Shadow Fall by Laura Griffin (Tracers #9)
Released: September 22, 2015
Romantic Suspense
Pocket
Reviewed by Mandi
Special Agent Tara Rushing arrives at a grisly murder scene and quickly discovers she’s got a serial killer on her hands. The killer is meticulous, making sure to wipe up even the smallest traces of evidence…but the Delphi Center experts are on the case.
The local sheriff has a suspect all picked out—ex-Marine and current security expert Liam Wolfe. Despite all her digging, Tara knows very little about Liam when she shows up at his sprawling Texas compound, which serves as headquarters for Wolfe Securities, and she’s surprised by her intense physical reaction to him.
As she and Liam grow closer, Tara finds herself depending on his skills and expertise to help her track a killer. But when another body turns up, Tara must decide if she can trust the man who’s quickly stealing her heart.
The Tracers series by Laura Griffin is a pretty consistent romantic suspense series. I was really in the mood for a gritty, creepy, serial killer story and Laura Griffin delievered.
Special Agent Tara Rushing gets asked by her boss to investigate a gruesome murder in Texas. From that area, she isn’t sure why her boss picked her and another female agent for this crime, but Tara puts on her big girl pants and gets to work. The scene is not a pretty one. A female was found gutted in the woods. Preliminary findings point to the fact that this woman was probably killed before she was sliced open and that it is most likely a woman who recently ran for a public office, and who had polarizing views. The local sherif office is one of those, good ole’ boy groups, who don’t look too kindly to Tara who tries to take over the operation. When another set of bones is found near the first crime scene, Tara starts to realize this might be the work of a serial killer.
Liam Wolfe is a former marine who now does personal security/bodyguard work. Liam owns a lot wooded land and the bodies have been discovered on his property. He was hired by the first victim to be her bodyguard during the election, but had not spoken to her for some time. When she turns up dead on his property, Liam becomes a suspect until his alibi can be vetted. Liam is a very intense, quiet man. Well built, deadly with a weapon and he takes his body-guard job very, very seriously. He made me tingle.
Liam trains and hires a lot of former military, police-type people and Tara thinks Liam is the key to unlocking the killer – if only he would cooperate. Of course he doesn’t but Tara is extremely stubborn and won’t give up.
Laura Griffin does an amazing job setting the scene. She gives such a detailed analysis of the crime without it ever getting boring. Between Tara’s job as a FBI agent, all of the crew at the very fancy Delphi crime lab, and Liam, who is a former marine and now body-guard – I could picture every last detail she gave us. She dives deep into dna and examining bones that have been buried for months. She analyzes how a serial killer’s mind might work. I felt like so much care was taken to write this story and it really impressed me. The murder storyline is very engaging.
Did I want Liam and Tara to have a bigger romance? Yes, but that is just not going to happen in a Laura Griffin book. The romance is there, but it’s in the background. Of course, they are investigating a serial killer so I didn’t want Tara and Liam frolicking in the woods and boinking like bunnies. So I’ll take your understated romance this time.
It’s hard for me to find really well done suspense, and Griffin is always someone I can turn to. Fun read.
Grade: B+
I read this recently and agree with your review. It was a good read.