Into the Fire

Blake Pierce's Book 5 in the Adele Sharp Mystery Series ratchets up the weirdness in the antagonist, escalates the connection between Adele and Agent Renee, jets them off to Adele's old stomping grounds in California wine country to find the killer, and allows the reader some touching, tear-inducing scenes, ending in the first chilling cliffhanger of the series.  

Left to Murder requires Agents Sharp and Renee to travel within three countries including the USA where one killer is suspected of murdering three unrelated individuals somehow associated with the wine industry. The craziness lies in the process of their deaths. They are disposed of and discovered away from where they've been murdered. 

Agent Renee is his usual obnoxious self except when he suspects Adele is truly upset. He offers his efforts at kindness to tone her down or to decipher what's bothering her, and sometimes she accepts his attempts gratefully while choosing to brush them off at other times. Together, under pressure as usual to get these deaths solved, they struggle to connect the dots between the victims to find some legitimate clues. 

Before this case surfaces, Adele continues the search for her mother's killer, her tiny lead related to a favorite candy bar her mother always purchased at the same store. When she nearly loses it on a candy factory worker, she later faces the boss at DGSI about a complaint from the factory owner. She quickly tries to explain it away as a misunderstanding, but she receives a warning about her behavior representing DGSI.

Left to Murder challenges the two agents at every level of their skills, insights, attractions, and emotions. It's well-written, has a bizarre and creepy villain who often cites Bible verses out of context along with mythical gods, and concludes with truly touching moments and a terrifying phone call for Adele.  

Profanity present.

Book 6 Left to Envy of The Adele Sharp Mystery Series introduces the strangeness of the identical murder of a young woman to that of Adele's mother and sends Agent Adele Sharp into a tailspin she never anticipated. Whether it's called PTSD or an emotional collapse, upon seeing the victim after rushing to the crime scene at the end of Book 5, Adele breaks, asks and receives time off, rushes to her father's in Germany where she holes up in her old room pretending to cope but not even coming close. Her panic attacks are riveting, and her psyche is fragile. She's asked Agent Renee for space, and she barely talks to her father who is genuinely concerned about her.

Finally, she receives a call from her dying mentor who wants her to take up a case in Italy. Her name has been requested to represent Interpol in the investigation. Adele's initial response is to refuse, having been unable to pull herself together, but knowing Robert is trying to get her to re-engage again because he's betting she can overcome her current state of anguish to return to a job, she forces herself to take the case and is soon on her way to Italy where the Sistine Chapel is the sight of an horrific murder. After studying the file on the plane, she notes this is the second murder of its kind, the first one discovered at Notre Dame. 

Once again she has a country-hopping intricate killer who is somehow able to penetrate these two religious institutions and suspend posed victims in hard places while leaving obscure poems in his wake which in hindsight lead to the future murder. 

Her partner for this investigation is an ultra-handsome, sensitive, courteous, and professional Italian from Italy's special investigative force who speaks more languages than she does and is far more suave and far less brusque than John Renee. This makes for some awkward feelings in Adele, but ever the professional, the hunter/bloodhound on a case, she's at odds with the consensus of opinions about the killer which proves to be a possible career-ending problem. 

When Adele finally arrives home after receiving a terse text from John, he's outside her apartment door as he explains what's happened with her mother's killer or copycat killer. It's an ugly scene, and I confess I'm mad at Adele for her reactions. She's entitled to her shock, but her retaliation at John is not only a major disappointment, but her follow-up actions are a low blow and saddened me. 

Now I have to wait until May for Book 7! 

This is a really good and entertaining series with a strong female lead and a variety of well-developed characters. Villains are equally bizarre, interesting, and evil. These novels read quickly. I highly recommend the Adele Sharp Mystery Series. 

Profanity present. 

Father, please continue to bless and inspire Blake. Keep Blake safe from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

You who are far away, hear what I have done;

   you who are near, acknowledge my power!

The sinners in Zion are terrified;

   trembling grips the godless:

   "Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire?

    Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?"

He who walks righteously

   and speaks what is right,

who rejects gain from extortion

   and keeps his hand from accepting bribes,

who stops his ears against plots of murder

   and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil –

this is the man who will dwell on the heights,

   whose refuge will be the mountain fortress.

His bread will be supplied,

   and water will not fail him.

Isaiah 33:13-16 (NIV) 

What happens when your favorite hero or heroine disappoints you, acts like a jerk, does something out of character for them, or makes you mad? 

If you stick with a series long enough or get to know the hero/heroine well enough, chances are the author is going to rile you up when that character misbehaves and causes you ire or grief. None of us is/are perfect, and we're going to do something in our frustration, angst, or anger which will inevitably disappoint somebody – so why not our favorite novel characters? 

From my standpoint, I'll give them a little cushion, but, boy oh boy, they'd better get it together and make amends at some point because if they seriously do an about-face in their personalities or continued behavior, I'm done with them. 

Warning: don't disappoint me for long. You've taken all this time to build a solid character who I happen to really like or even love. If they become just another deadbeat character by their actions and words, we will unceremoniously be "over". 

How about you and your heroes/heroines? 

