Fatal Reckoning by Marie Force

Lieutenant and Homicide Detective Samantha (Sam) Holland gets the call in the pre-dawn morning hours that everyone hopes to never get. It’s her stepmother, Celia, letting her know that her father, Skip Holland, is in medical crisis, forcing Sam to make one of the most painful decisions of her life. However, with his death comes a resurgence of attention to his shooting four years ago that almost killed him and left him a quadriplegic.

I’ve dreaded this story since the start of the series as Skip’s death was inevitable (not a spoiler as it’s in the synopsis and happens in the beginning of the story). His determination to live a full life despite his physical circumstances was uplifting and I loved how his character was crafted. However, after the initial depressing turn, the story shifted to re-examining his cold case and finding the shooter as it’s now a murder investigation, bringing Skip back to life as he was in his magnificent heyday.

Force handled Skip’s passing with her typical insight and sensitivity. I loved everything about this story, which evoked so many emotions…sadness and despair, joy and humor, tension and excitement, and outrage tempered by justice as the investigation evolved to its surprising conclusion. Narrator Eva Kaminsky had her work cut out for her as so many of the series characters have substantive roles and she managed them expertly. I’m still thrilled about my decision to switch to the audio format at #3 because she brings an already lively story to new heights. This was an absolutely fitting story to celebrate Skip Holland as he makes his final appearance.

Book Info

• Release Date: March 26, 2019
• Series: Fatal #14
• Narrator: Eva Kaminsky
• Audio Length: 10 hours, 8 minutes
• Publisher: Harlequin Audio

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

(Thanks to Harlequin Audio for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.)