When cybercriminals hack into the US Marshals’ Witness Protection database and auction off witnesses’ personal details to the highest bidders, the RED Team led by FBI Agent Sean Nichols begins a high-stakes chase to find the hacker. But before he can even get started, the first witness is targeted and barely escapes with her life. Sean believes Phantom, an obsessed hacker who previously outwitted … outwitted the top minds in the field, is behind the attack, and Sean needs this witness’s help, as she’s the person who has come closest to discovering Phantom’s identity.
Trouble is, she’s a witness under the care of US Marshal Taylor Mills, and Sean is reluctant to work with the captivating marshal who knows his deepest secrets. But Phantom claims he knows where the witness is hiding and will kill her, so to stop the hacker, Sean and Taylor must work through their personal pain and learn to trust each other. . . . The seconds are ticking down before someone dies.
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SECOND TO LIVE by Susan Sleeman is the first book in the Homeland Heroes series. It’s the well-crafted and the extremely exciting story of the joint efforts of FBI Agent Sean Nichols and U.S. Marshall Taylor Mills to both protect the witness protection participants and to bring down Phantom, the person responsible for the U. S. Marshall’s Witness Protection system being hacked.
What started off as discussions over the computer during past crimes, soon developed into a rather close friendship between Taylor and Sean. Both felt they could talk freely thinking of it as a long distance, nonjudgmental person that they would never actually meet face to face. However, when Taylor’s client under the witness protection is both in danger and needed for assistance in Sean’s latest case, it became apparent that wasn’t going to be the case. Sean shows up at Taylor’s office unannounced.
Taylor and Sean are both well trained and highly respected in their respective fields. Each enters the story with past baggage (trust and guilt) and determined dedication to their jobs, which leaves room for no personal relationships, which only cause heartache and disappointment. However, both felt an immediate attraction from their first meeting with sparks continuing to fly through this action packed story as well as thoughts as to how it would affect their friendship.
Taylor becomes part of the RED team as does her witness protection client Dustee. Dustee is in the protection system because she testified against the Phantom in the past. Sean is hoping she can help find and identify him. However, she’s on limited and supervised computer research due to her own addiction to hacking.
When another person is murdered by Phantom – one they had talked to in the investigation, and then Taylor is shot, Sean feels even more pressure to prove he was the right person to be in charge of this investigation and is capable to solve the case before anyone else gets hurt.
Where will the clues lead them? Is there a dirty cop within their mists? Can they find Phantom before someone else is murdered? Will working so closely affect the friendship between Taylor and Sean? Will that friendship grow or will this case destroy it? Will Dustee help them or will her careless manner cause more havoc and work for everyone else? Can they protect all the people within the witness protections system after their files have been compromised?
Susan Sleeman does a fabulous job of combining just the right about of action, excitement and romance to keep you turning the pages and rooting for the good guys. You never feel that the police case is on the back burner when the natural attraction of Taylor and Sean are woven into the story or while you are understanding how each one feels the way they do. Love the way you get to know all the characters in this story making them feel like your own friends that you understand, feel for and want to help along the way. Knowing it’s the first book in the series, makes me super excited to see how the story goes from here and what other adventures they will lead me on.
Highly recommend SECONDS TO LIVE to anyone that loves a fabulous, well-written suspense action romance that will have your heart pumping and fluttering at the same time. I give it a great big FIVE STARS!
Characters: What made the characters memorable were their interactions with each other. They’d only met through email/online interactions at the beginning of the book. Watching them get to know each other in person was enjoyable.
Language: Clean.
Moral: It’s been a little while since I’ve read this, and the moral has escaped my brain. 🙂
Plot: Man, I can tell the author did her research on technology! I learned a lot about computers. Also, the first scene pulled me in much better than a lot of books I’ve read recently.
Romance: Clean, but a little too sappy for me. I don’t need to know quite so often how great the characters look.
Writing: I enjoyed the writing. It matched the suspense genre in that the author used her sentence structure to keep the story moving. I know some readers complained about the fragments and choppiness, but I liked it! No, it wouldn’t have worked in historical fiction, but it worked great for this novel.
Overall: I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Christian romantic suspense.
This is a great start to Susan Sleeman’s Homeland Hero’s trilogy. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books!
