Digital Velocity

Well, it was time to go outside the box again, and for this go around I selected a romantic suspense novel, Digital Velocity, which is book #1 in the new McAllister Justice series. It is also a police procedural, my favorite genre of all, so, OK, I cheated a bit. In any event, I had a good time with Digital Velocity.

Just prior to digging into this one, I read the prequel novella to the series, Tender Echoes. The prequel introduces us to hacker extraordinaire Lexi, who plays a big role in book #1, and briefly introduces us to the five McAllister brothers. Four are members of the police, and one is a PI. There is also a sister who is an attorney. The McAllister brothers are tightly knit and love to banter and kiddingly insult each other. Ethan McAllister, a police detective and fourth brother, takes center stage in Digital Velocity, along with Lexi.

I really liked these characters. The brotherly ribbing is on the corny side, but that’s OK. Ethan’s partner Larrick, a bit of a cowboy type, is a good add to the mix. We get to know Ethan, and especially Lexi, really well, which is a big plus in my book. Both Ethan and Lexi have dogs, Diego and Hoover.

The plot is a good one, though pretty straightforward in that there are not a lot of threads to resolve. Lexi is anonymously feeding cybertips to Ethan in hopes that he can use the info to crack the case of a repeat killer. Eventually, necessity brings Lexi and Ethan together. At that point we get a slow buildup to a highly suspenseful and thrilling climax. In fact, the whole last half of the book had me on needles. The characters at a late point in the story were in such a predicament I saw no way out; that kept the pages turning pretty darn fast!

Ms. Garrett obviously put a lot of time into researching cutting edge technology and the dark web, which are heavily featured here (in a very readable way). As an aside, as I was reading this story, it struck me how technology has partnered with evil to create a much more frightening and violent world than just a few decades ago. A very sad state of affairs in my opinion. It makes one wonder if the marvels of technology are really worth it.

There are two areas where I am in disagreement with most of the readers who have already posted reviews. The majority loved the descriptive passages and Ms. Garrett’s writing style. To me there is a little too much description, and the flow suffers on occasion from cumbersome phraseology. On the other hand, several readers found the first half of the book too slow. I actually really enjoyed the build up of the plot and the time taken to develop the two main characters.

I thought the romance arc was exceptionally well done (though I don’t have much to compare it with other than the one erotica book I read) with the emphasis on the feelings between Ethan and Lexi rather than pure lust. The sex scenes sizzle in an emotional way.

Overall, I enjoyed my foray into romantic suspense. I highly recommend that Tender Echoes, a fast read, be read prior to Digital Velocity as it provides an excellent introduction to Lexi and her cyber connection with Ethan. I’m very curious to see where Ms. Garrett goes with the next story—perhaps she will feature one of the other McAllister cops?
I recommend Digital Velocity for all fans of romantic suspense.
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This is book one of The McAllister Justice series and the main character is Ethan McAllister, a homicide detective. It seems all of the McAllister siblings have a thing for law enforcement, with Billy working in the criminal division, Matt in the K-9 department, Lucas in narcotics, Caden as a private investigator and their only sister Abagail, as a lawyer. Ethan has been getting some anonymous tips about crimes that have led him and his redneck partner, Larrick, to solving some difficult cases. One of those ended in him saving the life of a young woman from a pimp, as she tried to steal from his safe. He doesn’t know who she is, nor does he know who has been sending him some prankster gifts at the police station, which has left him getting a ribbing from his family and fellow officers. When he gets another tip about a hospital administrator being in trouble, he and Larrick walk into a scene where the woman, Frannie, is already dead, having been tortured and killed in a horrific manner. As they start to check the building, they discover the perpetrators haven’t left yet and are soon firing on them both. They manage to shoot one perp, but Ethan is shot in the leg and the other perp gets away. Larrick calls in for assistance and looks after Ethan until backup and medics arrive.
Ethan is laid up in hospital with his gunshot injury, but gets no end of ribbing from his brothers about being shot! Questions are asked about whether the person sending in these tips is out to get him, but all their other tips have produced results. He gets an unexpected visitor, whose identity he needs to keep from his partner and family, as well as the police department, otherwise he will probably run her off. The woman is nineteen year old Lexi, a computer programmer, who works from her home, a converted warehouse that Frannie helped her to purchase and do up. Frannie is the only family she has, apart from her dog Hoover, even if they are related by blood. Her death has left her bereft and keen to get the justice for her friend and find the killer. What she has found on the dark web, was a sickening game in which people could pay for a certain scenario to be carried out by a sick serial killer, and the top bidder would get a full video of the gruesome killing. She comes to the hospital to apologise for Ethan getting hurt, but reveals little about herself. The two start working together to solve the murder of her mentor, who saved her from the streets when she was only sixteen, having been kept safe the three years before that by a group of prostitutes who taught her how to be street smart, after losing both of her parents in an accident. She had a natural talent with computers and programming which her parents had fostered early on and which Frannie continued to help with once she started to help her. She has used these skills to keep her identity from even the best of the IT department in the police station.
Ethan is still woozy from his anaesthetic, but finds her totally intriguing and beautiful and arranges her to come to his isolated house the next day to go over her findings, but his nosy and annoying brothers keep turning up unannounced, leaving him hobbling about to see to them. It has probably kept Lexi away, but he has no way of contacting her and must just wait her out. He tries to get a read on her, but she has lived alone for a long time and is very careful about sharing anything. She turns up unexpectedly days later, with her dog Hoover, who immediately makes friends with his dog Diego. Once he manages to get her to relax and let down a few of her walls, the attraction between them is clear, but he believes he is too hard a lover for her to handle, realising she is completely new to any sort of relationship. It seems the killer knows about the two of them and has made Lexi one of his next targets in the game he is playing out on the dark web. The killer has left cryptic clues to the identity of the next victim, but it is Lexi’s dark web peeling of the layers, that gives them the most information. Ethan wants to protect Lexi as much as he can, when they realise she has been put on the killer’s list of victims, but he and Larrick still have to try and find the killer through normal routes and he can’t stay with her 24/7. But at least he can get his brothers to help him out, placing one or more of them also into the killer’s crosshairs, which is exactly what he wants! A shocking series of murders and close calls for the main characters, as they hunt down a sadistic serial killer, before they can move onto another city and start all over again. The identity of the killer is certainly a shocker and the end of the story is full of action and some distressing scenes, as the killer goes for his final victims. I have read a few of the author’s books from another series and now can’t wait to read the rest of this series and catch the prequel as well! A cracking read and certainly a family to follow in this series, for interesting and complex stories of justice, but also strong family and work ethics. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout, but have enjoyed it so much, I have bought this one and a few others. I have freely given my own opinion of this book above.

