Review: Starts of strong...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 1, 2013
The author did something here I haven't come across before in a series. There are two books, In the Shadow of Greed (which was releases first) and In the Shadow of Evil. The two books intertwine so closely in certain aspects that the answer to a more descriptive who, what and why of a serial killer that starts out in Greed is explained in Evil.The timeline of Greed is March 2013 to roughly the end of November. Greed starts out with the brutal attack of a woman. This woman is Sarah Tu's sister. Sarah is a cryptologist who works for a company that both creates and test secret codes for programs including for Department of Defense. She gets so wrapped up in her work she always misses important things she promises to do with her sister. When her latest project keeps her from getting home to her sister for a planned girls weekend away her sister Hannah is brutally attacked by a serial killer and left for dead. Hannah is left in a coma and Sarah cannot forgive herself for not being there for her sister. FBI Special Agent Jason McNeil is the one that ends up at the hospital while is brother Jared and Noah go to the scene of the crime. Jason hears Hannah in his head telling him to take care of her sister and also points out the killer when he comes to the hospital to finish the job. Even though Hannah is in a coma he forms a bond with her. He is also very attracted to Sarah but she is wears her cold as ice persona like a shield and wont let him in. After the killer is found and killed (which does not happen in this book - it happens in Evil) Jason decides he cannot be around Sarah anymore and decides to take a job in Texas. But when attempts are made on both their lives they try to figure out what's going on. You realize this has to do with her not supporting a program at work that could have terrorist's type ties.I did like all the characters in the book. The McNeil family is quite large and all the men are in some form of law enforcement and work closely together. The romance between Sarah and Jason was very beautifully done. But for me I couldn't get over the Hannah/serial killer part of the story that was such a huge part of the beginning of this book being basically brushed over (the conclusion to the killer part) and not explained until Evil. Even if I had not known about a second book coming in the series this would have bothered me. After reading both books I see that the author likes to combine two huge suspense/mystery plots at the same time for the hero and heroine. This worked a little better in the second book because we got a full conclusion to both stories. Yes there was a beautiful conclusion to Sarah and Jason saying goodbye to Hannah at the end of Greed but you still didn't know the real reason Hannah was targeted until Evil.