(2.5 / 5)
When the WITSEC database is hacked and the lives of federal witnesses are put in jeopardy, U.S. Marshal Taylor Mills works with FBI Agent Sean Nichols and his team to find the hacker, recover the witness information, and keep an already-exposed witness safe. Mills & Nichols have a tenuous online friendship, which is put in turmoil when they meet for the first time to work on this case together.
Right off the bat, this book introduced a character in a way that painted her in a terrible light, and it never really recovered from there for me. The police procedural-type story was all right, but the romance was strained and the characters and dialog were wooden.
I never really did like the female MC. After she ignored calls from a witness in danger because she was too put-upon, I just couldn’t understand why she is touted as an amazing U.S. Marshal the rest of the book. (Honestly, if she’s so overworked that she needs an hour in the tub that badly, which she got into after missing 2 calls from a witness, who she knows could be in danger…maybe it’s time to find another job.) The male MC wasn’t too bad. As far as side characters went, I think that if the other FBI team members had been given more time in the spotlight, it would have helped. Instead, we got the ridiculous Dustee (the federal witness) and her childish attitude.
The federal agents searching for the hacker before thousands of witnesses were compromised could have been a decent story. Unfortunately, their emotions got in the way. Every. Step. Of. The. Way. Every other thought the two MCs had was about each other and how they felt about the other, how they just wanted to stare at the other, how they didn’t know how to proceed when neither of them really wanted a relationship. And how they both had such hardships in their past that they couldn’t really trust anyone. It permeates so much that it drags down the action & suspense side of the book.
Besides what I already mentioned about the romance, it was far too much about the physical for my taste, especially in a Christian novel. Don’t get me wrong–there is no sex, and not exactly a lot of touching. But there is a lot of gazing, staring, even (in my opinion) leering. Too much narration about watching hips and legs…and it all became so repetitive. And there was so much discussion at inappropriate times, in the middle of important parts of the investigation.
There was an interesting twist near the end, which I suspected only shortly before it was revealed. I liked the explanation for that twist and the real-life science behind it. I also did find myself wanting to know who the hacker was along the way, and what it would take to catch him. When the MCs weren’t coming across as incompetent because they spent more time thinking and talking about their non-relationship than they did working on the case, I liked the way the case was presented and solved. I expected a little more in the way of twists, but it’s not billed as a thriller, so that’s probably my own issue.
I don’t think the book was bad, exactly, I just had some irredeemable issues with it. If you’re a fan of drama-filled procedural stories, you very well may enjoy this. It’s clean overall–no language and light on the violence–and though the Christianity in it is a little light, it’s probably worth checking out if you aren’t bothered by the things I mentioned above. There are plenty of reviews in favor of it, so be sure to read some of those too.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.
I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about how the internet works and about cyber criminals. I liked the two main characters, Sean and Taylor, although I am beginning to have a problem with women who constantly argue with men and tell them what they are going to do no matter the situation and even when they are injured. Just one of my pet peeves. I recommend the book to Romantic Suspense readers in spite of my opinions on a few things I didn’t especially care for. Lots of surprises.
3.5/4 stars
A DEFINITE MUST READ!!! But then, I consider all of Susan Sleemans’ books a MUST READ! Seconds To Live takes you on a wild ride of compromised witnesses, a determined killer with mad hacking skills, as well as an equally determined and skilled team who will do anything to catch a killer and save lives. Even if anything means learning to trust, to place their full faith in God, and possibly even fall in love. Homeland Heroes is a fabulous series. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!
This books lets you see the Witness Protection Program from the inside. Taylor is dedicated to her clients, putting her life at risk to save them. This book was well written with a few twists to keep you on your toes! A good, clean mystery.
Another book by the amazing Susan Sleeman. I have already read and loved two series by her. The book I’ve recently read by her is called Seconds to Live. Seconds to Live is about Taylor, a Marshall, who works in the Witness Protection Program, and Sean who is part of a RED team. A hacker is selling witness’s information to the highest bidder, and one of Taylor’s witnesses is in danger. Sean’s team is working on catching the hacker and bringing him to justice.
Taylor and Sean’s romance was very interesting to me because they had worked together on a different case, however they formed an electronic friendship. They had both shared a lot of things that they would never have shared in person which makes working together difficult. I think that Susan really executed how difficult it is to know someone only online and then to meet them in person. She mentioned all the little things that we don’t think about like timing, body language, and facial features. It was definitely fascinating to see them work through their differences and that barrier that came from only knowing each other online. I only wish that they would have trusted each other sooner, but I can understand why they did not.
