Book Review - Guilt Game by L.J. Sellers

Amazon UK

Title: Guilt Game

Author: L.J. Sellers

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publication Date: 6th June 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

Roxanne MacFarlane is the Extractor—a former CIA agent who specializes in rescuing people from dangerous situations. She lives on the edge and works outside the law, but desperate families know she’s the only operative who can bring their missing loved ones home. Driven by guilt over the loss of her sister to a polygamous cult, she will stop at nothing to save her clients.

When Dave and Jenny Carson ask her to find their daughter, Emma, and extract her from a charismatic cult leader who preys on young women with guilt issues, Rox is eager to help them. But the experimental treatment she just started in order to improve her atypical brain patterns forces her to face conflicting newfound emotions while working feverishly to find the secret compound and craft a strategy to get Emma out.

When the bodies of young women who match Emma’s description turn up, Rox must fast-forward her plans. But the situation is more complicated and dangerous than she realizes, and her own life is soon in jeopardy. Can Rox save Emma and bring down a ruthless predator before more young women fall victim?

To me the sign of a good book is one you can read in only two sittings and spend the time you aren't reading it thinking about it, and Guilt Game for me was just that book. I was completely intrigued and hooked from the second I understood just what Roxanne's job was, to the moment it finished. 

In fact I'm already hoping that this is the first of a new series, as I would love to see more from Roxanne. For she is an Extractor - someone who tries to extract people either from abusive parents, or from cults, or other dangerous situations. She needs to come up with a plan that gets her into as little trouble as possible, while fulfilling the wishes of her client, to get a loved one to safety. 

The case this book focuses on is tricky as its trying to get a young girl away from a cult. The cult seems to prey on women which suffer from huge amounts of guilt and thus Emma was a prime target for them. Her parents just want her home safely, and its up to Roxanne, or Karina as she is known for work, to try and find out everything she can about the cult leader and how it operates. 

Rox isn't on her own completely she has a step dad who is an ex-cop and her currently boyfriend is with the police working on a large case of his own. Rox is also slightly different from "normal" people and has just started a magnetic therapy treatment to try to get her brain patterns to become more regular. You can see after each session slight changes in her personality, which I found quite interesting. 

Guilt Game is certainly a different take on a thriller, but it is now less compulsive. I was really concerned for the cult members, curious as to the sections focusing on the leader, and generally loved the investigating and thought processes Roxanne had. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Guilt Game where the action ramped up as the story progressed leaving me surprised with the direction of the ending.  Yet another great book from the talented L.J. Sellers. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Death Deserved by L.J. Sellers

Amazon UK

Title: Death Deserved (Detective Jackson Mystery Book 11)

Author: L. J. Sellers

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Thomas and Mercer

Publication Date: 19th July 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

Detective Wade Jackson is in for a shock when he’s summoned to the police chief’s office—his sergeant has been poisoned, and Jackson’s been tapped to lead the investigation.

But before the Eugene Violent Crimes unit has a chance to respond, two people are gunned down at a licensed marijuana nursery. Jackson and his colleague Detective Lara Evans are on the case—but there are more suspects than evidence, and the crime is baffling.

Soon, more people are hospitalized, and when Evans discovers a link between the poisonings and edible pot, she and Jackson suspect that the product tampering and shootings are connected.

As the task force investigates new leads, it’s clear that the detectives are on a dangerous trail, one that forces them to question everyone—even their own team. But they’ll have to uncover the truth fast…before the next victim falls prey.

The second I spotted Death Deserved on Netgalley, I knew I had to read it, it had been far too long since I last read a Detective Jackson book, so clearly needed my latest fix. Well I definitely wasn't disappointed, I thankfully remembered the characters with relative ease and had a whole new set of crimes to learn about. 

As a side note I do believe this can be read as a standalone, all relevant background information is touched upon, even though having read the full series up to this point, it did remind me of many other great stories in the series. 

The main premise behind this story, was to do with the legalisation of Marijuana in Oregon, and as a result there are people being shot dead at a pot farm, and then we discover there are some poisonings that may also be related too drugs. 

However due to the nature of the crimes, there is almost an over abundance of potential suspects, and its up to Detective Wade Jackson and his team to work out who may be convicted for what, and also if any of them are actually innocent. 

There are leads from all manner of sources and the action is high paced throughout as, the police try to get these latest threats off the streets and hopefully save more lives in the process. 

In addition to the focus on Wade, his colleague Detective Lara Evans is also getting some of her own chapters, and I was excited to see all her SWAT team training finally paying off as she responds to her first call out. The other main character was Sophie Speranza the journalist at the local paper who has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time for a story. 

I am a huge fan of this series and thoroughly enjoyed reading every second of this latest offering. I'm not convinced its my favourite book of the series, but it definitely comes very close and already I am needing another fix from my favourite Violent Crimes Unit. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for this review copy. This was my honest opinion. 

Book Review - Point of Control by LJ Sellers

Amazon UK

Title: Point of Control

Author: LJ Sellers

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publication Date: 19th January 2016

Rating: 4 Stars

In her personal life, FBI agent Andra Bailey works hard to control her sociopathic tendencies. But on the job, her cold logic comes in handy.

Now two world-renowned scientists have disappeared, and the bureau assigns Bailey to find them and hunt down the kidnapper. The agent soon suspects that a rare-metal shortage may be the link between the disappearances and that the motive is far more dangerous than she imagined. With the market in turmoil and prices sky-high, electronics companies and their power-hungry CEOs are ready to do anything—even kill—to keep production lines going.

When a third scientist disappears, Bailey throws caution aside to track the crimes to their source. But by immersing herself so deeply in the case, she risks letting down the defenses she’s built to contain the sociopath inside her.

Point of Control is a new standalone thriller from LJ Sellers, the author of the Detective Jackson series that I have been reading for years, and love, so I was eager to start reading this. I think that if you are new to the author then the Detective Jackson series is probably a better introduction as I think its better than Point of Control, but this new book is still a very compulsive thriller. 

What I found fascinating about Point of Control was FBI agent Andra Bailey, as she is a sociopath, that works for the FBI and has just enough self awareness to generally keep a handle on her condition. Despite her general lack of empathy, I really  liked her, and she is a highly intelligent agent, and very capable. 

There is a lot of details with regards the mobile phone manufacturing industry and extraction of rare metals, and encryption that  didn't always follow at times, but helped set the scene and was relevant to the story. 

I found the story was fast paced and at points I didn't want to put it down. You see the plot unfold from a variety of viewpoints, and just for once I didn't feel complete disgust at the criminals. 

I wish this was the start of a series as I would love to know more about Andra Bailey and her future career as she is an intriguing character. 

Overall I really enjoyed Point of Control and found it to be a very good thriller that is worth reading. 

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.