The Lucy Kincaid series was selected as a group read in one of my Goodreads groups and we determined, because of character crossovers, we needed to first read her earlier series in publication order.
FBI Special Agent Megan Elliott is called in to the scene of a brutal murder by the Sacramento Police Detective John Black when he determines that it fits the pattern of three previous murders on an FBI hot sheet. Megan finds a dog tag on the victim identifying him as a veteran, an important lead that eventually takes her to Hildago, Texas, the site of the next similar murder. That victim was the best friend and teammate of Jack Kincaid, a former Army Ranger now heading a small mercenary group focused on rescue missions and foreign hostage situations. Jack joins Megan and her other team members to investigate the murders and stop what appears to be the work of a pair of serial killers.
We get the points of view of the killers early on but only see them in action with limited information as to their motives and true identities. This worked well for me as I had to rely on the investigation to provide the clues to deduce the answers. I was never ahead of the investigators despite having the additional insight, which made this an even more intriguing story. It was often frustrating, in a good way, because I couldn’t figure things out for quite some time. It’s a great example of how to provide the dual narratives without giving away the mystery.
I enjoyed this story, a lot, and am so glad I was able to listen to the story. The narrator delivered a strong performance, pacing the story perfectly, though there wasn’t much in terms of character distinction. That didn’t matter as I was never confused as to who was talking or delivering the point of view. Megan and Jack made a good team, even though their romance seemed to come out of nowhere. As with her earlier books, the romance is the weak part of the story but it didn’t detract from my engagement. I was pleased to finally learn why Jack was estranged from his family and get updates about the rest of the Kincaids and there’s a marvelous twist to cap it off. It’s an excellent start to the trilogy.
Book Info
- Release Date: March 24. 2009
- Series: FBI Trilogy #1
- Narrator: Ann Marie Lee
- Audio Length: 12 hours, 41 minutes
- Publisher: Random House Audio
Listen to a Sample!
Blue Mood Café 
Fab review 🙂
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Thanks, Nicki💜
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I enjoyed that ‘good’ frustration when I can’t figure things out during a case! Lovely review! x
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Thanks, Meggy💜 This was the kind of frustration I wish for when reading a mystery🥰
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Lovely review, Jonetta! It sounds like it’s paying off to check out this series. Hopefully she can get the romance a little better done in the later books. ♥️
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Thanks, Jennifer💜 We’ve gotten used to her weaknesses with the romances but her stories are so good it matters less.
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Nice review Jonetta. At least this one is only a trilogy. Enjoy the Lucy Kincaid series, it is a long one.
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Thanks, Carla💜 This is our fourth of her trilogies, the last before we start Lucy!
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After listening to Third to Die I am headed into more from this author. I have a feeling I will be headed back in the footsteps your group took. Excellent review!
Anne – Books of My Heart
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Thanks, Anne💜 It was the best decision we could have made because there’s quite a bit of character development for those that show up much later.
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Would you mind saying the order you have read them? Also you are reading, not audio, right?
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Here’s the link to the reading schedule created for the group read:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/19798001-trilogies-lucy-kincaid-max-revere-by-allison-brennan
This one was an audio and I’ve listened to as many as there were audiobooks. The last series only had the first book on audio but I was able to get this entire series on audio from the library (see link to sample above).
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Terrific review!
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Thank you, Deanna💜
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Wow Allison is back on your blog. Fantastic review
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Thanks, Shalini💜 Every month since I’m doing a group read of her books.
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