Now to why I put it to three stars. I actually wanted to do 3.75, but unfortunately, that is not available. I really admire this author, and I love her books. I think that I did not fall in love with all the different characters as much as I normally do. However, they were all really interesting, and I was able to sympathize with many of the secondary characters. It had all the right components, but I did not love it as much as I thought I would. It was still very interesting though, and I can’t wait to see what she does with the second book.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
Seconds to Live by Susan Sleeman is the first book in the Homeland Heroes series and definitely worth reading if you love books filled with plenty of suspense.
When cybercriminals hack into the U.S. Marshal’s Witness Protection database FBI agent Sean Nichols is called in to lead the case and the prime witness is under the care of U.S. Marshal Taylor Mills who Sean is reluctant to work with since she knows all of his deepest secrets.
I really enjoyed this book and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more books in this series in the future.
I was given an ARC from the author/publisher. All conclusions are mine and mine alone.
Seconds To Live by Susan Sleeman is a fabulous contemporary Christian suspense that will grab the reader’s attention from the start. It is the first book in the Homeland Heroes series and I cannot wait for the rest.
The characters were well drawn, realistic and likable. They are not perfect but realistically flawed with character traits that are easy to empathise with.
Susan Sleeman has created a complex, well thought out plotline. Computer hacking combines with murder and intimidation. Multi agency law enforcements are needed. The reader is consumed from the first page.
There is the question of trust. The reader and characters must view some with suspicion but God can always be trusted. We need to “trust even when you don’t feel like it.” We cannot see the bigger picture but God can. He asks us to trust Him in the dark.
The author uses pathetic fallacy as the weather mirrors the mood at times.
Past experiences colour life today. Characters feel guilt over a life event. Guilt is misplaced. It is a burden that should never have been picked up. It needs to be released so that a life may be lived in the freedom for which God intended.
Sometimes events spiral out of control. We need to hand the driving seat of our life over to God. We do not need to know it all. We need to trust in the goodness of God. “God was in control. Not him. God.”
Prayer is important. It will help us build our relationship with God. Sometimes our prayers are as simple as ‘help’ but God always hears and always answers.
I was totally absorbed by Seconds To Live. It would make a fabulous television series… Netflix please take note. Susan Sleeman is a new author to me but I want to read much more by her.
I shall leave you with my favourite and very powerful quote:
“She lived out her faith… God was using her to draw people to Him.”
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
Taylor Mills is a woman with a single-minded mission: to ensure the safety of her witnesses in the Witness Protection Program at all costs even if the cost is her own life. She will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Taylor is a member of the U.S. Marshals, and one of her witnesses has broken her pledge to stay off the internet. Her witness is a hacking expert and is in danger from The Phantom, a cyber criminal of great talent. The Phantom has hacked the Witness Protection database and posted the identities of everyone in the Witness Protection Program on the dark web. Anyone can obtain a file for an individual for a price, putting all witnesses in danger. Taylor’s witness has an attempt made on her life. Taylor has promised to keep her safe and she will do anything to keep that promise, including working with her online friend, FBI Agent Sean Nichols.
Sean Nichols is in charge of this hacking case and brings his own team of professionals with him to Oregon. He and Taylor have shared many personal aspects of their lives with each other via the internet but have never met in person. When they finally meet, awkward is the name of the game. Sean adds Taylor to his team due to her expertise in the Witness Protection Program and one of her witnesses being the main target of The Phantom. They chase down clues and move witnesses, but The Phantom keeps slipping through their fingers.
I would rate this 3.5 stars if I could. Taylor and Sean both have issues with trust. Their continued conflict led to verbal quarrels and hurting one another. I’m not sure if they can solve their differences for a long-term relationship. They both seemed to care about their jobs more than each other. I did like that they learned to trust God in all things. I also enjoyed the information of the procedural nature of police work as well as the different agencies/officers and how they work together to solve crimes. The next book in the series, Minutes to Die, is set to be released in August 2020, and I will be reading it so stayed tuned for my review!
This was my first book by Susan Sleeman, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! This book was fast paced and kept me captivated throughout most of the story line.
