The unsolved murder of a young activist leads to the discovery of much darker crimes in New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan’s latest compelling thriller to feaure the young, edgy detective Kara Quinn and the loner FBI agent Matt Costa. This time they work to uncover possible ties to a high-stakes cartel in the Southwest desert. Something mysterious is killing the wildlife in the … the wildlife in the mountains just south of Tucson. When a college intern turned activist sets out to collect her own evidence, she, too, ends up dead. Local law enforcement is slow to get involved. That’s when the mobile FBI unit goes undercover to infiltrate the town and its copper refinery in search of possible leads.
Quinn and Costa find themselves scouring the desolate landscape, which keeps revealing clues to something much darker–greed, child trafficking and more death. As the body count adds up, it’s clear they have stumbled onto much more than they bargained for. Now they must figure out who is at the heart of this mayhem and stop them before more innocent lives are lost.
A Quinn & Costa Thriller
Book 1: The Third to Die
Book 2: Tell No Lies
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I’ve been a fan of Allison Brennan’s for years and years and years. She’s been a mentor, a friend, and everything in between, but she’s also a stellar writer who I have on auto buy. This new series featuring an FBI MRT – mobile response team – is classic procedural at its best. You will love Kara and Matt and the whole team, and the glorious desert setting comes to life page after page. Run to the store and grab this one now!
Second in a new series focusing on a newly-created FBI mobile response team headed by Special Agent Matt Costa and featuring a handful of agents, including LA police detective Kara Quinn — hence the “Quinn and Costa series.” I don’t typically read much crime fiction focused on the FBI or other law enforcement; the stories they tell tend to be less interesting to me than suspense and traditional mysteries. But this was gripping. The murder of a young student activist while investigating a possible water contamination killing wildlife in southern Arizona leads to the probe of a copper mining firm, but quickly becomes entangled with an illegal cross-border crime ring (avoiding spoilers). Brennan humanizes the victims beautifully, making us care about what could otherwise seem a string of faceless crimes; she puts names, faces, stories, and emotions to crimes that often dominate the news. Costa is smart, capable, and a good leader while Quinn is gutsy and passionate, and I like the rest of the team just as much. A twisty plot that hung together well, good pace, strong writing. Big cast deftly handled; I had a little trouble keeping some of the mining company employees separate, but that’s a minor quibble. An all-around good read.
Allison Brennan nailed FBI and police procedure with swift pacing and great information in Tell No Lies. She brings into focus two critical issues: chemical dumping (swag) and Human Trafficking. What’s more she nails the Arizona desert and climate.
Detective Quinn and Special Agent Costa and the team that Costa surrounded himself with are outstanding. Hard to pick a favorite, but Michael did the most growing. A spectacular who-dun-it. I listened to this on a road trip and the story still stays with me.
This is a fast paced, well written, entertaining romantic suspense novel. It is the second entry in Ms. Brennan’s outstanding Quinn & Costa series, and can easily be read and enjoyed as a stand alone. It has murder, mystery, intrigue, suspense, twists and turns and is set in Arizona. I am looking forward to reading the next entry in this series with great anticipation. Ms. Brennan never disappoints her readers!
Brennan does it again! Drags you into the story from the first page and doesn’t let you go long after the last page is read. Another excellent book from Allison Brennan.
TELL NO LIES (A Quinn & Costa Thriller Book #2) by Allison Brennan is the second book in this FBI thriller series and I am very excited to return to this group of great characters. The first book brought the new mobile FBI team together to chase a serial killer and now in this new book the team is faced with the murder of a college environmental activist which leads to so much more. This book can easily be read as a standalone.
The mobile FBI team is undercover in Patagonia, Arizona as they investigate a murder which leads to the local copper refinery possibly dumping toxic waste in the desert. Special Agent in Charge Mathias “Matt” Costa has the son of the refinery owner helping with information secretly as well as an agent undercover in the refinery as LAPD Detective on loan to the FBI Kara Quinn is working as a bartender in the local bar where the refinery workers and townies hang out.
Quinn and Costa soon begin to realize that there is much more than just waste dumping happening outside of Patagonia. When their main suspect turns up dead, they are finding this small quiet town has ties to human trafficking, illegal guns and a drug cartel. When Quinn is abducted as leverage, will Matt be able to find her in time to save her life?