my daddy always said to watch put for the quiet ones. when he was not telling whopping tales or giving orders, he was one of those quiet ones. he knew the truth of the secrets they could hide and the dangers they might pose

Lexi has lived in the shadows most of her life. lethal pimps and gangs might have been in pursuit before. with the help from Matt, Ethan and their brothers, the dangers from the prostitution ring were lessened

but is it really safe for Lexi outside of the shadows? sometimes when you pick people you think you can trust, you pick wrong

some shadows hide even greater darkness and the biggest threats are sometimes those who know how to give all the right answers- and make you need them and rely on them

so how do sort real threats out when you have little real info?

intense drama, action and psychological thriller

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Digital Velocity by Reily Garrett was a tedious suspense novel.

I had a difficult time relating to most of the characters in the book. I liked Ethan and the banter between him and his brothers. The character of Larrick, Ethan’s partner, rubbed me the wrong way. Lexie was ok, but the chemistry between her and Ethan wasn’t there for me.

I struggled to read this novel. The plot didn’t catch my attention and I felt no connection with the characters. I didn’t care for the author’s style of writing and quite frankly, I found the book rather boring. The opening dialogue was ridiculous and the book never got any better for me.

Thank you to Booksprout and Reily Garrett for the chance to review this ** book.

I loved this book! Author Reily Garrett sucks you into this book from page one until the very end! Digital Velocity is a series that will each be a standalone book but with many of the same characters. There is a family with four very protective alpha males and their awesome sister.
In this book Homicide detective Ethan McAllister keeps getting tips for murders before they happen from an anonymous source. Unfortunately the tips are sometimes too late.
After one gruesome murder that is personal for the tipster she finally comes out of the shadows where she lurks to protect herself, but only to Ethan. It turns out Lexi is a computer whiz and has been learning about these crimes on the dark web. But the more time Lexi spends searching for clues in the dark web the faster the killer escalates his killing spree.
With the help of the very sexy Ethan and later his equally sexy brothers Lexi begins to try and play the killers sick game. This puts her in extreme danger and as Ethan’s feelings for Lexi grow he’s determined to keep her safe. But with another computer genius on the lose, one who always seems to be one step ahead of them can he really keep Lexi safe?
The mystery and intrigue of this book kept me on the edge of my seat! I literally couldn’t put this book down. Trying to figure out who the killer was about drove me crazy. I loved the characters in this book. Ethan was so protective of Lexi but Lexi was strong and independent. She led the way in the investigation using her internet skills. There is some comic relief in that Ethan and two of his brothers are in law enforcement and don’t want to know about Lexis illegal hacking into so many computers. Nor do they want to know what exactly she’s found out about them while hacking away illegally!
Ms. Garrett’s character development is wonderful. She makes you feel like you’re a part of the characters lives. I can’t wait to get to know each of Ethan’s brothers better as they each get their own book.
I can’t wait for the next installment of this series to come out!
I reviewed this book voluntarily.

I always love a good psychological read so this was right up my alley. When Detective Ethan receives a strange text message he is led into a game of cat and mouse to figure out the identity of a killer.

I loved Lexi’s character. She was strong and helpful in Ethan’s mission, making the book much more interesting. I’ve read a lot of detective novels, and I adore the whole angle of the dark web and a hacker helping the investigation along.
Characterization is also well done in this book. The McAllisters have playful banter that reads realistically and makes it seem as if they are real people. While the buildup of suspense is a bit slow, it definitely pays off in the end.