U.S. Marshal (Taylor) Mills and FBI Agent (Sean) Nichols have worked together before, but they’ve never seen or met one another. After an un-successful mission, they grew a unique and safe online friendship, but a cybercriminal and killer causes their worlds to collide. Suddenly, the things they appreciate about one another are the things causing tension as they work to find the most notorious hacker on the FBI most wanted list. Will Sean’s bulldog, don’t think twice personality bulldoze Taylor’s methodical and safety structured plan of action? Will their being at odds keep them from catching a ruthless killer?
First of all, I am sucker for witness protection/U.S. Marshal stories, so I was invested from the beginning. I found Taylor to be an intriguing character. It took me a while to really become invested in her character, but once I was, I was all in. Sean is a fairly likeable hero. There was quite a bit of tension between the hero and heroine. While some of it felt very natural, some of it felt forced, and made the pace of the story a little awkward at times. There were a few times I felt conflict was chosen over believability, and it took me a little bit to get back in the groove of the story. Overall, I really liked this book and will definitely read the following books in the series.
I was given an early copy of this manuscript through NetGalley for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
This novel allows you to work with the US Marshals and the FBI as they seek to unravel a hacker’s break-in and solve connected crimes. Can US Marshal Taylor Mills and Sean Nichols and his elite team stop the Phantom before terrible damage is done? This exciting story keeps readers guessing and eager to find out what happens next. As usual in Susan Sleeman’s mysteries, we learn of some of the latest technology and crime-solving techniques. I received a copy from the author. All opinions are my own.
The more I read romantic suspense titles, the more I seem to enjoy this genre! Susan Sleeman has been on my radar for quite some time so I’ve been looking for an opportunity to work her books into my reading queue.
This book has excellent pacing that kept my heart rate up without launching my heart into frenzied palpitations. A great balance of romance, technical law enforcement, and unpredictable whodunit makes Seconds to Live an unputdownable read. The correspondence-friends-to-love relationship between Sean and Taylor progresses from nearly awkward to sparking with attraction yet it’s wonderfully witty, respectful, and heartwarming every step of the way.
Readers like me who enjoy a peek at the inner workings of various law enforcement agencies will no doubt enjoy this US Marshal/FBI match up! I will definitely continue following this series and I look forward to checking out Sleeman’s backlist as well!
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
ONE MISTAKE. That was all it took to put Dustee’s life on the line—death right on her heels.
This is the opening sentence of the first book in Susan Sleeman’s new series and the danger and intrigue never let up. As I read about the efforts of a special FBI team to save people enrolled in the Witness Protection Program I found myself amazed with just what these witnesses are forced to surrender and I was also astounded to learn about the “dark web”, a part of the Internet that most of us never see. Seconds to Live centers around the feverish efforts of the RED Team to find the person who has hacked into the Witness Protection Program database and stolen all of the witnesses’ personal information. Their new identities and new locations are now known and they’re all in danger unless ‘Phantom’ can be found.
Susan Sleeman masterfully relates the tension, the fear, and the helplessness that is felt as the cat-and-mouse game continues between this team and ‘Phantom’. We also see the inner struggles of the two main characters. FBI agent Sean Nichols, the head of the RED Team, doesn’t trust anyone after being lied to by the two most important women in his life and U.S. Marshall Taylor Mills experiences overwhelming guilt every day of her life. Even as they grow to respect each other professionally, it is very doubtful that they can ever put their past hurts behind them. Will Sean ever trust again and can Taylor finally forgive herself? Is it possible for one wounded soul to help another who is just as needy as they are?
Yes, this is a fictional story but Seconds to Live shows the danger of professional hackers in today’s society and our need to be ever diligent against cyber crimes. It also has a great faith message and as Sean and Taylor both face their individual struggles, we are reminded that “God didn’t betray. Didn’t turn His back. He was always the same loving God. Always wanting the best for His children.”
This is an enjoyable contemporary suspense novel that has a surprising villian, a little romance, and a whole lot of faith! I’m looking forward to the next book in the Homeland Heroes series.
I received a copy of this book from Bethany House. I wasn’t required to give a favorable review and all opinions are my own.
