Target Acquired by Lynette Eason – Suspense, Mystery, and a Little Romance

 
Target Acquired by Lynette Eason is the second book in the Lake City Heroes series.  It has two-timelines, one dates to the 1940’s and one takes place in the present.  The characters are from several families whose lives intersect both in the past and present day in the fictional town Lake City, North Carolina.  Like many families, life can be complicated and relationships are impacted.  Especially when sinful emotions like bitterness, anger, resentment are allowed to fester. 

 

The story starts out in the 1940’s with Eliza Crane who finds herself in state-run mental hospital and locked in her room.  She is hopeful that her friend Betsy will come to see her again, she is like a lifeline.  Eliza is being held against her will because of the allegations her father made that she tried to harm herself.  She is desperate to get out so she can be with her fiancé William. 

 

Fast forward to current day and we meet SWAT medic Kenzie King.  The SWAT team is under the leadership of Sergeant Cole Garrison.  Kenzie and Cole have known each other and their respective families since they were young.  Kenzie has had a challenging time trying to fit in with the team.  She is the only woman and a couple of the men are not sure she is the right person for the job.  It is causing division and they need to be able to work together as a team and have each other’s backs.

 

Added to the challenges of her new position, Kenzie seems to be the target of someone who is out to get her.  The attacks keep on happening and she is not safe in her own home or on the job.  Is it someone on the team that wants her to leave?  Or is it a stranger who wants her dead? 

 

I liked Cole’s character the best.  He was caring and developing good leadership skills.  Kenzie’s background is explained so we can understand her motivations.  She was intent on being tough and proving herself.  But I would like to have seen her character more fully developed.

 

I liked the suspense and mystery while trying to figure out who done it.  I enjoyed the friendships between the characters that were brought back from the first novel in this series, Double Take.  The friends were caring and supportive of each other.  It was a bit of a challenge to keep the characters straight because there were a lot of characters between the two timelines.  Thankfully, at the beginning of the book, the characters are listed with a brief description.  I would have liked have seen the character’s faith more developed.  Faith was briefly mentioned, but was not a big part of the story.

 

I would like to thank Revell Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of Target Acquired by Lynette Eason.  I was under no obligation to give a favorable review. 

The Protector by Wanda E Brunstetter – A Mystery and Different Kind of Storyline for Amish Fiction

 
The Protector is Wanda Brunstetter’s newest novel, the first book in the Mifflin County Mystery Series.  I enjoy Amish fiction and this author is one of my favorites.

The Protector is quite different than Wanda Brunstetter’s other books.  The subject matter is different than most Amish novels.  It is about a family member that has gone missing and its impact on each person of the family.  The characters, how they handle the stress of the unknown, and how it impacts the family dynamic seemed rather gloomy. 

Following a date from night before Rosa Petersheim has gone missing.  It is like she vanished and no one has seen her or knows what happened to her.  Has she run away?  Is it foul play?  The police were contacted and investigated the Rosa’s disappearance, but the investigation has stalled.  Now three months later, the family has gone on and tried to live their lives.  But they are functioning under shadow of their grief and the unknown.  In its wake are some very unhealthy family dynamics. 

After Rosa went missing her brother Norman has taken on the burden of trying to find Rosa or what happened to her.  All his efforts have gone nowhere.  Norman had dated Salina for a while now and it seemed like marriage might be on the horizon.  But with all his efforts to find Rosa, it has impacted Norman’s relationship with Salina.

Of course, Elsie’s mother’s heart is grieving for her daughter and it has impacted her health.  Their father, Mahlon has grown angry and bitter.  Their daughter Susan’s reaction has exposed some of her character flaws.  Only Tena seems to have the most caring response to all this stress. 

Will they ever find out what happened to Rosa?  Will she come back home one day?  If so, will she be welcomed home or shut out? 

Overall, I found the storyline kind of depressing.  It seemed like each of the characters were caught up in their own thoughts and feelings without healthy and caring input from others.  They did not share their burdens with each other or even friends.  It was not until near of end of the storyline that there was some breakthrough in this family’s responses to this trial. 

I thought the subject was unique for Amish fiction.  In most Amish fiction there is a strong sense of community and caring that seemed to be absent here.  Not sure if that was intentional.  When an Amish family has someone that goes missing are they presumed to have run away?  Is the family shamed or blamed for those circumstances? 

I enjoy Wanda Brunstetter’s writing, but struggled a bit with The Protector’s storyline and the characters’ negativity.  Since some of the mystery was left hanging, there was no real or satisfying conclusion.  I look forward to reading more books by Wanda Brunstetter.  I am not sure if this storyline will carry over to the future novels in this series.

I would like to thank Barbour Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of The Protector by Wanda E. Brunstetter.  I was under no obligation to give a favorable review.