"Hostile Intent" by Lynette Eason

Hostile Intent (Aug. 3, 2021) by Lynette Eason.**

*This is the fourth and final novel in a series.*

Because of her mother’s declining health, Ava Jackson accepted an early discharge from the military (Navy). She’s still grieving her father’s death of only eight months earlier, and with her younger brother (eight years her junior) busy in medical school, she purposely lives close to the care facility her mother resides in. Ava is attacked doing nothing more than walking to her car one night after visiting her mom, but FBI Special Agent Caden Denning arrives in time to help her fight off the attacker. Between her mom and the attack, Caden knows now isn’t the time to put more on Ava’s plate, but he does share that Ava may hold the key to the murders of multiple families (children included). As both mental and literal puzzles are put together, Ava realizes the connection is through her dad. While the killer’s murder spree spreads out over multiple states, it remains clear that the killer has a motive, but what is it? As Ava, Caden and their friends and colleagues find the pattern and fit the pieces of the puzzle together, secrets will come to light and someone thought to be dead may not be dead. They’ll also discover that the killer wants Ava, but doesn’t want to kill her right away. The killer’s intentions are far more grisly than a quick kill. Will they catch the killer before Ava or those she loves become victims of gruesome ruthlessness?

            For me, Eason is one of my two go-to authors for inspirational suspense. I love how her stories don’t skimp on the danger and suspense, yet the writing remains clean, unlike those novels heavy-laden with expletives and other foul prose. The last in her Danger Never Sleeps series is expectedly fast-paced and never slows in momentum. Eason’s novels are populated with independent, tough women and strong men that are all, at turns, vulnerable, which makes them more relatable. That they’re always attractive does get noisome, as though only the most attractive travel in super-skilled, highly-trained, beautiful packs, though perhaps that is how they’re able to manage to fall deeply in love amidst danger in, like, a week, whether there’s a childhood connection or not. Fortunately, that last bit is a triviality that won’t stop me from continuing to read Eason’s books.

            Book One: Collateral Damage

            Book Two: Acceptable Risk

            Book Three: Active Defense

 

** Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Revell Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions are expressly my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”