Seconds to Live” is Susan Sleeman’s very suspenseful, touching story about a Marshall and a RED Agent who take their online friendship to another level, when working together on a murder case that involves a dangerous murder suspect who threatens the lives of witnesses. With exciting twists and turns, this book was hard to put down. With many years of experience in a prosecutor’s office, I found the characters, plot and dialogue to be authentic to my experiences and observations. I also enjoyed learning more about the US Marshals Service. Sleeman does a nice job of blending faith romance into the storyline of law enforcement agencies working in tandem. My only confusion was with the comment that a character
“felt like he was drowning in a lake of carbon dioxide (page 137).” Carbon Dioxide isn’t something evil; it is a necessary element for our life on Earth, just as NASA ensures that there is plenty of C02 onboard the ISS for the astronauts. In fact, ISS requires more C02 than Earth. Anyone who has studied botany knows how vital CO2 is to photosynthesis, and that it isn’t evil!! But putting that aside, this is a great book, which I definitely recommend. I am still thinking about the characters and plot, and missing them! I will be looking forward to Sleeman’s next book. I know, I am greedy!
It’s a race against the clock to find a killer hacker…
I’ve been a fan of Susan Sleeman’s for awhile now, from her smaller Love Inspired Suspense books to her longer indie-published novels. So, I’m sure you can imagine how excited I was to hear that she had a series coming out with what can arguably be called my favorite publisher, Bethany House. Seconds To Live is the first book in the Homeland Heroes series featuring an elite team with a variety of different skills who take down the biggest of the bad guys.
To say that I enjoyed Seconds To Live would be a big understatement. From the dramatic minimalist cover through some very tense and fast-paced reading to the very last page. I really liked the tech thread throughout the story, it’s not every novel that has it to the same degree. You can definitely tell that Susan Sleeman had a lot of research into this book.
The characters were good, not shallow, and I liked how they were realistically portrayed. Yeah, these characters aren’t always perfect, they are sometimes short-tempered, can get irritated by one particularly obnoxious person, don’t always realize when they are being controlling and high-handed, and they do let their fears control their decisions. But, you knew there would be one, those things only made them more real and more likable. Plus they had some really redeeming qualities as well.
Whether you love romantic suspense or techy novels Susan Sleeman expertly delivers both in her new page-turner, Seconds To Live. What are YOU waiting for…..?
(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)
Suspense is among my favorite genres and Ms. Sleeman does a fantastic job with Seconds To Live, the first in the Homelands Heroes series.
Who is the Phantom hacker who has breached the Witness Protection data base? Can FBI agent Sean Nichols and US Marshall Taylor Mills track him down with the help of a victim who got away? A thrill a minute in this taught drama with protagonists trying to trust in God’s plan as they unravel the clues to the Phantom’s identity, while dodging bullets and shaking cars that are tailing them.
Dustee is on the run. Does she know who is chasing her? “Anger and hatred emanated from his body. Finding her was personal to him- this could be the end for her. She didn’t want to die.”
So starts Seconds To Live and the excitement builds. Ms. Sleeman uses up to the minute information to make her story seem very real. Take a ringside seat into the workings of the US Marshall’s Witness Protection Program and marvel as the good guys put the clues together to protect and stay one step ahead of the evil Phantom.
But not all cases get resolved and we get a glimpse of a case that carries over into the next book in the series. It will be hard to wait for the next book to come out. I am hooked.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House. I was not required to give a favorable review. All opinions are my own.*
From the moment I opened Seconds To Live I was hooked. I haven’t read anything by Susan Sleeman before and believe me when I say that I was pleased to find this author.
Cybercrime hits the U.S. Marshal’s Witness Protection Database in a big way. It is a race against time to capture a high profile hacker who is out for revenge. There are no second chances for his victims and he seems to see anyone who has had the slightest encounter with the RED team of experts assigned to bring him in. These are the things I enjoy about suspense novels. It is edgy and keeps the reader coming back for just a few more pages. A few more leads to another chapter and pretty soon it is after 1:00 in the morning!
The main characters are pretty closed off at first and as the story unfolds, so too does the character development of Sean and Taylor. I liked this book for the story and the team who worked so hard together, under difficult circumstances. It gave me an even greater respect for those members of law enforcement who are honest, hard working and dedicated to their jobs.
I was given a copy of this book for an honest review from Bethany House Publishers but the opinions expressed here are mine. Seconds To Live is Book One in the Homeland Heroes series. I am already looking forward to Book Two.