This intricate plot takes you on a full investigation from beginning to climactic end. There are many twists and surprises which keep ramping up the stakes and tension throughout the story. Kara is such a wonderfully strong and unique protagonist. While there is a growing connection and sexual relationship between Kara and Matt, it is not the main focus of this book which is more FBI procedural thriller than romantic suspense. I also enjoyed how all the team members are becoming fully fleshed and merging as a cohesive unit.
I highly recommend this book second book in this series and this author!
Multiple crimes colliding make for an addictive story when Quinn and Costa once again join forces to take down the bad guys in TELL NO LIES by Allison Brennan! I was quickly intrigued by the concept of the story of this second book in the series and numerous undercover missions held my attention throughout. I’m looking forward to more from this dynamic duo!
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a mystery chock full of danger and surprises around every corner.
Excellent book!
I love this author so much – can’t wait for her next book to come out!
You can check out my booktube video review at https://youtu.be/CRdtxfsSmj8
or read my review on my blog at https://lisasiefert.com/book-review-grounded-the-girl-in-the-box-by-robert-j-crane-a-paranormal-mystery-thriller-series-books-14-2/
You advertised this book as being available for $2.99. However, when I attempted to order from Amazon, the cost of the book was $12.99. ?????
Exciting, page turner with intriguing characters and a plot full of twists and turns, make this a hard to put down book. It is the second book in this mobile FBI team, but I read it as a stand alone with no problem, though I did post-it note characters as they were introduced to keep them straight in my mind.
It started with the murder of a young enthusiastic college intern, trying to track down the sources of what was killing a lot of birds in the Arizona desert near Patagonia. But as the team tries to find out why, they soon discover that someone is illegally dumping toxic waste from the local copper refinery. But that isn’t the only thing that is going on in the desert, there is also trafficking- guns, drugs and humans. Soon some of the the team members themselves are in danger. My suggestions to Kara Quinn would have been to carry a Flashbang bra holster.
I read an ARC that I won from a contest on Writerspace.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.
Kara Quinn and Matt Costa find themselves involved in finding the murderer of a young activist. A college intern, she finds birds and wildlife in the mountains are found dead from unknown causes. Deciding to look into this herself, she winds up dead.
Local law enforcement is slow to get involved. That’s when the mobile FBI unit goes undercover to infiltrate the town and its copper refinery in search of possible leads.
As more bodies fall, Quinn and Costa find themselves looking into much more than was known. Kara goes undercover as a bar tender while Costa manages to put another of his team undercover in the refinery.
Lots of action .. lots of twists and turns. Suspects are abundant. Relationships get strained. Suspense starts on the very first page and holds steady until the final explosive conclusion. Although second in the series, this is easily read as a stand alone. I do recommend reading in order to get the backstories of Quinn and Costa.
Many thanks to the author / Harlequin – Mira / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
The newly formed Mobile Response Team starts working on a murder of a college student possibly tied to hazardous waste dumping. In the process, they stumble across additional seemingly unrelated crimes. But are they?
I enjoyed the unraveling of this complicated set of crimes. Kara once again shines with her fearlessness and keen gut instincts. I also like that her relationship with Matt is developing realistically.
The Mobile Response Team is beginning to gel, and I look forward to the next book in this series.
You can always be assured of excellent writing from this author; but this plot requires you hold 2 thoughts at the same time to appreciate the full beauty of this intricate storyline. Masterfully woven plot kicks in after the introduction to hold you spellbound until the end. Can’t wait for more from Quinn and Costa.
It’s the second book from Quinn & Costa Thriller! Enough said. I was super excited and totally enjoyed it.
I lovee the story. I loveee the mystery it’s dark and twisted. The journey to find the truth was superb. It keeps me turning page after page. As always the details of the murder was superb. It was start with a bang but in the middle it’s kinda missing something and I felt too much going on, although not as exciteing as the first book but it still entertaining and I enjoyed it nonetheless.
My fav is Quinn and Costa duet. They’re such a great team and I wish the attraction between them growing more and more. I’m expecting a love relationship here, but I guess I have to wait for the next book and I get to know Quinn and Costa more, love the touch of their personal life, so yes I’m a happy girl.
If you love mystery read, you must try this series.
