Unknown Threat by Lynn H. Blackburn // Revell Reads Review

 

US Secret Service Special Agent Luke Powell is lucky to be alive. Three of his fellow agents have died in unusual circumstances in the past ten weeks. Luke is devastated by the loss of his friends and colleagues, and his inability to locate the killer feels like a personal failure. He's an expert at shielding others, but now the protectors are in need of protection.

FBI Special Agent Faith Malone is driven to succeed and confident in her ability to solve every case she's assigned. She's been put in charge of the investigation into the unprecedented attacks, and with Luke's life in danger, the stakes have never been higher. But it's hard to know how to fight back when you don't know who the enemy is.

As more agents are targeted, Luke and Faith will have to work together to bring a killer to justice and prevent any more names from joining their fallen brothers and sisters on the Secret Service Wall of Honor.

 

  My Review

4 Stars

Law enforcement protecting law enforcement. That's new. I guess Faith and the FBI weren't so much "protecting" the Secret Service team as running the investigation but it kind of was protection too since no one had any clue why someone was trying to take out the Secret Service team in Raleigh. (I was going to abbreviate it as SS but that has negative connotations so never mind!).

Faith and Luke knew each other before this investigation and had worked together on some lighter cases and things but nothing this serious. It was interesting to have characters with some prior history and knowledge working together but not really being friends yet. I'm not really used to seeing that. Either characters have a long history or none at all, generally speaking. I liked the respect and camaraderie that these two particular offices of Secret Service and FBI had towards each other. The bosses worked well together and every professional courtesy was extended. Faith was a really good agent and everyone respected her. It was just a really good environment.

Side characters often make the story and this one was full of good ones: Hope (who I wish we'd seen more of), Gil (who I can't wait to spend more time with in subsequent books), and Marty (who'd better be in subsequent books!) were the top ones. Also, I LOVE a good crossover and we get plenty of that in this book!!! Sabrina Fleming from Dive Team Investigations has a small role, Ryan and Gabe make cameos, and Adam and the Campbells are mentioned more than once!!!! Nice to connect with old "friends".

I really had no clue where this book was going. I was just as much in the dark as Faith, Luke, and their respective agencies. There was a point where I wondered if a certain person might be involved, at least, for revenge, but I didn't really hang much on that. I find it hard to place blame when there is such a messed-up individual involved. And that's all I can say without spoilers.
 

This was an excellent start to a new series and I look forward to the rest of them. Many thanks to Revell for a copy of the book. All opinions are my own and a favorable review was not required.