The Preacher is dead, the case solved, but now Special Agent Winter Black’s missing brother seems to be taunting her, leaving a trail that leads back to their old house in Harrisonburg. As she learns more, Winter must fight the urge to revert back to that primal part of herself that was set on secrecy and vengeance during the investigation of her parents’ murder. Especially now that her best friend and partner, Noah Dalton’s, own past has come back to play.

Noah’s father, Eric, has borrowed money from the Russian mob, but won’t give the FBI the whole story, even though his daughter and son-in-law have been kidnapped and the clock is ticking on their lives. What is he hiding? And who will pay the price?

A dirty cop, a RICO case, and more lies than truth. Can Winter and Noah sort out the pieces and put the puzzle together before the hostages’ expiration date? Or has it been too late from the beginning?

So I read this in small chucks over a few days. It’s sort of that time of year when feeling listless comes often. While most people are either looking forward to Halloween or moaning about how quickly it gets dark, I am happily already cocooned in my Christmas bubble. However, I’ve noticed that others get particularly irritated or angry if I express my Christmas job before November the 5^th, so I’ve been feeling contained and listless.

I didn’t feel much adrenaline while reading this, but I was reading in chunks, so that was expected. The book did give me exactly what I wanted so I can’t really fault it.

In this book we meet Eric Dalton – Noah’s estranged Father – and what follows is a web of complicated lies and wrong turns. Baltimore becomes the place to be, and Noah is both kept out of the case and deeply involved.

Eric Dalton ends up being a rather interesting character. I can tell that a lot of thought went into making his character work. In terms of Noah, Eric is the father who walked out when Noah and his sister were young and made himself a new family. He is materialistic and selfish. He sees Noah, his sister and mother as the ‘remains of his poor life’.

We learn through the book how strained the relationship between father and son is and get to understand Noah a bit more in learning about his father and his father’s other family. Noah can be a very compassionate and caring man and it is shown that even though he has no real feelings for his father and half-siblings, he can still show kindness.

Outside of Winter and Noah, the main characters in this book are Aiden Parrish, Summer, Bree Stafford, Bobby Weywick, and Eric Dalton.

On some level it makes perfect sense for the characters to be inter-changeable through the series but on the other hand after reading book series like the Josie Quinn series by Lisa Regan or the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths, I want the group of characters to be present in each book.

I appreciated the plot in this book. The web of lies proved to be interesting enough to last throughout the whole book and getting to see Noah on edge gave a lot more depth to his character.

The search for Winter’s brother Justin took more of a backseat during this plot but it was still there on the outskirts. From my perspective I feel like it will reach its conclusion in the next few books.

There is still very clearly something brewing between Aiden and Summer. I feel like their partnership is going to be a slow burn, but I honestly think that will work best for both characters.

With Winter and Noah, the confirmation I needed to see…well. I’m very happy.

I give this book: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