Thank you again, Lord, for your writers. Thank you for sharing your creativity and allowing us inspiration to participate in it. Apart from you, we can do nothing. Thank you for all that you've given me in my life. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

My readers know I write Christian Fiction. Tagline: Raw Romantic Redemptive. 

Currently, I don't where the genre is, where it's heading, what its center tends to be, or if it has a focused projection for its future. 

I do know novellas have made a splash and series novels keep a high profile. 

Whether or not the typical reading audience will retain the status of being "catered to" or if the publishing houses have any intentions of expanding their readership remains a mystery to me. 

I have several favorite authors in my sub-genres of choice and am always looking for new Christian authors to add to the mix, but my tastes in literature and how authors write have become specific and particular so additions have been hard to come by in recent times. 

Any thoughts on Christian Fiction in today's market? 

Father, only you give talents and gifts. Every good and perfect gift comes down to us from you. You're generous and benevolent and creative. We're all desperate for you whether we know it or not. Thank you for it all, Lord. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Left to Hide is Book 3 in the Adele Sharp Mystery Series by Blake Pierce. 

I'm learning you can always count on Blake to deliver a good opening scene followed by the swift and intriguing departure of FBI Special Agent Adele Sharp to the countries where she was raised. Being an investigator/consultant for the (German) BKA, the (French) DGSI, and Interpol, when a potential serial crime occurs in Europe, she's called in for assistance. Seemingly somewhat resented by the BKA and DGSI even though she previously worked at the DGSI and solved a murder there, her American FBI status isn't always received well. 

This time she's transported to the German Alps at an exclusive resort where a hideously brutal murder of a wealthy couple who've visited this place for many years matches a similar barbaric killing of another wealthy couple 200 miles away at a resort in the French Alps. Adele is coupled with the familiar young BKA Agent Marshall while she learns her mentor Robert and Agent John Renee are teamed to investigate the French murders. She'd hoped John would accompany her in the German investigation for a multitude of reasons, most of which she won't admit to herself. 

When the resort peddles the deaths as a bear attack, it isn't long before it's known that no bear had committed the heinous murders. Leads prove to be elusive and ineffective. In an odd impulsive act, Adele calls her cantankerous father who is a Sergeant in the German police force to join her incognito to help with the investigation. When he arrives, he's eager to assist beyond the limited boundaries Adele sets for him. As they often do, disagreement and a hurtful argument erupt separating them once again. 

At both ends of the investigations, Adele, Robert, and John try to establish a connection between the deaths. John shows up unexpectedly and assists Adele but is quick to want the wrong guy arrested. However, through an incidental comment, a new lead presents itself, and after a patched up bout with her dad, the three of them take off to a treacherous area of the mountains where extreme violence threatens them all.

Blake's antagonists present committed psychotic killers who think they're smarter than everyone else, surprised to be confronted by those who've finally figured them out and doubtful they'll be overtaken by their "inferiors". Their arrogance is ultimately their undoing. 

A truck driver in Germany wrecks his cab as he crashes to avoid hitting a young barefooted barely clothed girl in the middle of a dark two-lane road in freezing conditions. Rescuing her proves to be an almost futile exercise but he somehow manages to get her to a hospital. 

Left to Kill is Book 4 in the Adele Sharp Mystery Series. 

FBI Special Agent Adele Sharp has moved back to Paris as she continues her career with Interpol. An unusual case from Germany turns up with international implications because of young college-age missing persons from several countries. It's going to become an international nightmare of investigators if Adele and Agent Renee from DGSI can't quickly figure out why and how all of these young people have gone missing – and exactly for how long and how many of the missing have been found dead.

Meanwhile, the young incoherent American girl found by the truck driver in the middle of the road in Germany has slipped into a coma and reports indicate she might not make it.

When a multi-grid search party is organized for the area(s) in the Black Forest where these mysterious disappearances have occurred, Adele sees her father heading up one group. With barely an acknowledgement between them, John's beginning to see the unsettled dynamic between Adele and her father but doesn't press her.

One group returns without their young leader who stepped away from the group to relieve himself and never returned. And the hunt is on again. When a body of a missing girl is discovered away from the area, the questions increase, and the pressure on the two agents ratchets up even more. 

Left to Kill is a multi-faceted story with Agent John Renee drawing closer to Adele as the one she leans on, relies on, has learned to trust, and the one she does her best to resist her feelings for that often betray her – as he does the same. In this case, there is the intense fear of failing to find these missing kids, knowing that the one understandable statement the rescued girl was able to communicate was that someone would have to pay for her escape. Both she and John operate with the dread of the present missing young man and however many others there may be. 

Underlying it all is the constant pressure Adele feels to solve the 10 year-old brutal murder of her mother. It haunts her days and nights, and she's determined to use what her father gave her before she departed her last case in the Alps to help find the killer. Only her dad knows she continues the search. 

The realistic portrayals of final confrontations between the agents and killers show that the fights are never easy nor without injuries to the agents. Adele has a thing about her firearm – a love/hate battle with it – and more than once her hesitation costs her. 

