Julia Vargas is a cop with a mission. When she’s not chasing down bad guys, Julia dedicates her time to investigating the Hangman serial killer…the same unsolved case that her father, Jim Vargas, was working on when he supposedly shot and killed himself three decades before. While rumors continue to swirl around her father’s death, Julia attempts to hunt down the truth.The case once again hits … again hits dangerously close, however, when a woman’s bones are discovered in a historic downtown home, together with a photograph of Jim and Julia as a young girl. As horrifying as this discovery is, it may just be the break Julia has waited for. Working alongside Tobias Novak, a homicide detective with whom she shares a complicated—and steamy—history, she’s forced to confront her own past even as the Hangman looms in the shadows. But as the mysterious killer circles closer, Julia can feel her own noose begin to tighten…
more
THIS REVIEW IS FOR BOTH THE AUDIOBOOK AND EBOOK VERSIONS
Very interesting plot, characters are easy to follow. The narrator did a wonderful job with these characters. Keeps you wondering throughout this story. I would recommend this book.
I enjoyed reading this third book very much, possibly more than the previous two! Very likable well-developed characters drew me in very quickly. I enjoyed the developing relationship of Julia and Novak in parallel with the very complex hangman story and all its involved characters.
One of my biggest complaints about romantic suspense series is that so many of them read like really bad Lifetime movies. Definitely not the case with Burton’s The Forgotten Files. Really enjoy this series and I hope there are more to come. I don’t know if Burton is already working on it but would love to see a series on Shield Security. That would be a good series.
Love Mary Burton. Have yet to read a book of hers that disappoints.
The past is not always long dead.. Sometimes its just been lying dormant and we all knows what happens when you start poking a sleeping bear.
The Hangman’s reign of terror was thought to have ended 24 years ago. But the daughter of the undercover officer who had been tracking him all those years ago and who committed suicide at the same time The Hangman took his last victim brings the case front and center again right at the same time a body that has been dead for 24 years turns up and looks to be connected to the long cold case.
Julia Vargas is a cop with the Virginia State Police. Her whole life she has had to live with the whispers that her cop father who killed himself was possibly the killer called The Hangman. Even though her father wasnt around much during her childhood due to always being undercover she knows in her heart he was a good man and could never been a killer. Losing him at such a young age hardened her and she is not big on trust. Her one goal has been to clear her father’s name and to bring the right killer to justice – no matter the cost.
Tobias Novak is a homicide detective whose own past is full of tragedy that has left him hardened too. A wife that tried to take their infant daughter with her in her suicide. Years later with that daughter now in college he has embarked on a sex only relationship with Julia with neither asking nor interfering in the others personal life. When Tobias gets the case of the woman who had been dead for 24 years and finds a connection to both Julia’s father and her he crosses the personal line with Julie to both help his case and because he realizes he wants more then just “benefits” with her.
The secrets and people that started crawling out of hibernation when Julia and Tobias started poking was a long list of characters from both the past and present. Lots of sordid going on’s 24 years ago.
Both Julia and Tobias did a lot of changing over the course of the book. Julia was the long hold out of not wanting to allow herself to care for anyone but the solving of the case and the tenacity of Tobias and his daughter finally softened her hard heart..
Mary Burton creates strong, credible, and vulnerable characters. Tobias and Julia’s connection unfolds casually as it evolves from professional to personal. With a solid plot, steady pacing, and a cleverly written villain, Burton’s expertise at suspense keeps you on the edge of you seat.