Photojournalist Siobhan Walsh has been searching for two sisters who disappeared two years ago in Mexico, so when she receives a call from a priest in Texas about an abandoned baby holding a locket with her name, she calls her friends in the FBI for help. The infant obviously belongs to one of the sisters, but how did she end up in Texas? And why did she abandon her newborn? Can t-put-it-down … Can t-put-it-down suspense. Fresh Fiction
Lucy Kincaid and her mentor, Supervisory Special Agent Noah Armstrong, track the missing girls and uncover a human-trafficking organization that leads to a seedy underworld in which nothing is as it seems. The bad guys seem to stay two steps ahead of them, leaving behind a trail of dead bodies and Lucy with more questions than answers.
Fascinating Buckle up and brace yourself. Sandra Brown
Meanwhile Lucy s fiance Sean Rogan has a crisis of his own. An old girlfriend returns with shocking news: not only does Sean have a son, but Jesse and his step-father have disappeared. The last thing Sean wants to do is leave Lucy when she s investigating a horrific case, but his son is in grave danger. Torn between an impossible choice, he makes a decision that has far-reaching consequences for Sean, Lucy, and everything they hold dear.
COMPELLING AND COMPLEX BRENNAN IS] A MASTER.
Associated Press
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When a parish priest discovers a newborn left on the church steps, he also discovers a locket with photojournalist Siobhan Walsh’s phone number inside. She comes to Texas to investigate and, after running into some serious trouble with Texas local law enforcement, she reaches out to her friend inside the FBI for help. FBI agents Lucy Kincaid and Noah Armstrong are assigned to help and they soon discover that Siobhan has stumbled upon a potential human trafficking ring of a horrific nature. Meanwhile, an ex-girlfriend of Sean’s from his days at Stanford suddenly shows up for help finding her missing husband and son…who she reveals is his child.
After the events of the last story, Noah Armstrong was dispatched to help clean up and temporarily head the San Antonio office and assist the supporting agencies that were wrecked by corrupt agents. Moral is low and Lucy is coming to terms with the aftermath, her role in it and her path forward. The two cases were gnarly but I liked that these personal introspections were woven into the story’s fabric and impacted actions and decisions at every juncture. It’s a strong human element that was subtle but impactful. I was stunned by the introduction of Sean’s twelve-year old son, Jesse, and it adds another layer of issues for him and Lucy.
There’s a lot going on but it all comes together rather well. The pressure on Sean and Lucy’s relationship was heartbreaking on both sides and it was an unexpected opportunity to see him be so vulnerable. The realities of what happened at the San Antonio bureau office felt authentic and the human trafficking case was awful but realistic. I appreciate that the author didn’t pull punches and spare the dreadful details without being overly graphic. The narrator’s performance was wonderful, often nuanced to manage emotional passages for a number of characters, main and secondary. She was excellent. This is a complex story with many, many layers, one I very much enjoyed as it shifted the focus adeptly from the pain of the last few books.
This was a hard story to read. There is more than human-trafficking going on and the brutal means the bad guys take are truly evil and heinous. I always find it hard to process what some people will do to children.
Siobhan Walsh is a main presence in this book and I really like her. She is obviously smitten with Kane and I would love to see that relationship work out. Siobhan is a true friend and a fierce woman who will stop at nothing to find her friends daughters.
Sean finds out that he has a son in this book and I’ll admit I was as shocked as he was. He plays a dangerous game to save his son’s life and that just shows you what kind of dad he’s going to be if he is given the chance. Due to circumstances beyond his control he is able to tell Lucy about his son and when she finds out from his ex-girlfriend she starts questioning their relationship. I felt like Lucy went a little overboard here. She did not make me happy with her rash decisions made out of anger or immediate thoughts that Sean did not trust her. She really didn’t give him much credit in the situation. She did not once look back at the timing of the incident.
Lucy also made me proud of her in this book, (so many mixed feelings. Anyway, she finally realizes that everyone is tiptoeing around her and always asking her if she is okay because they think that she is fragile. This realization makes Lucy finally stand up for herself. I just hope she is able to remember how strong she in future cases.
I received an ARC from the publisher and have chosen to review it. I really enjoyed this story. It was the first book I have read with Lucy Kincaid and I really enjoyed meeting her and the other characters. I really liked how even though this wasn’t the first book in the series it wasn’t confusing to pick up with this one and know what was going on. This book was just a nail biter it had so much suspense in it I just didn’t know what to do with it. I couldn’t put it down until I turned the very last page. I can’t wait to read more of this series.
This was a twisted plot about black market baby selling, drugs, and horrific things done to innocent women who thought they were getting a better life..that being said, the book was well written and again Lucy Kincaid’s dogged determination closes the cases that she and her future husband are working not knowing they are working on the same one. Hope I didn’t give away too much, but these Kincaid novels are very intriguing every time. This is my 13th read in this series.
Great author..
Great book