I loved Tell No Lies by Allison Brennan, the second book in her Quinn and Costa series. Tell No Lies kept me on the edge of my seat and up many late nights reading. Allison Brennan as once again proven that she is a wonderful storyteller who always delivers truly page turning thrillers. I loved every page and could not put it down. Tell No Lies is filled with all those things that we have come to love and expect in a Allison Brennan thriller. Especially the poignant and bittersweet moments that filled this page turner, and the many surprise plot-twists. Tell No Lies is the story of the newly created D.C. based FBI mobile response team, under the leadership of Mathias “Matt” Costa, and team members: L.A. detective Kara Quinn, white-collar crimes expert Zack Heller, team analyst Ryder Kim, veteran Navy SEAL Michael Harris, and forensics expert Jim Esteban. The team is in Patagonia, Arizona trying to solve the murder case of Emma Perez. The investigation starts with the premise of illegal dumping of slag by Southwest Copper. Kara is working undercover as a bartender at The Wrangler, the local bar and Michael is working his first undercover case inside Southwest Copper. Matt is working with Joe Molina, the son of the owner of Southwest Copper, John Molina. The case takes some surprise twists and turns, and it ends up being so much more that illegal dumping. I love how the team is able to gather the information and connect all the pieces of the case together to find the killer and what is really going on in Patagonia. I love that there is a hint of a relationship between Matt and Kara. Cannot wait to see what happens between them in the coming books. Like all of Allison Brennan’s, Tell No Lies is filled with incredible characters, thrilling plot twists and unexpected turns of events. I really love everything about this series and cannot wait for the upcoming books in the series. Allison Brennan continues to amaze me with her writing and to deliver incredible thrillers. Highly recommend this thriller.
Brennan is one of my auto-buy authors and her latest thriller is complex and definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat. The action keeps you entertained, but I missed the close relationship between Quinn and Costa in this book and hope that the next book in the series gets back to it. Perfect for fans of David Baldacci’s King and Maxwell series.
This book starts with a heartbreaking event and takes an interesting turn almost immediately. Pretty soon, things are happening at a rapid pace and the reader is hit from all sides. The author does a good job of dealing with timely references. It’s not a spoiler to say that child trafficking, widespread environmental pollution, and corporate greed are all bound together within the plot there were so many layers to the events in the book. Undercovers in various places, investigations that produce side-investigations, lies upon lies…it’s a lot to keep up with. But it does make for a page-turning read. Even though it can certainly be read as a stand-alone, I would recommend reading the first book in the series just for some background. I think it would be more enjoyable and a good basis moving forward. For a detailed review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing (MIRA) for a digital ARC of the book.
Right from the beginning of this book there’s dead bodies, wildlife is dying. Something’s killing them in the Arizona desert near Patagonia that shouldn’t be, and college student and intern Emma Perez sets out to figure out what that is, and it costs her her life.
This act of murder brings the FBI into the tiny town, but as we all are aware, most small town residents don’t talk to outsiders that much. At least not to feds. So lead agent Matt Costa inserts two of his team undercover in town. One of them, Michael will be working at the refinery to find out if they’re doing anything illegal there, and the other is an Kara Quinn, who is on loan to the team from LAPD. She comes in as a bartender at the only bar in town. Her objective is to get close to one of the sons of the refinery’s owner.
This simple homicide case turns into a complicated case involving human trafficking, toxic waste dumping, drug and gun running, and a Mexican Cartel. It’s like peeling an onion. You peel one layer back only to discover 12 more. The book keeps you on your toes, second guessing yourself as you try to figure out who’s involved and who’s a bystander in this mess of a case.
The writing is intense. The author has to keep track of so many storylines, so many leads, so many characters, and she does it all without leaving the reader feeling confused after. I devoured this story and didn’t even know it was part of a series. I never felt like I was missing anything, I kept up on all the interpersonal relationships, characters, and subplots without being overwhelmed. If you love thrillers, I highly recommend!
**I received an ARC of this story from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest and voluntary review.
The beginning of this book hooked me in – we have the murder of college environmentalist which brings in the FBI, and the team of Quinn, FBI & Costa, a detective, are part of a larger team that comes in and goes undercover to solve the mystery surrounding her death. This case ends up becoming incredibly complicated and more expansive than anyone had anticipated.
I loved the details in Tell No Lies, it’s a procedural thriller that is extremely detailed and keeps you engaged and intrigued as you read to find out what happens next. The only difficulty I had was with how many different characters there were which sometimes made it slightly difficult to track who was who. I enjoyed the romantic aspect to Quinn & Costa’s relationship, but it’s not front and center and very much takes a backseat to the suspense of finding how it will all resolve.
I had not read the first book in this series, but had no trouble following along. Will definitely be going back now to read that one!
Thank you to Netgalley and MIRA for the advanced reader copy. I voluntarily left an honest review.