyone who reads romantic suspense.
In “Running Out of Time” by Cindi Myers, FBI agents Laura Smith and Jace Cantrell are tasked to find out who put poison in medicine and is now setting off bombs at Stroud Pharmaceuticals. To do so, they pose as a married couple, working at the company.
Laura is the buttoned-up, hair-in-a-bun, serious agent, while Jace is the rough-around-the-edges, bend-the-rules type. The two manage to find common ground as they work the case and fall in love at the same time.
Opposites attract in this classic whodunit, book four of Harlequin Intrigue’s Tactical Crime Division.