We authors have a habit of using what we call "pet" words or descriptions that can cause a reader to take notice of their repetition. In these novels, there are many "Roman noses" on handsome men, and Agent Renee and Agent Sharp along with others do an awful lot of "growling". Occasionally there are a few missing words like "a, the, etc." but it's not a big deal. The characterizations are always interesting, and getting to know Adele and John better in each novel whets the appetite for even more of them.

I highly recommend this series by Blake Pierce. Good mysteries, good characters, evil antagonists, complex investigations, and lots of sexual tension that doesn't overpower the partnership or the stories. 

Profanity present. 

Father, please, again, continue to bless Blake's incredibly prolific career. Obviously, you've endowed this author with incredible talent and creativity. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.   

Oh such real lyrics for those who battle in the spiritual realm. Great old song. 

Thank you, Lord, for the respites, for the comfort, for the wins, for the recoveries after the fights. Only you can rescue us. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Blake Pierce presents Left to Die and Left to Run, Books 1 and 2, of the Adele Sharp Mystery Series. 

Meet FBI Special Agent Adele Sharp, daughter of her American cop father living and working in Germany and murdered French mother, having grown up in both countries, now works in the USA and holds triple citizenship. She's got a serial murder case in California nicknamed The Benjamin Killer. He slices his victims and lets them bleed out with no evidence of struggle and no clues as to what he's using to subdue them. When something bizarre provides a link to a case in Paris, she's on a flight to assist the DGSI, where she once worked, with its manhunt.  

Left to Die opens with a perfectly written breakup scene capturing the intense emotion but quickly moves on to the murders. 

Once in Paris, Adele's memories surface of her youth there with her mother, of her mother's murder, and of her previous stint at the DGSI which ended in conflict with her female supervisor when Adele did the right thing without knowing the fallout. Being reunited with the elder agent Robert, who was as much a father to her as he was her mentor while there, she sees how the DGSI is trying to phase him out because of his age when in Adele's opinion he's the very best, the superior professional of all the investigators there.

Added to the mix is the handsome John Renee, an unprofessional former French Spec Ops, with scars both physical and emotional who derisively calls her "American Princess" and treats her with something considerably less than respect at first. 

The murder of a young woman is the same as those committed in the states. Same age group, which is the only common denominator of the victims, same method, same results. Adele knows it's the same killer, but the French aren't convinced. Why is he in Paris, and what's he using to disable his prey before he slowly and mercilessly carves them up and leaves them to die? 

When the killer is finally confronted, it's terrifying, creepy, and nearly deadly. 

Left to Run opens with a distressed rookie partnered with FBI Special Agent Adele Sharp back in San Francisco in a dangerous confrontation which, because of the inexperience of her partner, does not go well. Adele, longing to return to Paris in her consultant position for Interpol, is notified of a particular case of serial murders of young ex-pat American women and finds herself back on a plane to the DGSI. 

Her arrival is anything but the pleasant reunion she previously experienced with Robert. Instead it's the bitter Agent Paige who suffered a demotion and humiliation after Adele turned in some questionable information she discovered to the Director. Adele had no idea that information would expose her superior as having an extramarital affair and shielding evidence which could've been related to her lover's guilt. 

She'd hoped to get John back as her partner, but instead he'd taken another case. She can't help but wonder if their final experience together after the previous case tarnished their potential friendship – if she could call it that. The war between the two women accelerates due to the bitterness and hatred the French agent carries toward Adele, refusing to help her or consider her expressions of remorse. On the contrary, she makes it impossible for them to work "together", and eventually the situation explodes. 

Meanwhile, each murdered female has two things in common in their deaths which lead to far bigger discoveries and John's eventual partnership.

I must say I'm impressed with Blake Pierce's writing, the characterizations, complex plots, and, so far, in spite of the commonality of serial murders, the antagonists present different motives and personalities although both intensely creepy and extremely violent.

Profanity present. 

(A few typos.)  

Father, you know Blake, and I pray you would continue to give this author stories to tell. You've blessed Blake with a prolific career, and may that great writing ultimately serve your purpose. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

     Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;

         he rises to show you compassion.

     For the Lord is a God of justice.

         Blessed are all who wait for him! 

Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)

Five Favorites:

Favorite Spice(s): Cinnamon

Favorite Herb(s): Parsley, Oregano

Favorite Bread(s): French, Sourdough, Dave's Killer Bread – "Good Seed"

Favorite Vegetable(s): Sweet cherry tomatoes (I know tomatoes are considered a fruit – too bad), onions (all kinds), garlic (which who knew is a member of the lily family as are onions, leeks, shallots), cauliflower, snow peas

Favorite Fruit(s): raspberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines, bananas (firm and sweet), red seedless grapes, kiwis, pineapple  

Yours? 

Thank you, Lord, for leaving us all the amazing food on planet earth. Such a vast selection the world over. Apart from you, we can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Senior class picture saved by my cousin Janice. Big rollers in my hair to get it that straight. And probably scotch-taped my bangs until they dried. Hahaha! It was a good year. 

Father, I didn't know Jesus then. My loss. But you were so patient with me. I veered way off track into full rebellion before finding emptiness. Then you rescued me. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.