Into the Fire

In Lynette Eason’s Book Two of the Women of Justice Series, Jamie Cash examines the bones unearthed by a backhoe in the outskirts of a cemetery. FBI Special Agent Dakota Richards is falling hard for the forensic anthropologist, but he recognizes something serious in her past keeps her at a distance emotionally. What the bones reveal to Jamie forces the panic she thought she’d mastered to resurface with a vengeance. Don’t Look Back published by Revell shows us the terror Jamie faced 12 years prior as she methodically discovers her attacker is back to finish what he started when he held her captive and meant to kill her.

In Book One, Too Close to Home (reviewed here), Jamie’s sister, FBI computer wiz Samantha, worked with Special Agent Connor Wolfe to catch a killer. Sam and Connor are now married. Connor and Sam, and Dakota and Jamie are working overtime to find out any connections between the victims using new psychological profiler George Horton to help them figure out the mindset of this serial killer. When the killer gets personal, penetrating all security assigned to Jamie, Jamie realizes there is no safe place for her anymore.

Don’t Look Back presents a valiant young woman in Jamie who endured untold horrors at the hands of the man who regarded himself as “The Hero” to her and the others for whom he “stopped the pain”. She’s managed to work herself into a semi-normal life but doubts she’ll ever be able to properly relate to a man until the patient Dakota gives her the space, compassion, and admiration she needs to learn to trust him.

The suspense is steady and builds. The writing and storytelling are solid with a few too many clichés and one convenient ploy near the very end to thwart the evil intent. The hints to the villain aren’t as obvious as in Lynette’s previous book in this series but no surprise to careful readers. The twist at the end works well, and this story will satisfy those readers who enjoy light romance combined with the legitimate hunt for a meticulous and “invisible” serial killer.

Available from Revell, a division of Baker Books.

Father, continue to bless Lynette’s efforts to honor you with her stories. Watch over her and fill her up with fresh insights to put on the pages. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.